Owain
A Welsh masculine name derived from the word "ychen" meaning "young warrior".
Name Census estimates that about 142 living Americans carry the first name Owain. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Owain today is around 17 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Owain births was 2008 (16 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Owain. 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 Owain with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
142
~ 1 in 2,413,763 Americans
Peak year
2008
16 babies that year
Average age
17
years old
2020 SSA rank
#13,536
Tracked since 1998
Popularity
Owain: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Owain 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 66 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 2010s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Owain 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 Owain during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Origin
Meaning and history of Owain
The name Owain originates from the Welsh language and culture. It is derived from the Old Welsh word "ouguin" which means "born of a noble family" or "well-born". The name can also be traced back to the Old Celtic word "audagos" meaning "prosperous" or "wealthy".
Owain was a popular name among the ancient Welsh, particularly among the nobility and royalty. It appeared frequently in Welsh literature and poetry, such as the Mabinogion, a collection of medieval Welsh tales and myths dating back to the 11th or 12th century.
One of the earliest recorded examples of the name Owain can be found in the Welsh Triads, a series of traditional medieval Welsh literature that dates back to the 13th century. The Triads mention an Owain mab Urien, a legendary figure who was said to be a king of Rheged, a kingdom in what is now northern England and southern Scotland, during the late 6th century.
In the 12th century, Owain Gwynedd (c. 1100 - 1170) was a Welsh prince who became the King of Gwynedd, a powerful Welsh kingdom in northwest Wales. He is remembered for his military campaigns against the English and for his efforts to unite the Welsh kingdoms.
Another famous bearer of the name was Owain Glyndŵr (c. 1359 - c. 1415), a Welsh nobleman and the last native Prince of Wales. He led a major revolt against the English rule of Wales between 1400 and 1415, and was successful in rallying many Welsh people to his cause.
In the 16th century, Owain Tudor (c. 1495 - 1535) was a Welsh soldier and diplomat who served as a courtier to King Henry VIII of England. He is notable for being the grandfather of Sir Walter Raleigh, the famous English explorer and courtier.
Owain ap Gruffydd (c. 1359 - 1415), also known as Owain of Powys, was a Welsh nobleman and military leader who fought alongside Owain Glyndŵr in the Welsh revolt against the English in the early 15th century.
While the name Owain has its roots in Welsh culture and history, it has also been used by people of other nationalities and backgrounds over the centuries, particularly in areas with strong Celtic or British influences.
People
Owain + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Owain 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
Owain: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Owain?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 142 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Owain 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 2,413,763 US residents.
Is Owain a common name?
We classify Owain as "Very Rare". It ranks above 69.5% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 144 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Owain most popular?
The single biggest year for Owain was 2008, when 16 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Owain is about 17 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
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 Owain in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Owain a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Owain 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 Owain still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Owain 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 Owain 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.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only covers names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files do not have a published Census demographic snapshot. In those cases, the page still shows the SSA trend, gender history, and state data.
How many people have the name Owain?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.