Boy name#164 of boy names
Owen
Pronounced AW1 AE1 N (ARPABET)
- 2 syllables
- Peaked 2016
- 145 years in use
- 1 spelling
How popular is Owen?
Owen is a boys' name, and has been in the record since the data starts in 1880. It has been given to 239,487 children — the 164th most common boys' name on record.
Its use has been broadly flat across the past two decades. Its best single year was 2016, when 10,336 children were given it.
Owan is counted with it here, since the two are pronounced identically.
Spelling variants
These spellings sound identical to Owen and are counted together with it, which is why the totals here are higher than a single-spelling count.
- Owan
Characteristics
- 2 syllables
Phonetic detail
- Pronunciations:
- AW1 AE1 N · AW1 AH0 N · OW1 AE1 N · OW1 AH0 N
- Stress pattern:
- 11 · 10 · 11 · 10
- Syllables:
- 2
Stress digits mark unstressed (0), primary (1) and secondary (2) syllables.
Names like Owen
Same first letter and syllable count, peaking around the same time.
Sibling names for Owen
Names from the same era with a matching rhythm but a different initial.
Frequently asked questions
- How popular is the name Owen?
- Owen ranks 164th among boys' names in US records, with 239,487 births since 1880. Over the past decade it accounts for 89,756.
- Is Owen a unisex name?
- No. Owen is recorded almost entirely as a boys' name; births to the other gender are too few to register as a share.
- When was Owen most popular?
- 2016, when 10,336 children were given the name. It has been in use for 145 years and is still recorded as of 2024.
- How else is Owen spelled?
- Owan. All of these sound the same and are counted together in the totals on this page.