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Cowie History Etymology Early Origins Early History Spelling Variations Early Notables Ranking

United States Canada Australia New Zealand

Contemporary Notables Historic Events Related Stories Citations

Cowie History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

Origins Available:
Scotland

Etymology of Cowie

What does the name Cowie mean?

The chronicles of Scottish history reveal that the first people to use the name Cowie were the Strathclyde-Britons. It was a name for a tender of cattle. The name is an adaptation of the Old English word cuhyrde, of the same meaning. It derives from the roots, cu, meaning cow, and hierde, meaning herdsman. The family were "mainly from the ancient barony of Cowie in Kincardineshire." 1 2

Early Origins of the Cowie family

The surname Cowie was first found in Kincardineshire (Gaelic: A' Mhaoirne), a former county on the northeast coast of the Grampian region of Scotland, and part of the Aberdeenshire Council Area since 1996. Cowie is a small village "situated at the mouth of the river Cowie, which falls into a bay of that name, forming a small and commodious harbour." 3

Cowie Castle is a ruined fortress nearby and is thought to have been the site of a royal hunting lodge in the Middle Ages. Cowie Chapel also known as the Chapel of St. Mary and St. Nathalan is a ruined chapel but is one of the oldest surviving structures in Kincardineshire.

One of the first records of the family was Herbert de Cowy who witnessed a charter by Nicholas de Dumfres in 1394. Years later, John Cowy was admitted burgess of Aberdeen in 1505. 1

Early History of the Cowie family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Cowie research. Another 174 words (12 lines of text) covering the years 1040, 1394, 1505, 1512, 1600, 1642 and 1646 are included under the topic Early Cowie History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Cowie Spelling Variations

Prior to the first dictionaries, scribes spelled words according to sound. This, and the fact that Scottish names were repeatedly translated from Gaelic to English and back, contributed to the enormous number of spelling variations in Scottish names. Cowie has been spelled Cowie, Cowey, Cowy, Covie, Cowye, Covey, Cowwie, Cowwey, Coavie, Coawie, Kowie, Kowey, Kovey and many more.

Early Notables of the Cowie family

Notable amongst the family at this time was

Cowie of Kincardineshire

Cowie Ranking

In the United States, the name Cowie is the 12,454^th most popular surname with an estimated 2,487 people with that name. 4 However, in New Zealand, the name Cowie is ranked the 680^th most popular surname with an estimated 1,046 people with that name. 5

Cowie migration to the United States +

In such difficult times, the difficulties of raising the money to cross the Atlantic to North America did not seem so large compared to the problems of keeping a family together in Scotland. It was a journey well worth the cost, since it was rewarded with land and freedom the Scots could not find at home. The American War of Independence solidified that freedom, and many of those settlers went on to play important parts in the forging of a great nation. Among them:

Cowie Settlers in United States in the 19th Century

Phillip Cowie, who settled in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 1834
Elizabeth Cowie, who landed in New York in 1842 6
Thomas Cowie, who settled in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 1859
Miss Ann S. Cowie, aged 21, Scottish settler who arrived in New York aboard the ship "Cynosure" in 1863
Alexander Cowie, who arrived in Colorado in 1882 6
... (More are available in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.)

Cowie Settlers in United States in the 20th Century

David Cowie, aged 53, who settled in America from Chatham, England, in 1907
Adam Cowie, aged 29, who landed in America from Edinburgh, Scotland, in 1907
Agnes Cowie, aged 24, who immigrated to the United States from Glasgow, Scotland, in 1907
Alexander Cowie, aged 34, who settled in America from Glasgow, Scotland, in 1907
Charles D. Cowie, aged 20, who immigrated to America from Aberdeen, Scotland, in 1908
... (More are available in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.)

Cowie migration to Canada +

Some of the first settlers of this family name were:

Cowie Settlers in Canada in the 19th Century

George Cowie, who landed in Nova Scotia in 1848

Cowie migration to Australia +

Emigration to Australia followed the First Fleets of convicts, tradespeople and early settlers. Early immigrants include:

Cowie Settlers in Australia in the 19th Century

Robert Cowie, aged 23, who arrived in South Australia in 1849 aboard the ship "Emily" 7
Robert Cowie, who arrived in Adelaide, Australia aboard the ship "Emily" in 1849 7
Miss Barbara Cowie, (b. 1829), aged 23, Scottish country servant who was convicted in Aberdeen, Scotland for 7 years for theft, transported aboard the "Duchess of Northumberland" on 25th November 1852, arriving in Tasmania (Van Diemen's Land) 8
Ann Cowie, aged 23, a servant, who arrived in South Australia in 1860 aboard the ship "Ramillies" 9

