Tow is a surname in various cultures.

Origins

Tow may be: * A spelling, based on the pronunciations in some

varieties of Chinese Chinese, also known as Sinitic, is a branch of the Sino-Tibetan language family consisting of hundreds of local varieties, many of which are not mutually intelligible. Variation is particularly strong in the more mountainous southeast of main ...

, of the

Chinese surnames Chinese surnames are used by Han Chinese and Sinicized ethnic groups in China, Taiwan, Korea, Vietnam, and among overseas Chinese communities around the world such as Singapore and Malaysia. Written Chinese names begin with surnames, unlike the W ...

romanised in

Mandarin Mandarin or The Mandarin may refer to: Language * Mandarin Chinese, branch of Chinese originally spoken in northern parts of the country ** Standard Chinese or Modern Standard Mandarin, the official language of China ** Taiwanese Mandarin, Stand ...

Pinyin Hanyu Pinyin (), often shortened to just pinyin, is the official romanization system for Standard Mandarin Chinese in China, and to some extent, in Singapore and Malaysia. It is often used to teach Mandarin, normally written in Chinese for ...

as Táo (), Cáo (), or Dù () * A variant of

Tough Tough may refer to: * Toughness, the resistance to fracture of a material when stressed * Machismo, prominently exhibited or excessive masculinity * Psychological resilience Tough may also refer to: People * Allen Tough (1936–2012), Canadian ...

, which originated both as a nickname (from

Middle English Middle English (abbreviated to ME) is a form of the English language that was spoken after the Norman conquest of 1066, until the late 15th century. The English language underwent distinct variations and developments following the Old English p ...

or , "steadfast") and separately as an

Anglicisation Anglicisation is the process by which a place or person becomes influenced by English culture or British culture, or a process of cultural and/or linguistic change in which something non-English becomes English. It can also refer to the influen ...

of the

Scottish surname Scottish surnames are surnames currently found in Scotland, or surnames that have a historical connection with the country. History The earliest surnames found in Scotland occur during the reign of David I, King of Scots (1124–53). These were ...

Tulloch Tulloch may refer to: People with the surname *Alexander Bruce Tulloch (1838–1920), Major-general in the British Army, author *Bert Tulloch, English footballer *Bitsie Tulloch, American actress *Francis Tulloch (born 1940), Jamaican politician ...

. Other variants include Towe.

Statistics

According to statistics cited by

Patrick Hanks Patrick Hanks (born 24 March 1940) is an English lexicographer, corpus linguist, and onomastician. He has edited dictionaries of general language, as well as dictionaries of personal names. Background Hanks was educated at Ardingly College, ...

, 78 people on the island of

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It is ...

and none on the island of

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

bore the surname Tow in 2011. In 1881 there had been 148 people with the surname in Great Britain, primarily at

Lincolnshire Lincolnshire (abbreviated Lincs.) is a county in the East Midlands of England, with a long coastline on the North Sea to the east. It borders Norfolk to the south-east, Cambridgeshire to the south, Rutland to the south-west, Leicestershire ...

West Riding of Yorkshire The West Riding of Yorkshire is one of three historic subdivisions of Yorkshire, England. From 1889 to 1974 the administrative county County of York, West Riding (the area under the control of West Riding County Council), abbreviated County ...

, and

Leicestershire Leicestershire ( ; postal abbreviation Leics.) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the East Midlands, England. The county borders Nottinghamshire to the north, Lincolnshire to the north-east, Rutland to the east, Northamptonshire t ...

. The

2010 United States Census The United States census of 2010 was the twenty-third United States national census. National Census Day, the reference day used for the census, was April 1, 2010. The census was taken via mail-in citizen self-reporting, with enumerators servin ...

found 1,910 people with the surname Tow, making it the 15,355th-most-common name in the country. This represented an increase in absolute numbers, but a decrease in relative frequency, from 1,893 (14,457th-most-common) in the 2000 Census. In both censuses, about four-fifths of the bearers of the surname identified as

White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no hue). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully reflect and scatter all the visible wavelengths of light. White on ...

, and between 10% and 15% as

Asian Asian may refer to: * Items from or related to the continent of Asia: ** Asian people, people in or descending from Asia ** Asian culture, the culture of the people from Asia ** Asian cuisine, food based on the style of food of the people from Asi ...

People

People with the surname Tow include: *

Timothy Tow Timothy Tow Siang Hui (28 December 1920 – 20 April 2009) was a Singaporean pastor who founded the Bible-Presbyterian Church. He was also founding principal of the Far Eastern Bible College. Personal life Tow was educated at the Anglo-Chinese ...

(; 1920–2009), Singaporean pastor *

Leonard Tow Leonard Tow (born 1928) is an American businessman and philanthropist. He was the chairman and CEO of Citizens Communications (now Frontier Communications) and chairman of Electric Lightwave. He also co-founded Century Communications, which was s ...

(born 1928), American businessman *

Eng Tow Eng Tow (, born 1 October 1947) is a Singaporean contemporary artist best known for her use of cloth as medium in her art, creating textile paintings or methodically constructed "cloth reliefs". Tow’s practice further spans a range of media, inc ...

(; born 1947), Singaporean artist *

Jeff Tow-Arnett Jeffery Tow-Arnett (born November 19, 1986) is an American football fullback who is currently a free agent. He played college football at Minnesota where he was a Center. He was signed as an undrafted free agent by the Milwaukee Mustangs in 2 ...

(born 1986), American football fullback *

Matthew J. Tow Matthew J. Tow is an Australian singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist. Perhaps best known as the singer and guitarist of 1990s Sydney indie band Drop City, Tow currently fronts international neo-psychedelic rockers the Lovetones. Spla ...

(), Australian singer *

Michael Tow Michael Tow is an American actor, director and producer. He is best known for his work on ''Lucky Grandma'', '' Blindspot'' and '' Unfinished Business''. Currently, he is in City on Fire as Joe Yeung, the father of Samantha Yeung (Chase Sui Won ...

(), American actor, director, and producer

References

{{surname Surnames of English origin Surnames of Scottish origin Chinese-language surnames Multiple Chinese surnames

Origins

Statistics

People

See also

References