Saw

See also: saw, SAW, sAw, s'aw, and šaw

English

Alternative forms

• (Hindi surname): Sawh

Etymology 1

Various origins:

• English metonymic occupational surname for a sawyer, from saw. Compare Sawyer.
• Borrowed from Hindi साव (sāv); this surname is predominantly found in Jharkhand state.
• Borrowed from Burmese စော (cau:), a nickname meaning "honorable".

Proper noun

Saw (plural Saws)

1. A surname.

Statistics

• According to the 2010 United States Census, Saw is the 33121^st most common surname in the United States, belonging to 691 individuals. Saw is most common among Asian/Pacific Islander (80.75%) and White (13.46%) individuals.

Etymology 2

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

Pronunciation

• Audio (AU)

  (file)

Noun

Saw (plural Saws)

1. (slang, African-American Vernacular) A Bahamian.
   • 1937, Zora Neale Hurston, Their Eyes Were Watching God, Harper Perennial, published 2000, page 154:

     Since Tea Cake and Janie had friended with the Bahaman workers in the ’Glades, they, the “Saws,” had been gradually drawn into the American crowd.

Further reading

• Hanks, Patrick, editor (2003), “Saw”, in Dictionary of American Family Names, volume 3, New York City: Oxford University Press, →ISBN.

Anagrams

• ASW, AWS, Was, aws, was