Cowie migration to New Zealand +

Emigration to New Zealand followed in the footsteps of the European explorers, such as Captain Cook (1769-70): first came sealers, whalers, missionaries, and traders. By 1838, the British New Zealand Company had begun buying land from the Maori tribes, and selling it to settlers, and, after the Treaty of Waitangi in 1840, many British families set out on the arduous six month journey from Britain to Aotearoa to start a new life. Early immigrants include:

Cowie Settlers in New Zealand in the 19th Century

John Cowie, who landed in Bay of Islands, New Zealand in 1836
Henry Cowie, who arrived in Auckland, New Zealand aboard the ship "Glendevon" in 1864
Margaret Cowie, who arrived in Auckland, New Zealand aboard the ship "Glendevon" in 1864
Henry Cowie, who arrived in Auckland, New Zealand aboard the ship "Talbot" in 1864
Margaret Cowie, who arrived in Auckland, New Zealand aboard the ship "Talbot" in 1864
... (More are available in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.)

Contemporary Notables of the name Cowie (post 1700) +

Rear Admiral Thomas Jefferson Cowie (1857-1936), United States Naval officer, Navy Paymaster General, and Chief of the Bureau of Supplies and Accounts, eponym of the USS Cowie (DD-632), a Gleaves-class destroyer
James Cowie, American Republican politician, Alternate Delegate to Republican National Convention from Colorado, 1896; Secretary of State of Colorado, 1903-07 10
Douglas Cowie (1926-2021), Scottish footballer who played for Dundee, Greenock Morton and the Scotland national team
Robert Cowie (1842-1874), Scottish descriptive writer, born at Lerwick, the capital of the Shetland Islands, where both his father and uncle were well-known medical practitioners 11
James G "Jimmy" Cowie (b. 1966), Scottish footballer
Chris Cowie, Scottish announcer and producer
Darryl Cowie (1961-2023), Australian rules footballer who played with St Kilda and Richmond in the Victorian Football League (1982-1987)
Sir Tom Cowie (1922-2012), Honorary Life President of the Arriva Group, formerly known as Cowie Group
Art Cowie (1934-2009), Canadian urban planner, landscape architect and politician
Isaac Cowie (1848-1917), Canadian pioneer, fur trader, and politician
... (Another 8 notables are available in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.)

Historic Events for the Cowie family +

HMS Hood

Mr. John E L Cowie (b. 1919), English Shipwright 4th Class serving for the Royal Navy from Lambeth, London, England, who sailed into battle and died in the HMS Hood sinking 12

Citations +

Black, George F., The Surnames of Scotland Their Origin, Meaning and History. New York: New York Public Library, 1946. Print. (ISBN 0-87104-172-3)
Lower, Mark Anthony, Patronymica Britannica, A Dictionary of Family Names of the United Kingdom. London: John Russel Smith, 1860. Print.
Lewis, Samuel, A Topographical Dictionary of Scotland. Institute of Historical Research, 1848, Print.
"What are the 5,000 Most Common Last Names in the U.S.?". NameCensus.com, https://namecensus.com/last-names/
"Most Common Last Names in New Zealand." Forebears, https://forebears.io/new-zealand/surnames
Filby, P. William, Meyer, Mary K., Passenger and immigration lists index : a guide to published arrival records of about 500,000 passengers who came to the United States and Canada in the seventeenth, eighteenth, and nineteenth centuries. 1982-1985 Cumulated Supplements in Four Volumes Detroit, Mich. : Gale Research Co., 1985, Print (ISBN 0-8103-1795-8)
State Records of South Australia. (Retrieved 2010, November 5) The EMILY 1849. Retrieved from http://www.slsa.sa.gov.au/BSA/1849Emily.htm
Convict Records Voyages to Australia (Retrieved 22nd July 2021). Retrieved from https://convictrecords.com.au/ships/duchess-of-northumberland
South Australian Register Tuesday 11 January 1853. (Retrieved 2010, November 5) RAMILLIES 1860. Retrieved http://www.theshipslist.com/ships/australia/ramillies1860.shtml
The Political Graveyard: Alphabetical Name Index. (Retrieved 2015, November 13) . Retrieved from http://politicalgraveyard.com/alpha/index.html
Wikisource contributors. "Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900." Wikisource . Wikisource , 4 Jun. 2018. Web. 30 June 2020
H.M.S. Hood Association-Battle Cruiser Hood: Crew Information - H.M.S. Hood Rolls of Honour, Men Lost in the Sinking of H.M.S. Hood, 24th May 1941. (Retrieved 2016, July 15) . Retrieved from http://www.hmshood.com/crew/memorial/roh_24may41.htm