# Howe (surname)

Howe is an English surname. Howe, when derived from the Old Norse: haugr, means hill, knoll, or mound and may refer to a tumulus, or barrow. However, when derived from Old English: hol, it can refer to a hollow or dell. Historically the surname was most commonly found in the Northeast of England and the Orkney and Shetland islands.
Notable people with the surname include:

## A–H

* Albion P. Howe (1818–1897), American Union Army general in the American Civil War
* Andrew Howe (born 1985), American-born Italian long jumper
* Anthony Howe (historian) (born 1950), English historian
* Anthony Howe (sculptor) (born 1954), American artist
* Art Howe (born 1946), American professional baseball player and manager
* Brian Howe (politician) (born 1936), Australian politician
* Brian Howe (singer) (1953–2020), English musician (Bad Company)
* C. D. Howe (1886–1960), Canadian politician
* Caroline Dana Howe (1824–1907), American writer
* Charlotte Howe, Viscountess Howe (1703–1782), British courtier and politician
* Clinton Howe, Australian politician
* Daniel Walker Howe (born 1937), American historian
* Darcus Howe (1943–2017), British broadcaster and columnist
* David Howe (speedway rider) (born 1982), British motorcycle speedway rider
* David J. Howe (born 1961), British writer, journalist, publisher, and media historian
* Denis Howe (1928–2020), English footballer
* Denis Howe (editor), editor, founder of the Free On-line Dictionary of Computing (FOLDOC)
* Don Howe (1935–2015), English footballer
* Don Howe (footballer, born 1917) (1917–1978), English footballer of the 1930s, '40s and '50s
* Dylan Howe (born 1969), English jazz drummer
* Eddie Howe (born 1977), football manager and former English footballer
* Edgar Watson Howe (1853–1937), American novelist
* Edward Gardiner Howe (1849–1931), American educator and author
* Elias Howe (1819–1867), American inventor of the sewing machine
* Eliot Howe (1882-1921), American film director
* Elizabeth Howe (1635–1692), accused of witchcraft and hanged during the Salem witch trials
* Elliot C. Howe (1828–1899), American botanist
* Emanuel Howe, 2nd Viscount Howe (1700–1735), British politician and colonial administrator
* Emeline Harriet Howe (1844–1934), American poet
* Eric Graham Howe (1897–1975), Unorthodox British psychiatrist
* Frederic C. Howe (1867–1940), Ohio Senator and commissioner of Ellis Island
* Geoffrey Howe (1926–2015), British politician, Chancellor of the Exchequer under Margaret Thatcher
* George Howe (disambiguation), several people
* Gilman Bigelow Howe (1850–1933), American genealogist
* Gordie Howe (1928–2016), Canadian Hall-of-Fame hockey player
* Greg Howe (born 1963), American musician
* Harrison E. Howe (1881–1942), American chemist
* Henry Howe (actor) (1812–1896), English actor
* Henry Marion Howe, (1848–1922), American metallurgist
* Herbert Alonzo Howe (1858–1926), American astronomer and educator

## I–Z

* Irving Howe (1920–1993), American literary and social critic
* Jackie Howe (1861–1920), Australian sheep shearer
* James Lewis Howe (1859–1955), American chemist
* James Wong Howe (1899–1976), Chinese-born American cinematographer
* Jamie Howe (born 1984), American auto racing reporter
* Jeremy Howe (born 1990), Australian rules football player
* Jeremy Howe (English footballer) (born 1973), English footballer
* Jeremy Howe (radio drama editor) (born 1956), English radio drama editor
* John Howe (illustrator) (born 1957), Canadian illustrator
* John Howe (theologian) (1630–1705), English Puritan theologian
* John Grubham (Jack) Howe (1657–1722), English politician
* Joseph Howe (1804–1873), Nova Scotia politician
* Josias Howe (c.1611–1701), English divine
* Julia Ward Howe (1819–1910), American poet and author, best known as author of the "Battle Hymn of the Republic"
* Julie Howe, California screenwriter
* Leila Hassan Howe (born 1948), British editor and activist
* Les Howe (1895–1976), American baseball player
* Linda Moulton Howe (born 1942), American investigative journalist and documentary maker
* Louis McHenry Howe (1871–1936), political advisor to President Franklin D. Roosevelt
* Marie Howe (born 1950), American poet
* Marie E. Howe (1939–2024), American politician in Massachusetts
* Marie Jenney Howe (1870–1934), American feminist organizer and writer
* Mark Howe (born 1955), younger son of Gordie Howe, American–Canadian Hall-of-Fame hockey player
* Marshall Avery Howe (1867–1936), American botanist
* Marty Howe (born 1954), older son of Gordie Howe, American–Canadian hockey player
* Mary Howe (1882–1964), American composer and pianist
* Mary Howe (singer) (1870–1952), American operatic soprano
* Mary Washington Howe (1852–1900), American educator
* Michael Howe (bushranger) (1787–1818), Australian bushranger
* Michael Howe (psychologist) (1940–2002), British cognitive psychologist
* Mike Howe (1965–2021), American musician
* Neil Howe (born 1951), American historian, economist and demographer
* Oscar Howe (1915-1983), American Indian artist
* Paul Howe (born 1968), British swimmer
* Paul R. Howe (born 1959) U.S. Delta Force member and firearms instructor
* Rex Howe (1929-2024), British Anglican priest
* Richard Howe, 1st Earl Howe (1726–1799), British admiral in the French Revolutionary Wars and American Revolution
* Robert Howe (Continental Army officer) (1732—1786), American general
* Roger Evans Howe (born 1945), American mathematician
* Russell Warren Howe (1925–2008), British author and journalist
* Samuel Gridley Howe (1801–1876), American abolitionist and educator
* Sarah Howe (born 1983), Chinese–British poet
* Sarah Howe (fraudster) (c. 1826–1892), American fraud artist
* Shauna Howe (1981–1992), American murder victim
* Sean Howe, American journalist and writer
* Scrope Howe, 1st Viscount Howe (1648–1714), English politician who took part in the Glorious Revolution
* Sonia E. Howe (1871–?), Russian essayist
* Steve Howe, (born 1947), English musician and songwriter (Yes)
* Steve Howe (baseball) (1958–2006), American baseball player
* Stuart Howe (born 1967), Canadian operatic tenor
* Susan Howe (born 1937), American poet, scholar, essayist, and critic
* Tamara Howe (born 1965), daughter of Darcus Howe, English television production manager
* Timothy J. Howe (Born 1970) US Army Veteran, Educator, Warwick RI Councilman 2017-2025
* Timothy O. Howe (1816–1883), American politician
* Tina Howe (1937–2023), American playwright
* Vic Howe (1929–2015), Canadian hockey player, Gordie Howe's brother
* W. B. W. Howe Jr. (1851–1912), American architect
* Wallace Howe (1878–1957), American actor
* Will D. Howe (1873–1946), American educator, editor, and writer
* William Howe (disambiguation) (1729–1815) British general in the American Revolution
* William B. W. Howe (1823–1894), sixth Bishop of South Carolina in the Episcopal Church

## Fictional characters

* Cameron Howe, from the television drama series Halt and Catch Fire
* Rebecca Howe, on the sitcom Cheers
* Simon Howe, on the soap opera Brookside