Owen (name) explained
Owen is usually an anglicised variant of the Welsh personal name Welsh: [[Owain]]. Originally a patronymic, Owen became a fixed surname in Wales beginning with the reign of Henry VIII.[1] Etymologists consider it to originate from Eugene, meaning 'noble-born'.[2] According to T. J. Morgan and Prys Morgan in Welsh Surnames: "the name is a derivation of the Latin Latin: Eugenis > OW Ou[u]ein, Eug[u]ein ... variously written in MW as Ewein, Owein, Ywein. LL gives the names Latin: Euguen, Latin: Iguein, Latin: Yuein, Latin: Ouein. The corresponding form in Irish is Irish: Eoghan." Morgan and Morgan note that there are less likely alternative explanations, and agree with Rachel Bromwich that Welsh Welsh: Owein "is normally latinised as Latin: Eugenius", and that both the Welsh and Irish forms are Latin derivatives.
The Welsh name is a cognate and near-homonym of the Irish name Irish: [[Eógan]] (pronounced /'oːəun/, partially anglicised as Irish: Eoghan, as noted by Morgan and Morgan, among other spellings).[3] As such, the given name Owney is usually regarded as a diminutive of either Owen or Eoghan. However, another Irish name, Irish: [[Uaithne]] (/ˈuənʲə/, meaning 'wood', 'work', 'pillar', or 'harmony') has also sometimes been anglicised as Owney.
Owen can also be an anglicised form of the French name French: Ouen, as in the case of Ouen of Rouen, metropolitan bishop of Rouen, known in Latin as Latin: Audoenus, from Germanic Germanic languages: Audwin and Germanic languages: Aldwin with French variant form French: Audoin. The anglicisation of the French digraph ou to ow is common in words such as French: couard > coward, and Old French French, Old (842-ca.1400);: poueir > power, French: tour > tower, etc. Welsh Welsh: Owain has sometimes been Latinised as Latin: Audoenus in certain parish registers, through a folk etymology process, because both Welsh: Owain and French: Ouen/Germanic languages: Audwin have a typical anglicised form of Owen.
A relatively uncommon English surname, Owin, has also sometimes been spelt Owen.
__TOC__
The following notable people have Owen as a surname or first name.
Surname
A–E
- Alfred Owen (footballer, born 1880), English footballer
- Amanda Owen (born 1974), "the Yorkshire Shepherdess" and writer
- Beverley Owen (1937–2019), American actress
- Bill Owen (actor) (1914–1999), English actor, father of Tom Owen
- Bill Owen (baseball), American college baseball coach
- Bradley Owen (born 1950), American politician
- Chris Owen (actor) (born 1980), American actor
- Chris Owen (director) (1944–2018), Australian film director
- Cliff Owen (1919–1993), British TV and film director
- Clive Owen (born 1964), English actor
- Dale Owen (1924–1997), Welsh architect
- Daniel Owen (1836–1895), Welsh novelist
- David Owen, multiple people
- Dicky Owen (1876–1932), Welsh international rugby union player
- Duane Owen (1961–2023), American convicted murderer
- Edmund Owen (1847–1915), English surgeon
- Eleanor Owen (1921–2022), American journalist and actress
- Elias Owen (Welsh cleric) (1833–1899), Welsh cleric and antiquary
- Elias Owen (footballer) (1863–1888), Welsh international footballer
- Elias K. Owen (1834–1877), United States Navy officer
- Evelyn Owen (1915–1949), Australian designer of the Owen submachine gun
F–M
- Francis Owen (philologist) (1886–1975), Canadian philologist and military officer
- Gareth Owen (footballer born 1971), Welsh footballer
- Gareth Owen (footballer born 1982), Welsh footballer
- Gilberto Owen (1904–1952), Mexican poet
- Gordon Owen (born 1959), English footballer
- Greg Owen (golfer) (born 1972), English golfer
- Greg Owen (activist) British HIV/AIDS activist
- Gwilym Ellis Lane Owen (1922–1982), Welsh philosopher
- Henry Owen (1716–1795), Welsh theologian
- Huw Parri Owen (1926–1996), Welsh theologian, writer and academic
- Ian Owen (born 1948), former Australian rules footballer
- Sir Isambard Owen (1850–1927), British physician and university academic
- Jake Owen (born 1981), American singer
- James Owen, multiple people
- Jane Owen (born 1963), British ambassador
- Jimmy Owen (1864–??), English footballer
- John Owen, multiple people
- Joshua T. Owen (1821–1887), Welsh-American military officer
- Kai Owen (born 1975), Welsh actor
- Kenneth Owen (1918–2001), American farmer and politician
- Larry Owen (1955–2018), American baseball player
- Laurence Owen (1944–1961), American figure skater
- Laurence Owen (composer) (born 1989), British composer and entertainer
- Les Owen (speedway rider) (1939-2004), English international speedway rider
- Lewis Owen, multiple people
- Lloyd Owen (born 1966), English actor
