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There are approximately 72,251 people named Owen in the UK. That makes it the 101th most common surname overall. Out of every million people in the UK, approximately 1,144 are named Owen.

Region of origin

British Isles

Country of origin

Wales

Language of origin

Welsh

Religion of origin

Christian

Classification

Celtic
From given name or forename

Related and similar surnames

Owens
Owan
Owenn
Owhen
Owwen
Owon
O'Wen
Ouen
Owen's
Owghen
Owuin
Ouwen
Owhon
Owuinn
Owwens
Owien
Owons
Owenu
O'Wuin
Ouens
O'Owen
Owyen

The Owen surname in historical dictionaries

An Etymological Dictionary of Family and Christian Names (1857)

(origin: Celtic.) The good offspring. Oen, Welsh, and Gaelic, uan, a lamb.

Arthur, William (1857) An Etymological Dictionary of Family and Christian Names. New York: Sheldon, Blakeman. Public Domain.

Patronymica Britannica (1860)

OWEN. A personal name in Wales. Most of our Owens are from that principality, but it is possible that a few may be of Saxon blood, for there is an Owiue in the Domesday of Yorkshire, and a still earlier Owiue occurs in the Codex Diplomaticus. It is one of the most common of Welsh surnames. As I have elsewhere observed in this volume, the commonness of AVelsh patronymics has tended to a great confusion of the ' gentle ' and the ' simple ' in Wales. There are thousands of Owens who bear that name simply because their grandfathers or perhaps their fathers bore it as a Christian name. In ancient families the patryuomic became a statiouarj' family name about the tunes of Henry VIII. and Queen Elizabeth.

Lower, Mark A (1860) Patronymica Britannica: a dictionary of the family names of the United Kingdom. London: J.R. Smith. Public Domain.

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