Snow
Usually a nickname or baptismal name from the word for snow, sometimes used for someone born in snowy weather.
The #734 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 6,496 Americans shares it.
Etymology
This surname is generally taken from the common word for snow, Old English and Middle English snaw/snou, with Scandinavian forms also influencing English usage. In medieval England it could be used as a personal name or byname, apparently for a child born in winter or for someone associated with snow-like whiteness. Some 19th-century writers also speculated about a Scandinavian or even legendary Danish personal name behind it, but the simplest explanation is the weather word itself.
History
Snow is an old English surname, recorded in medieval sources, and was already being treated by early surname scholars as a personal or baptismal name. Later writers repeated the idea that it was a favorite Scandinavian-style personal name, though not all agreed on that deeper origin. The name has remained in use as a straightforward English surname and is also found in forms like Snee in Scandinavian contexts.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
Early surname writers grouped Snow with other seasonal or weather-based names like Winter, Frost, and Nowell.
From the historical record
“SNOOKS, genit., and pi., ofSnook, q.v. SNOW (Eng.) Born in the time of Snow [M.E. snou, snow, O.E. sndnsi] William Snou. — Hund. Rolls. The Dan.-Norw. snu, 'sly,' 'cunning/ has prob. not affected this name. SNOWBALL is a nickname of comparatively mod. orig. SNOWDEN \ (Eng.) Dweller at the Snow”
— Surnames of the United Kingdom: a concise etymological dictionary (2 vols in 1)