Blowing

There are some surnames which are well recorded but offer few clues as to the definitive origin. This is one of them! Recorded as Bloan, Blown, Blowen, Blowne, Blowin, Blowing, Blunn and probably others, this is believed to be a surname of Welsh origins. If so it may be one of the versions of the popular Ap or Ab Owen, meaning the son of Owen or perhaps more likely derives from the personal name Blethyn or Blothin, recorded in the county of Shropshire in about 1580. Ap or Ap was similar to the Scottish and Irish Mac or Mc, but for dialectal reasons in most cases has become "fused" with the basic name. Examples of this phenomena include Ap Rice which became Price, and Ap Howell that became Powell, but there are dozens, if not hundreds of examples. Wales was one of the last countries in Europe to adopt fixed spelling hereditary surnames, and this again makes for difficult research. In this case early examples of recordings have been taken from surviving church registers of the Diocese of Greater London. These include Amphilius Blowyn, christened at St Margarets Westminster, on February 1st 1615, Anne Blown who married William Spence at the church of St Katharine by the Tower (of London) on June 25th 1679, and Elizabeth Blowing christened at St Giles Cripplegate, on March 18th 1713.