2000
#496
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 60,461
First available Census row
Per 100,000 22.41
Uncommon Last name
Owen
A surname of Welsh origin meaning "well-born" or "noble," derived from the Welsh name "Owain."
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 67,613 Americans carry the last name Owen. That puts it at #561 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 19.73 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 5,069 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Owen surname. You will find the Census Bureau frequency data, a multi-census history view, an ancestry and ethnicity breakdown based on self-reported demographics, the name's meaning and origin where available, and answers to the most common questions people ask about this surname.
For British records, Name Census UK has a British surname profile for Owen with 1881 census detail, origin facts and modern UK distribution where available.
Bearers in the US
68K
1 in 5,069
Census rank
#561
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
19.7
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
59K
uncommon in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 58,962 bearers of the surname Owen in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 19.73 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 561st position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Owen, the largest self-reported group is White at 88.6%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (3.7%) and Hispanic (3.6%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Owen
The surname Owen has its origins in Wales and is derived from the Welsh personal name Owain, which is a variation of the Latin name Eugenius, meaning "well-born" or "noble". This name was popular in medieval Wales and was borne by several Welsh princes and kings.
The earliest recorded use of the surname Owen dates back to the 13th century in Pembrokeshire, Wales. The name is thought to have originated from the personal name of a prominent landowner or leader in the region. The earliest known record of the surname is found in the 1292 Chancery Rolls of Pembrokeshire, where a man named Rees Owen is mentioned.
In the 14th century, the surname Owen appeared in various records from different parts of Wales, including the Llyfr Baglan (Baglan Book), a collection of Welsh genealogies and pedigrees. One notable person from this time was Owain Glyndŵr (c. 1349-1416), a Welsh prince and the last native Welshman to hold the title Prince of Wales. He led a Welsh revolt against the English in the early 15th century.
As the Owen family spread throughout Wales and beyond, the spelling of the surname varied, with forms such as Owan, Owens, and Owain being used. The surname also became associated with certain place names, such as Owenton in Monmouthshire and Owenby in Lincolnshire, England.
In the 16th century, the Owen surname gained prominence with the birth of John Owen (1616-1683), a prominent Puritan minister and theologian who served as the Vice-Chancellor of the University of Oxford. Another notable figure was Robert Owen (1771-1858), a Welsh social reformer and one of the founders of utopian socialism and the cooperative movement.
Other notable individuals with the surname Owen include:
1. William Owen (1769-1825), a Welsh educator and writer who established the first British and Foreign School Society in 1808.
2. Sir Richard Owen (1804-1892), a British biologist and paleontologist who coined the term "dinosaur" and was a pioneer in the study of fossil remains.
3. Wilfred Owen (1893-1918), a renowned English poet and soldier who is considered one of the most influential voices of World War I poetry.
4. Jesse Owen (1913-1980), an American track and field athlete who won four gold medals at the 1936 Berlin Olympics, breaking several world records and challenging Nazi ideologies of racial superiority.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Owen
Among Census respondents with the surname Owen, the largest self-reported group is White at 88.6%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (3.7%) and Hispanic (3.6%).
The bar chart below shows how Owen bearers 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 surname, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown for every Census year so the breakdown stays comparable over time. When the source file also includes raw headcounts, Name Census shows those alongside the percentages in the legend.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A person's surname does not determine their race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the Owen surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White88.6% · 52,224
- Two or more races3.7% · 2,190
- Hispanic or Latino3.6% · 2,127
- Black or African American2.4% · 1,432
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.9% · 505
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.8% · 484
Timeline
Historical Census data for Owen
Owen appears in 3 published Census surname files: 2000, 2010, 2020. The cards below show how the name's rank and bearer count changed across each release.
