Irish and Scottish: variant of McGowan ‘son of the smith’ in which the Gaelic patronymic prefix Mac has been replaced by the English patronymic suffix -s.
Source: Dictionary of American Family Names 2nd edition, 2022
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Where is the Gowans family from?
You can see how Gowans families moved over time by selecting different census years. The Gowans family name was found in the USA, the UK, Canada, and Scotland between 1840 and 1920. The most Gowans families were found in and Scotland in 1841. In 1911 there were 30 Gowans families living in Ontario. This was about 57% of all the recorded Gowans's in Canada. Ontario had the highest population of Gowans families in 1911.
Use census records and voter lists to see where families with the Gowans surname lived. Within census records, you can often find information like name of household members, ages, birthplaces, residences, and occupations.
Between 1954 and 2004, in the United States, Gowans life expectancy was at its lowest point in 1960, and highest in 1967. The average life expectancy for Gowans in 1954 was 51, and 81 in 2004.