Rowyn
A feminine name of Welsh origin meaning "red-haired" or "red complexion".
Name Census estimates that about 3,617 living Americans carry the first name Rowyn. It appears on both sides of the gender split, with 80.1% of registrations being female. The average person named Rowyn today is around 8 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Rowyn births was 2024 (440 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Rowyn. 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 Rowyn with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Rowyn is a relatively new arrival in the SSA data. The average bearer is just 8 years old, meaning it gained most of its traction in the last two decades.
People living today
3.6K
~ 1 in 94,762 Americans
Peak year
2024
440 babies that year
Average age
8
years old
2024 SSA rank
#782
Tracked since 1999
Census
Rowyn in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 1,868 people with the first name Rowyn, which placed it at #7,916 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
#7,916
National first-name rank
People counted
1.9K
1,868 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.6
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
81.9% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Rowyn
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Rowyn is White at 81.9%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (7.6%) and Hispanic (7.5%). 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 Rowyn 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 Rowyn at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White81.9% · 1,530
- Two or more races7.6% · 142
- Hispanic or Latino7.5% · 141
- Black or African American1.5% · 28
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.9% · 17
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.5% · 10
Gender
Gender distribution for Rowyn
Rowyn leans heavily female at 80.1% of total registrations, but 726 boys have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Rowyn as a male name
- Ranked #1,978 in 2024
- 79 male births in 2024
- Peak: 2024 (79 births)
Rowyn as a female name
- Ranked #782 in 2024
- 361 female births in 2024
- Peak: 2024 (361 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Rowyn leans strongly female. 1,500 people counted with this name were female (80.5%), compared with 363 male bearers (19.5%).
Popularity
Rowyn: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Rowyn 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 1,693 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
Rowyn 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 Rowyn during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Rowyns live
The SSA's state-level files cover 39 states and territories. California, Texas, Ohio recorded the most babies named Rowyn, while South Dakota, New Jersey, New Hampshire recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 49 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Rowyn
The name Rowyn is a relatively modern name that has gained popularity in recent decades, particularly in English-speaking countries. Its origins are somewhat uncertain, but it is believed to be a combination of the Welsh name Rhys and the English suffix "-wyn," which means "white" or "fair."
Rhys is a Welsh name derived from the old Welsh word "rhys," meaning "ardor" or "enthusiasm." It has been a popular name in Wales for centuries and was often used by Welsh royalty and nobility. The name Rhys first appeared in written records as early as the 6th century AD, and it is mentioned in several Welsh literary works and historical chronicles.
The suffix "-wyn" has its roots in Old English and was commonly used to form descriptive names related to physical characteristics or personality traits. When combined with Rhys, the name Rowyn could be interpreted to mean "white ardor" or "fair enthusiasm."
While the name Rowyn does not have a long historical record, there are a few notable individuals who have borne this name throughout history:
1. Rowyn Wint (born 1968) - A Jamaican-American track and field athlete who competed in the 1992 and 1996 Olympic Games, winning a silver medal in the 4x400m relay.
2. Rowyn Caston (born 1985) - An American singer-songwriter and musician known for her work with the indie rock band Wye Oak.
3. Rowyn Jacobs (born 1976) - A South African cricketer who played domestic cricket for Western Province and the Cape Cobras.
4. Rowyn Baker (1945-2010) - An American writer and journalist who worked for various publications, including The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal.
5. Rowyn Brendle (born 1991) - An American actress and model best known for her role in the television series "The Originals."
It is worth noting that while the name Rowyn has gained popularity in recent years, particularly as a gender-neutral name, its historical roots and usage are relatively limited compared to more traditional names with longer histories.
People
Rowyn + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Rowyn as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with R
Other first names starting with R with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Rowyn: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Rowyn?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 3,617 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Rowyn 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 94,762 US residents.
Is Rowyn a common name?
We classify Rowyn as "Rare". It ranks above 95.7% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 3,643 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Rowyn most popular?
The single biggest year for Rowyn was 2024, when 440 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Rowyn is about 8 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Rowyn in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 1,868 people with the name Rowyn, or 0.62 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #7,916 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 Rowyn 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 Rowyn?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Rowyn leans strongly female. 1,500 people counted with this name were female (80.5%), compared with 363 male bearers (19.5%). 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 Rowyn?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Rowyn is White at 81.9%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (7.6%) and Hispanic (7.5%). 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 Rowyn most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Rowyn in the 2020 Census, accounting for 81.9% (1,530 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 Rowyn in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Rowyn a female name?
Yes, 80.1% of people registered as Rowyn in the SSA data are female. 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 Rowyn still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Rowyn 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 Rowyn 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 people have the name Rowyn?
If you just want to know how many people share the name Rowyn, HowManyOfMe.org gives you the headline number in one glance.