2000
#2,232
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 14,930
First available Census row
Per 100,000 5.53
Uncommon Last name
Brower
An occupational surname referring to a beer brewer or maker of ale.
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 16,442 Americans carry the last name Brower. That puts it at #2,457 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 4.80 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 20,846 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Brower surname. You will find the Census Bureau frequency data, a multi-census history view, an ancestry and ethnicity breakdown based on self-reported demographics, the name's meaning and origin where available, and answers to the most common questions people ask about this surname.
For British records, Name Census UK has a British surname profile for Brower with 1881 census detail, origin facts and modern UK distribution where available.
Bearers in the US
16K
1 in 20,846
Census rank
#2,457
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
4.8
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
14K
uncommon in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 14,338 bearers of the surname Brower in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 4.80 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 2457th position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Brower, the largest self-reported group is White at 83.9%. The next largest groups are Black (6.3%) and Two or More Races (3.7%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Brower
The surname BROWER is of Dutch origin, derived from the occupational term "brouwer" meaning "brewer" in Dutch. It likely emerged in the Netherlands during the medieval period when the brewing industry was a prominent trade.
The earliest recorded instances of the name can be traced back to the 16th century in Dutch records and documents. One of the earliest known bearers of the name was Pieter Brouwer, a brewer born in Amsterdam in 1565.
As the Dutch settled in various parts of the world, the name spread to other regions, particularly in North America. One notable individual with this surname was Adriaen Brouwer, a renowned Dutch Golden Age painter known for his genre scenes and tavern depictions, born in Oudenaarde in 1605 and died in Antwerp in 1638.
In the 17th century, the BROWER name appeared in Dutch colonial records in New Netherland, the Dutch settlement that later became New York. Jan Brouwer, born in 1620 in Leiden, Netherlands, was among the early Dutch settlers in New Amsterdam (now New York City).
Another notable figure was Hendrick Brouwer, a Dutch naval officer and explorer who led an expedition to the East Indies in 1611-1612. He is credited with discovering the Brouwer Strait, a narrow waterway separating the islands of Bali and Java in modern-day Indonesia.
In the 19th century, Jozef Brouwers, a Belgian writer and poet, was a significant literary figure born in Leuven in 1828 and died in Brussels in 1901. His works explored themes of Flemish identity and the struggles of the working class.
The name BROWER has also been associated with various places and locations throughout history. For instance, the Brouwersdam, a dam and causeway in the Netherlands, was named after the local Brouwer family who owned land in the area.
While the name has its roots in the Netherlands, it has since spread to other countries and regions due to migration and immigration patterns. However, its origins can be traced back to the Dutch occupational term "brouwer," reflecting the historical significance of the brewing trade in the region.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Brower
Among Census respondents with the surname Brower, the largest self-reported group is White at 83.9%. The next largest groups are Black (6.3%) and Two or More Races (3.7%).
The bar chart below shows how Brower bearers described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given surname, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown for every Census year so the breakdown stays comparable over time. When the source file also includes raw headcounts, Name Census shows those alongside the percentages in the legend.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A person's surname does not determine their race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the Brower surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White83.9% · 12,032
- Black or African American6.3% · 903
- Two or more races3.7% · 529
- Hispanic or Latino3.7% · 524
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.6% · 234
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.8% · 116
Timeline
Historical Census data for Brower
Brower appears in 3 published Census surname files: 2000, 2010, 2020. The cards below show how the name's rank and bearer count changed across each release.
2010
#2,423
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 14,950
+20 bearers (+0.1%)
Per 100,000 5.07
Rank movement Down 191 places
2020
#2,457
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 14,338
-612 bearers (-4.1%)
Per 100,000 4.80
Rank movement Down 34 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #2,232 | 14,930 | 5.53 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #2,423 | 14,950 | 5.07 | +20 bearers (+0.1%) | Down 191 places |
| 2020 | #2,457 | 14,338 | 4.80 | -612 bearers (-4.1%) | Down 34 places |
For 2020, the Census Bureau published race and Hispanic-origin columns as counts rather than percentages. Name Census converts those counts back into shares so the ancestry section stays comparable with the older surname files.
Year on year
2010 vs 2020 Census
How has the Brower surname changed between Census years? The chart shows bearer count side by side, and the table compares rank, count, and frequency.
Census year comparison
20102020
| Metric | 2010 | 2020 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rank | #2,423 | #2,457 | -1.4% |
| Count | 14,950 | 14,338 | -4.1% |
| Per 100K | 5.07 | 4.80 | -5.4% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Brower bearers went from 14,950 to 14,338 (-4.1% change). The surname moved down 34 positions in the national ranking, going from #2,423 to #2,457.
Notable bearers
Famous people with the surname Brower
FAQ
Brower surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Brower?
Name Census estimates that about 16,442 living Americans carry the surname Brower. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 20,846 residents.
How common is Brower?
Brower ranks #2,457 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Uncommon." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 4.80 per 100,000 residents, which is about 5 people out of every 100,000.
How many people with this surname were counted in the Census?
The raw 2020 Census file counted 14,338 people with the surname Brower. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (16,442), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 4.8 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 4.80 per 100,000 means that if you picked a random group of 100,000 U.S. residents, you would expect about 5 of them to have the surname Brower.
Has Brower become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Brower went from 14,950 recorded bearers to 14,338. That is a decrease of 612 (-4.1%). In the national ranking it fell from #2,423 to #2,457.
What does the Census say about the background of Brower?
Among Census respondents with the surname Brower, the largest self-reported group is White at 83.9%. The next largest groups are Black (6.3%) and Two or More Races (3.7%). These figures come from the 2020 Census Bureau surname tables, based on how respondents described their own race and ethnicity.
Which group reports this surname most often?
White is the largest self-reported group for the surname Brower in the 2020 Census, accounting for 83.9% (12,032 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Brower appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (83.9%), Black (6.3%), Two or More Races (3.7%). For 2020, the source file also published raw headcounts for each group, which is why this page can show both percentages and counts in the ancestry section.
Is this page using the latest Census data?
Yes. This page is using the latest surname file currently loaded on Name Census, which is 2020. The historical section above also keeps any older Census surname entries we have for Brower (2000, 2010, 2020).
Does the Census include every surname?
No. The Census Bureau only publishes surnames that appeared at least 100 times in a given decennial Census. That means very rare surnames are excluded entirely, and a surname can appear in one Census release but disappear from a later one if it falls below the reporting threshold.
Why don't the ancestry percentages always add up to exactly 100%?
There are two main reasons: rounding and suppression. The Census Bureau rounds published values, and it may suppress very small cells to protect privacy. For 2020, the Bureau also published raw group counts rather than direct percentages, so Name Census converts those counts back into shares for comparability across census years.
What does Brower mean?
An occupational surname referring to a beer brewer or maker of ale. The fuller origin note on this page goes into more detail.
Where does the surname data come from?
All surname statistics on Name Census are drawn from the US Census Bureau's decennial surname frequency tables. These files list every surname that appeared 100 or more times in the 2020 Census, along with a count, a per-100,000 rate, and a self-reported demographic breakdown. You can read the full explanation on our methodology page.
How does Name Census estimate living bearers?
For surnames, Name Census does not age cohorts the way it does for first names. Instead, it takes the Census Bureau's published frequency for Brower (4.80 per 100,000) and applies that rate to the current U.S. resident population to estimate how many living Americans have the surname today.
How many people have the last name Brower?
If you just want to know how many people have the surname Brower, HowManyOfMe.org gives you the headline number in one glance.