Ewen
Of Gaelic origin meaning "born of the yew tree".
Name Census estimates that about 174 living Americans carry the first name Ewen. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Ewen today is around 11 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Ewen births was 2024 (37 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Ewen. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
For a British comparison, Name Census UK has a UK baby-name profile for Ewen with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
174
~ 1 in 1,969,853 Americans
Peak year
2024
37 babies that year
Average age
11
years old
2024 SSA rank
#3,229
Tracked since 1917
Census
Ewen in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 282 people with the first name Ewen, which placed it at #30,717 in the published first-name tables. This is a snapshot of people who already had the name at the time of the Census.
The SSA sections elsewhere on this page answer a different question: how often parents gave the name to babies over time. The "people living today" figure on this page is different again: it is a current estimate built from SSA birth records and age-based survival rates, so the two numbers are not expected to match exactly.
2020 Census rank
#30,717
National first-name rank
People counted
282
282 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
70.6% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Ewen
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Ewen is White at 70.6%. The next largest groups are Asian/Pacific Islander (10.6%) and Black (10.3%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Ewen described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given name, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown so the breakdown is easy to read across every published category. Because the 2020 Census first-name file also includes raw headcounts for each group, Name Census can show those alongside the percentages in the legend and hover tooltip.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the name Ewen at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White70.6% · 199
- Asian and Pacific Islander10.6% · 30
- Black or African American10.3% · 29
- Hispanic or Latino5.0% · 14
- Two or more races2.8% · 8
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.7% · 2
Popularity
Ewen: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Ewen from the 1910s through to the 2020s, spanning 5 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 68 total registrations. The name continues to be given at rates close to its all-time high, suggesting it has not yet fallen out of fashion.
Babies born per year
Decades
Ewen by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Ewen during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Ewens live
Origin
Meaning and history of Ewen
The given name Ewen has its origins in the Scottish Gaelic language, stemming from the name Eógann, which is derived from the Old Irish words "eu" meaning "well-born" and "gann" meaning "love" or "birth." This name was prevalent in Scotland during the Middle Ages, particularly in the Highlands and Islands regions.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Ewen can be traced back to the 13th century, when Ewen MacDougall, a Scottish nobleman and Lord of Lorn, was documented in historical records. He played a significant role in the Wars of Scottish Independence against England in the early 14th century.
In the 16th century, Ewen Cameron of Lochiel (c. 1629-1719), a Scottish clan chief and renowned military leader, was a prominent figure who bore the name. He led the Clan Cameron during the Jacobite risings and was known for his loyalty to the Stuart cause.
Another notable individual with the name Ewen was Ewen MacLachlan (c. 1775-1822), a Scottish Gaelic poet and bard from the Isle of Mull. His works, including "Oran an t-Samhraidh" (The Summer Song), celebrated the beauty of the Scottish Highlands and the Gaelic language.
In the 19th century, Ewen Macdonald (1836-1916), a Scottish-Canadian politician and businessman, played a significant role in the development of British Columbia. He served as a member of the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia and was involved in various business ventures, including mining and real estate.
Ewen Solon (1903-1968), an American science fiction writer and editor, was another notable bearer of the name. He is best known for his work in the pulp magazine industry and his contributions to the genre of science fiction during the Golden Age of the 1930s and 1940s.
While the name Ewen has Scottish Gaelic roots and was more commonly used in Scotland and among Scottish diaspora communities, it has gained recognition worldwide, particularly in literature and historical records, reflecting the cultural influence of the Gaelic tradition.
Notable bearers
Famous people named Ewen
People
Ewen + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Ewen as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with E
Other first names starting with E with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Ewen: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Ewen?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 174 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Ewen going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 1,969,853 US residents.
Is Ewen a common name?
We classify Ewen as "Very Rare". It ranks above 72.3% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 185 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Ewen most popular?
The single biggest year for Ewen was 2024, when 37 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Ewen is about 11 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Ewen in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 282 people with the name Ewen, or 0.09 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #30,717 in the national Census ranking for first names.
Why is the Census count different from the living estimate?
Because they measure different things. The Census figure is a count of people who had the name Ewen in 2020. The living estimate aims to answer a current question instead: how many people with the name are alive today, based on SSA birth records and age-based survival rates. Since one number is a 2020 snapshot and the other is a present-day estimate, they are not expected to be identical.
What does the Census say about the gender split for Ewen?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Ewen leans strongly male. 257 people counted with this name were male (90.2%), compared with 28 female bearers (9.8%). The Census view is a snapshot of people living with the name in 2020, while the SSA section above tracks births across time.
What does the Census say about the background of people named Ewen?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Ewen is White at 70.6%. The next largest groups are Asian/Pacific Islander (10.6%) and Black (10.3%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself. The percentages in the chart above come from self-reported race and Hispanic-origin responses in the 2020 Census.
Which group reports the name Ewen most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Ewen in the 2020 Census, accounting for 70.6% (199 people in the published table).
Why can the Census sex total and race total differ slightly?
The Census Bureau published separate 2020 tables for sex and for race/Hispanic origin, and the released figures can differ slightly because of privacy protection in the public files. That is why this page treats the gender section and the race/origin section as two related snapshots instead of forcing them into one identical total.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only includes names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files have no Census demographic snapshot. When that happens, the SSA trend, gender history, and state sections still appear, but the 2020 Census demographic sections are omitted.
What does the SSA popularity chart show?
The chart tracks births, not the number of people alive with the name today. Each point shows how many babies were given the name Ewen in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Ewen a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Ewen in the SSA data are male. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Is Ewen still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Ewen in 2024, and the page above shows its latest-year rank where available. A name can be well past its peak and still remain in steady use, especially if it built up a large population over earlier decades.
Why can a name have a lot of living bearers even if it is not trendy now?
Because living-bearer counts and current baby-name popularity measure different things. A name like Ewen can build up a very large population over many decades, even if fewer parents are choosing it now than they did at its peak.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.
How many Americans are named Ewen?
See how many people have the name Ewen on HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site built around that single question.