Owyn
Of Welsh origin, meaning "born of the yew tree".
Name Census estimates that about 830 living Americans carry the first name Owyn. It is a predominantly male name (90.7% of registrations). The average person named Owyn today is around 13 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Owyn births was 2015 (53 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Owyn. 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.
People living today
830
~ 1 in 412,957 Americans
Peak year
2015
53 babies that year
Average age
13
years old
2024 SSA rank
#4,278
Tracked since 1997
Gender
Gender distribution for Owyn
Owyn leans heavily male at 90.7% of total registrations, but 78 girls have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Owyn as a male name
- Ranked #4,278 in 2024
- 25 male births in 2024
- Peak: 2012 (52 births)
Owyn as a female name
- Ranked #17,018 in 2024
- 5 female births in 2024
- Peak: 2018 (10 births)
Popularity
Owyn: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Owyn from the 1990s through to the 2020s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 430 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Owyn remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Owyn 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 Owyn during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Owyns live
The SSA's state-level files cover 5 states and territories. California, Ohio, Michigan recorded the most babies named Owyn, while Wisconsin, Utah, Michigan recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 8 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Owyn
The name Owyn originates from the Welsh language and culture. It is a variant spelling of the name Owen, which is derived from the Welsh word "oen" meaning "lamb." The name Owyn likely emerged in Wales during the Middle Ages, a period when many familiar Welsh names were first recorded.
In Welsh mythology, the name Owyn may be connected to the legendary figure of Owain mab Urien, a prince and hero from the 6th century AD who appears in several ancient Welsh tales and poems. This association could suggest the name carried connotations of bravery and nobility in its earliest uses.
One of the earliest recorded individuals with the name Owyn was a 14th century Welsh landowner and nobleman named Owyn ap Gruffydd. Records indicate he held estates in Anglesey and was a prominent figure in North Wales during the late 1300s.
In the 16th century, an Owyn Williams is mentioned in historical documents as a participant in the Battle of Towton in 1461, a major conflict in the Wars of the Roses between the House of Lancaster and the House of York. His role suggests the name was still in use among the Welsh gentry at that time.
Moving forward to the 19th century, Owyn Ellis (1808-1886) was a Welsh Anglican priest and author who wrote extensively on Welsh history, language, and literature. His works helped preserve many aspects of Welsh culture and traditions.
Another notable bearer of the name was Owyn Wyn Owen Pughe (1759-1835), a Welsh antiquarian, poet, and grammarian. He made significant contributions to the study of the Welsh language through his published writings on its grammar and etymology.
In the 20th century, Owyn Traharne (1908-1991) was a Welsh rugby union player who earned 11 caps for the Wales national team between 1930 and 1935. He played as a fly-half and was part of the Welsh team that won the Five Nations Championship in 1933.
People
Owyn + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Owyn as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with O
Other first names starting with O with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Owyn: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Owyn?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 830 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Owyn 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 412,957 US residents.
Is Owyn a common name?
We classify Owyn as "Very Rare". It ranks above 88.8% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 837 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Owyn most popular?
The single biggest year for Owyn was 2015, when 53 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Owyn is about 13 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Owyn a male name?
Yes, 90.7% of people registered as Owyn 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.
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.