The Sow surname
In the 2010 U.S. Census, 1,984 people carried this name — #14,920 among all U.S. surnames, about 1 in every 149,300 people counted. That is up 216% from 627 in 2000.
In Belgium’s population register
At least 2,613 people named Sow live in Belgium.
Statbel only publishes a name in a municipality when five or more people there share it, so the real number is higher. Most of them live in Brussels-Capital.
Where it concentrates, on the mapWhere they live today
Statbel (Statistics Belgium), family names of the population by municipality, 1 January 2026 — CC BY 4.0.
In France’s civil register
France’s register of deaths holds 701 people named Sow.
Most of them — 512 — were born outside France. Those born in France came from 37 départements, most often Paris.
Where it concentrates, on the mapWhere they were born
Fichier des personnes décédées, INSEE — Licence Ouverte 2.0 · deaths recorded in France since 1970, by place of birth.
In Switzerland’s population statistics
379 people named Sow live in Switzerland.
They live in 13 of Switzerland’s 26 cantons, most of all in Vaud.
Where it concentrates, on the mapWhere they live today
Swiss Federal Statistical Office (FSO), «Surnames of the permanent resident population by canton», 2025, opendata.swiss/en/dataset/nachnamen-der-standigen-wohnbevolkerung-nach-kanton3 · names with fewer than 3 bearers in a canton are not published.
In Argentina’s national register
At least 20 people named Sow live in Argentina.
RENAPER only publishes a name in a province when more than ten people there share it, so the real number is higher. Most of them live in Buenos Aires Province.
Too few records to say where it concentrates region by region — these are plain counts, not shares.
Where they live today
RENAPER (National Registry of Persons, Argentina), surnames of residents by province, December 2021 — CC BY 4.0.
In the Nordic population registers
114 people named Sow are counted in Sweden and Finland.
Sweden’s figure is from 31 December 2022, the last count Statistics Sweden published. Finland counts its citizens, at home or abroad.
Counted, by country
Own calculations based on data from Statistics Sweden (SCB), surnames with at least two bearers, 31 December 2022 — CC BY 4.0 (names with 20 or more bearers shown) · Digital and Population Data Services Agency (DVV), Finland, surname statistics, August 2026 — CC BY 4.0.
In print
Sow in American newspapers,
1914–1936.
Chronicling America, Library of Congress — digitised newspapers in the public domain · 1,825,311 pages in all carry the name.
Who carried it
People named Sow,
with a public archive behind them.
-
Aliou Ardo Sow 1934–2017 · entrepreneur -
Fatou Sow 1940– · university teacher -
Binta Laly Sow 1942– · singer -
Coumba Dieng Sow 1952– · international civil servant -
Amadou Sow 1956– · military personnel
Wikidata and Wikimedia Commons (CC0) · 95 lives in all are documented under this name.
Nearby in the index
Surnames next to Sow.
When the index is not enough
This page says where Sow is.
A volume says what happened to it.
Every page in the index is free and stays free. The Heritage Volume is the long form: the full paper trail, the arms, the crossing — bound, and yours.