origins
The surname Crow has two distinct possible origins, one English and the other Gaelic Irish. In the first instance, the derivation is from the Middle English "crowe" (Olde English "crawa"), meaning "crow", and originally given as a nickname to someone thought to bear a fancied resemblance to the bird, perhaps someone with particularly dark hair. The surname from this source first appears on record in the latter part of the 12th Century. In Ireland, the surname Crow(e) is used as an Anglicized form of the Old Gaelic patronymic "Mac Enchroe" from an earlier "Mac Conchradha", "son of Conchradha", a personal name containing the element "con", hound.