2010
#543
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 61,630
+1,169 bearers (+1.9%)
Per 100,000 20.89
Rank movement Down 47 places
2020
#561
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 58,962
-2,668 bearers (-4.3%)
Per 100,000 19.73
Rank movement Down 18 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #496 | 60,461 | 22.41 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #543 | 61,630 | 20.89 | +1,169 bearers (+1.9%) | Down 47 places |
| 2020 | #561 | 58,962 | 19.73 | -2,668 bearers (-4.3%) | Down 18 places |
For 2020, the Census Bureau published race and Hispanic-origin columns as counts rather than percentages. Name Census converts those counts back into shares so the ancestry section stays comparable with the older surname files.
Year on year
2010 vs 2020 Census
How has the Owen surname changed between Census years? The chart shows bearer count side by side, and the table compares rank, count, and frequency.
Census year comparison
20102020
| Metric | 2010 | 2020 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rank | #543 | #561 | -3.3% |
| Count | 61,630 | 58,962 | -4.3% |
| Per 100K | 20.89 | 19.73 | -5.6% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Owen bearers went from 61,630 to 58,962 (-4.3% change). The surname moved down 18 positions in the national ranking, going from #543 to #561.
Notable bearers
Famous people with the surname Owen
FAQ
Owen surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Owen?
Name Census estimates that about 67,613 living Americans carry the surname Owen. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 5,069 residents.
How common is Owen?
Owen ranks #561 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Uncommon." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 19.73 per 100,000 residents, which is about 20 people out of every 100,000.
How many people with this surname were counted in the Census?
The raw 2020 Census file counted 58,962 people with the surname Owen. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (67,613), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 19.73 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 19.73 per 100,000 means that if you picked a random group of 100,000 U.S. residents, you would expect about 20 of them to have the surname Owen.
Has Owen become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Owen went from 61,630 recorded bearers to 58,962. That is a decrease of 2,668 (-4.3%). In the national ranking it fell from #543 to #561.
What does the Census say about the background of Owen?
Among Census respondents with the surname Owen, the largest self-reported group is White at 88.6%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (3.7%) and Hispanic (3.6%). These figures come from the 2020 Census Bureau surname tables, based on how respondents described their own race and ethnicity.
Which group reports this surname most often?
White is the largest self-reported group for the surname Owen in the 2020 Census, accounting for 88.6% (52,224 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Owen appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (88.6%), Two or More Races (3.7%), Hispanic (3.6%). For 2020, the source file also published raw headcounts for each group, which is why this page can show both percentages and counts in the ancestry section.
Is this page using the latest Census data?
Yes. This page is using the latest surname file currently loaded on Name Census, which is 2020. The historical section above also keeps any older Census surname entries we have for Owen (2000, 2010, 2020).
Does the Census include every surname?
No. The Census Bureau only publishes surnames that appeared at least 100 times in a given decennial Census. That means very rare surnames are excluded entirely, and a surname can appear in one Census release but disappear from a later one if it falls below the reporting threshold.
Why don't the ancestry percentages always add up to exactly 100%?
There are two main reasons: rounding and suppression. The Census Bureau rounds published values, and it may suppress very small cells to protect privacy. For 2020, the Bureau also published raw group counts rather than direct percentages, so Name Census converts those counts back into shares for comparability across census years.
What does Owen mean?
A surname of Welsh origin meaning "well-born" or "noble," derived from the Welsh name "Owain." The fuller origin note on this page goes into more detail.
Where does the surname data come from?
All surname statistics on Name Census are drawn from the US Census Bureau's decennial surname frequency tables. These files list every surname that appeared 100 or more times in the 2020 Census, along with a count, a per-100,000 rate, and a self-reported demographic breakdown. You can read the full explanation on our methodology page.
How does Name Census estimate living bearers?
For surnames, Name Census does not age cohorts the way it does for first names. Instead, it takes the Census Bureau's published frequency for Owen (19.73 per 100,000) and applies that rate to the current U.S. resident population to estimate how many living Americans have the surname today.
How many people have the last name Owen?
If you just want to know how many people have the last name Owen, HowManyOfMe.org gives you the headline number in one glance.