Meaning & origin
A reliable meaning for Dowell isn’t established in our sources yet. Rather than guess, we show what is recorded: how the name is used, how often, and the names it’s connected to.
The story
Published U.S. birth records include this spelling as early as 1915. This is the earliest published observation available here, rather than a date for the name’s origin.
From dated birth records
Dowell through the years
- Babies since 1880
- 211
- 211 boys · 0 girls
- Most popular year
- 1919
- 10 babies
- 2025
- 0
- Outside the ranked list
- 2021–25 vs 2016–20
- —
- Too few births to compare
By the numbers
The most recent published U.S. birth count for boys is 9 in 1969. Later missing counts do not mean the name went unused. Its largest published annual count for boys was 10 in 1919. Published U.S. population figures for this spelling include 173 as a first name in 2020; 14,374 as a surname in 2020.
From Social Security birth records and U.S. Census name counts for this exact spelling. Other spellings are counted separately.
Dowell’s family of names
The ring: across languages.
Across languages 1
Equivalents and cognates in other languages, plus older forms it grew from.
Similar names
If you love Dowell, these share its style, era, origin or sound, from outside its own family.
Odell
“a sweet melody” · “one who is wealthy”
98% boys · 2% girls
Lovell
“having a soft spirit” · “resembling a young wolf”
92% boys · 8% girls
Caldwell
“of the cold well” · “from the cold spring”
>99% boys
Russel
“a little red-haired boy”
>99% boys
Domenick
“a lord”
>99% boys
Herschel
“resembling a deer”
>99% boys
Olan
“the last of the ancestors”
>99% boys
Donato
“a gift from God”
>99% boys