Owen - Origin and Meaning of the name

The boy name Owen [ 2 syll. o-wen, ow-en ] is pronounced as OWahN ^KEY. Owen is used predominantly in the English, Irish, and Welsh languages, and it is derived from Celtic and Welsh origins. Welsh origin, English and Welsh use: Developed from the element 'oen' which means lamb. Owain (Welsh) and Yvain (Welsh) are original forms of Owen. The name is of obscure origin; it could be of the Welsh 'oen', or else it could have evolved as a Welsh form of Eugene. It could also be derived from an Old Celtic personal name meaning 'born of Esos', in reference to the Celtic god. The name Owena (Welsh) is the female version of Owen.

In addition, Owen is a variant (English and Irish) of the name Eoghan (Irish and Scottish). See also the related form, Eugene (English).

Owen is popular as a baby name for boys, and it is also viewed as trendy. The name's popularity has been rising since the 1960s. At the modest peak of its usage in 2006, 0.375% of baby boys were given the name Owen. Its ranking then was #58. In 2007, its usage was 0.375% and its ranking #56, and it was the most popular out of all boy names in its group. In 2007, Owen was more commonly used than the subsequent ranked name, Eugene (English), by 24 times.

^KEY: Pronunciation for Owen: OW as in "oat (OW.T)" ; AH as in "hut (HH.AH.T)" ; N as in "knee (N.IY)"

A famous person named Owen is Owen Wilson, Actor, born 18 November 1968, Dallas, Texas.

Popularity Trend
for Owen
from 1900 to 2007

Variant Popularity Chart
for Owen
in 2007