Clow Family History

English (East Midlands and East Anglia): probably from Middle English cloue, a false singular form of Middle English clouse ‘bar, enclosure, narrow pass’, later ‘mill dam, sluice-gate, floodgate’. See Clowes.

English and Scottish (southern and central Scotland): variant of Clough.

English (Devon): from an earlier form of modern Cornish cleath ‘dyke, earthwork’, as found in the placename Clovelly (Devon) and most likely a habitational name referring to that place.

English: possibly sometimes from Middle English clewe, clowe ‘ball (of thread)’ or from the same word used in some topographic sense as seen in Clewlow (Cheshire).

Americanized form of German Klau.