The Sowell surname

In the 2010 U.S. Census, 9,612 people carried this name — #3,696 among all U.S. surnames, about 1 in every 30,700 people counted. That is up 6% from 9,093 in 2000.

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In print

Sowell in American newspapers,
1903–1911.

Newspaper page from The San Francisco Call carrying the name Sowell
The San Francisco Call 1903-03-26
Newspaper page from The San Francisco Call carrying the name Sowell
The San Francisco Call 1911-07-02

Chronicling America, Library of Congress — digitised newspapers in the public domain · 25,675 pages in all carry the name.

In print

Sowell in Australian newspapers,
1850s–1960s.

1,563 articles name a Mr, Mrs or Miss Sowell. The most, 285, date from the 1890s. Victoria has the most articles, but weighed against how much of each state’s press from the same decades has been digitised, the name stands out most in Tasmania, at 1.4 times its expected share.

Articles, by state

Victoria 500
New South Wales 405
Queensland 352
Tasmania 145
Western Australia 98
South Australia 53
ACT (Canberra) 10

Trove, National Library of Australia (trove.nla.gov.au) · articles in its digitised newspapers that name a Mr, Mrs or Miss Sowell.

Who carried it

People named Sowell,
with a public archive behind them.

  • Anthony Sowell 1959–2021 · serial killer
  • Robert Sowell 1961–2015 · American football player

Wikidata (CC0) · 9 lives in all are documented under this name.

In the public record

People named Sowell,
in the records of 3 countries.

Soldiers, farmers, migrants and neighbours who carried the name and left a trace in public archives. Everyone shown here died long ago or was born more than a century ago.

United States473 records

473 records of the Sowell name in the United States
  • U.S. Army enlistment records, World War II 337
  • U.S. veterans' cemetery records, burials to 2001 108
  • New York City birth, marriage and death certificates 7
  • Passenger arrivals in the United States, 1820–1912 6
  • U.S. alien registration index, 1940–1955 6
  • New York State death index (outside NYC), 1957–2001 4
  • U.S. service members who died in the Vietnam War 4
  • U.S. service members who died in the Korean War 1
  1. Names engraved on the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, Washington, D.C.
    Example: U.S. war memorial
    War record Ronald Sowell

    Born 1948; from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. U.S. Army, medical equipment repairer; killed in action 1969 in Binh Duong, South Vietnam. Buried at Beverly National Cemetery, New Jersey.

    U.S. National Archives, Defense Casualty Analysis System (public domain); U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, Gravesite Locator (CC0)
  2. A United States Selective Service registration card, 1942
    Example: U.S. registration card, 1942
    Military record Lewis Sowell

    Born 1918 in Florida. Enlisted 1943 at Camp Blanding; salesman from Palm Beach County. U.S. Army Air Forces veteran of World War II; died 1998, buried at Woodlawn Cemetery, West Palm Beach, Florida.

    U.S. National Archives, WWII Army Enlistment Records (public domain); U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, Gravesite Locator (CC0)
  3. A passenger manifest of the S.S. St. Paul, arriving at New York in 1903
    Example: passenger manifest, 1903
    Passenger record William T. Sowell

    Arrived at New York in 1891 aboard the Celtic from Liverpool and Queenstown, aged 40; farmer. From Liverpool, England.

    U.S. National Archives, Castle Garden Immigration Center Collection, Ship Passenger Records (unrestricted)

Showing 3 of 473 records for Sowell in the United States.

Counts: U.S. National Archives, WWII Army Enlistment Records (public domain) · U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, Gravesite Locator (CC0) · NYC Department of Records & Information Services, Historical Vital Records (NYC Open Data) · U.S. National Archives, Castle Garden Immigration Center Collection, Ship Passenger Records (unrestricted) · U.S. National Archives, Flexoline Index Data File (public domain) · New York State Department of Health, Genealogical Research Death Index · U.S. National Archives, Defense Casualty Analysis System (public domain). Example pages, not the records of the people shown: Vietnam Veterans Memorial, photo by U.S. Army Sgt. 1st Class Michael J. Carden, 2009 (public domain); U.S. Selective Service registration card, 1942 (public domain); Passenger manifest of the S.S. St. Paul, New York, 1903 (public domain).

Australia43 records

43 records of the Sowell name in Australia
  • Tasmanian Names Index 29
  • Victoria passenger lists, 1839–1923 8
  • Canberra cemetery and marriage records 3
  • NSW convict, estate and railway indexes 2
  • Queensland State Archives indexes 1
  1. An 1829 etching of convicts being rowed out to the prison ship York in Portsmouth Harbour
    Pictured: convicts going on board a prison ship, 1829
    Transportation record George Sowell

    Transported to Van Diemen's Land aboard the Susan, sailing from Plymouth in 1842. Native of Truro, Cornwall. Applied for permission to marry in Van Diemen's Land in 1847. Married 1847 in Hobart, Tasmania.

    Libraries Tasmania, Tasmanian Names Index (CC BY 4.0)
  2. A marriage entry in the civil register of Tilburg, 1911
    Example: marriage register, 1911
    Marriage record John Arthur Sowell

    Born 1865 in Hobart, Tasmania. Married 1893 in Waratah, Tasmania, aged 27.

    Libraries Tasmania, Tasmanian Names Index (CC BY 4.0)
  3. A page of the burial register of Newtown, Wales, 1858
    Example: burial register, 1858
    Burial record Charles George Sowell

    Died 1981; buried at Woden Cemetery, Canberra, ACT.

    ACT Government, Transport Canberra and City Services (CC BY 4.0)

Showing 3 of 43 records for Sowell in Australia.

Counts: Libraries Tasmania, Tasmanian Names Index (CC BY 4.0) · Public Record Office Victoria (CC BY 4.0) · ACT Government, Transport Canberra and City Services (CC BY 4.0) · Museums of History NSW – State Archives Collection (CC BY) · Queensland State Archives (CC BY 4.0). Example pages, not the records of the people shown: Prison-ship in Portsmouth Harbour, with the convicts going on board, etching by Edward William Cooke, 1829, Royal Museums Greenwich (public domain); Marriage register, Tilburg, 1911, Regionaal Archief Tilburg (public domain); Burial register of Newtown, Montgomeryshire, 1858, National Library of Wales (CC0).

United Kingdom1 record

1 record of the Sowell name in the United Kingdom War Office casualty lists, 1917–1919, among the dead
  1. A First World War roll of honour of the staff of C. & E. Morton Ltd
    Example: roll of honour, 1914–1919
    War record L. Sowell

    Northamptonshire Regiment. Listed among the dead in the War Office casualty list of 1918.

    National Library of Scotland, War Office Weekly Casualty Lists (public domain)

Counts: National Library of Scotland, War Office Weekly Casualty Lists (public domain). Example pages, not the records of the people shown: C. & E. Morton Ltd roll of honour, 1914–1919, photo by Adrian S Pye via Geograph (CC BY-SA 2.0).

Nearby in the index

Surnames next to Sowell.

When the index is not enough

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