CLOWES
The surname Clowes has its roots firmly planted in England, deriving from a combination of topographical and occupational elements that were common in Anglo‑Saxon naming practices. Early medieval records indicate that the name was first recorded in the early thirteenth century, with the earliest surviving entry being that of William le Clos in the Curia Rolls of Cambridgeshire in 1214 during the reign of King John.
One predominant theory explains the name as a locational surname, taken from the Old English word clough, meaning a steep‑sided valley or ravine. The suffix -es attached to the root signifies “belonging to”, thereby indicating that the original bearer of the surname either inhabited a clough or had land within such a geographical feature. This interpretation aligns with the broader tradition of English surnames that reference natural landscape elements.
Alternate derivations stem from the Middle English term clos, itself borrowed from Old French clos and Late Latin clausum meaning “closed” or “enclosed”. The name could thus describe a person dwelling in a courtyard set back from a main street or a farmyard sheltered within a border. It has also been suggested that the same root may have yielded a nickname for someone considered secretive or reserved, a meaning that echoes the modern sense of “close” as a term of intimacy or secrecy.
Less frequently cited is an occupational origin proposed by some scholars. According to this interpretation, Clowes may arise from the Middle English word clow, meaning a nail or a pin. In medieval societies, individuals were occasionally named for the items they produced or sold, so a person who manufactured or traded nails could have been identified as belonging to the clan of nails, later rendered as Clowes. The terminal s would then represent possession or association, a common feature in English surnames of the period.
Notable early records furnish additional context. The 1327 Yorkshire entry of Thomas del Close and the 1409 London listing of John Cloos both underscore the name’s presence in both urban and rural settings across England. Parish registers from St. Botolph’s, Bishopsgate, and St. Mary Aldermary in the latter half of the sixteenth century also contain marriages of individuals bearing the surname in its various spellings, evidencing a continuity of use over the centuries.
Over time, the surname has accrued a range of variants that reflect regional dialects and orthographic practices. These include Cluse, Closs, Clowes, Clowser, Clow, Clowe, Clough, and Clouse, among others. The prevalence of these forms has been linked to specific counties, with Staffordshire, Cheshire, and Shropshire each recording concentrations of the name during the early modern period.
Migration patterns, particularly in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, dispersed the surname beyond its English origins. The 1840s witnessed the first significant movement of families named Clowes to the United States, mainly to New York. Census data from 1880 show that farming was the most common occupation for members of this family in the United States, a continuation of the agrarian lifestyle prevalent in their English homeland. In contemporary times, the surname remains chiefly found in England and the United States, with smaller concentrations in Canada and Australia, reflecting the wider diaspora of English family names.
While individuals bearing the surname—including the American cartoonist Daniel Clowes and the English footballer Geoff Clowes—have achieved notability in various fields, these particular instances do not alter the surname’s core historical meanings or origins.
Typical given names associated with the Clowes surname
Male
- Andrew
- Anthony
- David
- Ian
- John
- Michael
- Paul
- Peter
- Richard
- Robert
- Stephen
Female
- Elizabeth
- Emma
- Helen
- Jacqueline
- Jennifer
- Julie
- Justine
- Margaret
- Mary
- Maureen
- Patricia
- Rachel
- Sarah
- Susan
- Valerie
Similar and related surnames
Related and similar names are generated algorithmically based on the spelling, and may not necessarily share an etymology.
How to communicate the surname Clowes in...
Braille
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Morse
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Semaphore
There are approximately 3,537 people named Clowes in the UK. That makes it roughly the 2,598th most common surname in Britain. Around 54 in a million people in Britain are named Clowes.
Origin: English
Region of origin: British Isles
Country of origin: England
Religion of origin: Christian
Language of origin: English
Famous people named Clowes
- Paul Clowes - Football player
- Hannah Clowes - Artistic gymnast
- Samuel Clowes - Politician (1864 to 1928)
- John Clowes - Football player
- William Laird Clowes - Journalist and historian (1856 to 1905)
- Henry Clowes - Cricketer (1863 to 1899)
Names and descriptions courtesy of Wikipedia, and may contain errors. This is not intended to be an exhaustive list of every famous person with this name.