2000
#126
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 176,334
First available Census row
Per 100,000 65.37
Common Last name
Owens
Welsh surname derived from the given name Owain, meaning "well-born" or "noble".
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 200,861 Americans carry the last name Owens. That puts it at #143 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 58.60 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 1,706 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Owens 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 Owens with 1881 census detail, origin facts and modern UK distribution where available.
Bearers in the US
201K
1 in 1,706
Census rank
#143
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
58.6
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
175K
common in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 175,160 bearers of the surname Owens in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 58.60 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 143rd position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Owens, the largest self-reported group is White at 63.4%. The next largest groups are Black (27.5%) and Two or More Races (4.8%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Owens
The surname Owens is of Welsh origin and is derived from the medieval Welsh personal name Owain, which is a cognate of the name Owen. Owain itself derived from the Welsh word 'eogyn', meaning 'youth' or 'young warrior'. The surname likely emerged in the 12th or 13th century as the use of hereditary surnames became more prevalent in Wales.
Owens is a common spelling variation of the Welsh patronymic surname ap Owen, meaning 'son of Owen'. Other early spellings included Oweyn, Oven, and Owyne. The name was particularly prominent in the counties of Anglesey, Caernarvonshire, and Merionethshire in North Wales.
One of the earliest recorded bearers of the name was Owain Gwynedd, Prince of Gwynedd, who lived from around 1100 to 1170. He is considered one of the most celebrated Welsh rulers of the medieval period and played a significant role in the struggle for Welsh independence against the Normans.
The Domesday Book, a great survey of landowners in England and Wales commissioned by William the Conqueror in 1086, does not contain any references to the surname Owens or its variants. However, it does mention several individuals with the personal name Owain or Owen.
In the 14th century, the name appeared in various records and manuscripts, such as the Patent Rolls of King Edward III, which mentioned an Ythel ap Oweyn in 1343. Another early reference was found in the Merioneth Lay Subsidy Roll of 1292-3, listing a Thomas ap Oweyn.
Notable individuals with the surname Owens throughout history include:
1. Wilfred Owen (1893-1918), an influential English poet and soldier who is widely regarded as one of the leading poets of the First World War.
2. Robert Owens (c. 1771-1858), an English industrialist and social reformer who founded the utopian settlement of New Harmony, Indiana.
3. Jesse Owens (1913-1980), an American track and field athlete who achieved international fame at the 1936 Berlin Olympics by winning four gold medals.
4. Iris Owens (1923-2008), an American biochemist and researcher who made significant contributions to the understanding of Alzheimer's disease.
5. Gary Owens (1936-2015), an American voice actor and radio announcer best known for his work on the comedy series Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Owens
Among Census respondents with the surname Owens, the largest self-reported group is White at 63.4%. The next largest groups are Black (27.5%) and Two or More Races (4.8%).
The bar chart below shows how Owens 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 Owens surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White63.4% · 111,011
- Black or African American27.5% · 48,082
- Two or more races4.8% · 8,357
- Hispanic or Latino3.1% · 5,473
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.7% · 1,309
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.5% · 928
Timeline
Historical Census data for Owens
Owens 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
#140
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 182,719
+6,385 bearers (+3.6%)
Per 100,000 61.94
Rank movement Down 14 places
2020
#143
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 175,160
-7,559 bearers (-4.1%)
Per 100,000 58.60
Rank movement Down 3 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #126 | 176,334 | 65.37 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #140 | 182,719 | 61.94 | +6,385 bearers (+3.6%) | Down 14 places |
| 2020 | #143 | 175,160 | 58.60 | -7,559 bearers (-4.1%) | Down 3 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 Owens 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 | #140 | #143 | -2.1% |
| Count | 182,719 | 175,160 | -4.1% |
| Per 100K | 61.94 | 58.60 | -5.4% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Owens bearers went from 182,719 to 175,160 (-4.1% change). The surname moved down 3 positions in the national ranking, going from #140 to #143.
Notable bearers
Famous people with the surname Owens
FAQ
Owens surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Owens?
Name Census estimates that about 200,861 living Americans carry the surname Owens. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 1,706 residents.
How common is Owens?
Owens ranks #143 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Common." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 58.60 per 100,000 residents, which is about 59 people out of every 100,000.
How many people with this surname were counted in the Census?
The raw 2020 Census file counted 175,160 people with the surname Owens. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (200,861), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 58.6 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 58.60 per 100,000 means that if you picked a random group of 100,000 U.S. residents, you would expect about 59 of them to have the surname Owens.
Has Owens become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Owens went from 182,719 recorded bearers to 175,160. That is a decrease of 7,559 (-4.1%). In the national ranking it fell from #140 to #143.
What does the Census say about the background of Owens?
Among Census respondents with the surname Owens, the largest self-reported group is White at 63.4%. The next largest groups are Black (27.5%) and Two or More Races (4.8%). 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 Owens in the 2020 Census, accounting for 63.4% (111,011 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Owens appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (63.4%), Black (27.5%), Two or More Races (4.8%). 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 Owens (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 Owens mean?
Welsh surname derived from the given name Owain, meaning "well-born" or "noble". 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 Owens (58.60 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 Americans have the surname Owens?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.