Gowlett

Gowlett
Recorded as Gow, Gowe, and the diminutives Gowan, Gowin and apparently Gowlett, the patronymics Gowans and Gowanson, this is a surname of Scottish or Gaelic origins. It is occupational for a smith, and therefore logic would suggest that this surname should be the most popular in Scotland. It is however far from that. The origination is the Gaelic word 'gobha' meaning an iron worker or smith, and is usually found as MacGowan or McGowan. Oddly the surname Smith is very popular both in Scotland and England, in the latter country having twice the popularity of any other name. Yet the highest proportion of Smiths anywhere in the world is in the county of Aberdeen, Scotland, hardly leaving room for the Gow(an)s. The Gow's are regarded as being part of the Clan Chattan, although quite why this should be so, is unclear. Examples of early surname recordings taken from the charters and registers include Alexander Gowansoun, who it is recorded was 'hanged in Dundee' in 1578, although for what crime is not known, and Michael Gow who was arrested in Perth in 1595 for 'raiding'. Agnes Gowlett was christened at Harrow on the Hill, Middlesex, England, on March 12th 1621, whilst Colin Gowin of Tiree, was denounced as a rebel in 1695. Surnames became necessary when governments introduced personal taxation. In England this was known as Poll Tax. Throughout the centuries, surnames in every country have continued to "develop" often leading to astonishing variants of the original spelling.

Surnames reference. 2013.

Игры ⚽ Нужна курсовая?

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Cerberus Investigations Limited — is a Corporate and Intellectual Property Investigations company headquartered in London, England. Cerberus was founded in 2005. The owners of Cerberus, Duncan Mee and Cameron Gowlett, have been involved in a number of media projects, the most… …   Wikipedia

  • Paleolithic — The Paleolithic This box: view · talk · edit ↑ before Homo (Plioc …   Wikipedia

  • Crenavolva cruenta — Scientific classification Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Mollusca Class: Gas …   Wikipedia

  • Notopala — Temporal range: Aptian Recent[1] …   Wikipedia

  • Feuer — Ein gewöhnliches Lagerfeuer …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • IsiZulu — Gesprochen in Republik Südafrika, Botsuana, Lesotho, Malawi, Mosambik und Swasiland Sprecher 11 Mio. Linguistische Klassifikation Niger Kongo Sprachen …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Zulu (Sprache) — isiZulu Gesprochen in Republik Südafrika, Botsuana, Lesotho, Malawi, Mosambik und Swasiland Sprecher 11 Mio. Linguistische Klassifikation Niger Kongo Sprachen …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Древнекаменный век — Палеолит ↑ До появления Homo (Плиоцен) Нижний палеолит (ок. 2,6 млн лет назад  100,000 лет назад) Олдувайская культура (2,6  1,8 млн лет назад) Аббевильская культура (1,5  0,3 млн лет назад) Ашёльская культура (1,7  0,1 млн лет назад) Средний… …   Википедия

  • Chichester Council election, 2007 — Elections to Chichester District Council in West Sussex, United Kingdom were held on 3 May 2007. The whole council was up for election and the Conservative Party held overall control with an increased majority. Contents 1 Election result 2 Ward… …   Wikipedia

  • Crenavolva — Scientific classification Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Mollusca Class: Gastropoda …   Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”