- Lucy Owen (born 1971), Welsh newsreader
- Maria Tallant Owen (1825–1913), American botanist
- Mark Owen (born 1972), English musician and member of Take That
- Marv Owen (1906–1991), American baseball player, manager, and scout
- Mary Owen, multiple people
- May Owen (1892–1988), Texas physician
- Michael Owen, multiple people
N–Z
- Nick Owen (born 1947), English television presenter and newsreader
- Nora Owen (born 1945), Irish politician
- Orville Ward Owen (1854–1924), American physician and Baconian
- Peter Owen, makeup artist
- Priscilla Owen (born 1954), American judge on the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals
- Rachel Owen (1968–2016), Welsh photographer, printmaker and lecturer
- Randy Owen (born 1949), American country musician
- Ray Owen (1941–2006), English rugby league footballer
- Reginald Owen (1887–1972), English actor
- Richard Owen, multiple people
- Robert Owen, multiple people
- Roger Owen, multiple people
- Russell Owen (1889–1952), American journalist
- Ruth Bryan Owen (1885–1954), member of Congress and U.S. ambassador
- Samuel Owen (1769?–1857), English maritime artist
- Sarah Owen, British Member of Parliament elected 2019
- Scott Owen (born 1975), double bass player for Australian rock band The Living End
- Sid Owen (born 1972), English actor
- Siobhan Owen (born 1993), Australian harpist
- Sue Owen, multiple people
- Susan Owen, American operatic soprano
- Syd Owen (1927–1999), English footballer
- Tanner Owen (born 1996), American football player
- Thomas Owen, multiple people
- Walter Owen, multiple people
- Wilfred Owen (1893–1918), British World War I poet
- William Fitzwilliam Owen (1774–1857), British naval officer, hydrographer, and explorer
- William Owen, multiple people
First name
A–J
- Owen I of Strathclyde, King of Strathclyde (in the western part of modern Scotland)
- Owen Arthur (born 1949} former Prime Minister of Barbados
- Owen Aspinall (1927–1997), 45th Governor of American Samoa
- Owen Astrachan (born 1956), Duke University computer scientist
- Owen Biddle, multiple people
- Owen M. Begley (1906–1981), New York politician
- Owen Bennett (born 1985), British former journalist
- Owen Bradley (1915–1998), American country music producer
- Owen Cheung (born 1987), Hong Kong actor
- Owen Clarke, English musician, member of band Hot Chip
- Owen Coyle (born 1966), Irish professional football player and current manager of Queen's Park in Scotland
- Owen Daniels (born 1982), American professional football player
- Owen Davis (1874–1956), American Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright
- Owen Farrell (born 1991), English rugby union player
- Owen Franks (born 1987), New Zealand rugby union player
- Owen Freeman (born 2004), American basketball player
- Owen Da Gama (born 1961), South African football manager
- Owen Garriott (1930–2019), American Skylab and Space Shuttle astronaut
- Owen Garvan (born 1988), Irish footballer
- Owen Hargreaves (born 1981), English footballer
- Owen Harris (1837–1905), Welsh politician
- Owen Harris (director), British film and television director
- Owen Hart (1965–1999), Canadian professional wrestler
- Owen Hatherley (born 1981), British writer and journalist
- Owen Husney (born 1947), American music manager and record executive
- Owen Johnson, multiple people
- Owen Jones, multiple people
H–Z
- Owen Hale (born 1948), American drummer for Lynyrd Skynyrd
- Owen Hubert (born 2000), Canadian-American football player
- Owen Kelly (born 1977), Australian race car driver
- Owen King (born 1977), American author
- Owen Klassen (born 1991), Canadian basketball player
- Owen Lovejoy (1811–1864), American lawyer and politician
- Owen Mulligan (born 1981), three-time All-Ireland SFC winning Tyrone player
- Owen Nolan (born 1972), Northern Irish hockey player
- Owen Oyston (born 1934), English businessman and convicted rapist
- Owen Pallett (born 1979), Canadian songwriter and winner of the inaugural Polaris Music Prize
- Owen Pappoe (born 2000), American football player
- Owen Rinehart, American polo player
- Owen Roberts (disambiguation), multiple people
- Owen Roizman (1936–2023), American cinematographer
- Owen Ronald (born 1993), Scottish footballer
- Owen Rutter (1889–1944), English historian, novelist and travel writer
- Owen Schmitt (born 1985), American football player
- Owen Shannon (1879–1918), American baseball player
- Owen Ray Skelton (1886–1969), American automotive engineer
- Owen Tippett (born 1999), Canadian ice hockey winger
- Owen Tudor (c. 1400 – 1461), Welsh ancestor of the Tudor dynasty
- Owen Von Richter (born 1975), Canadian medley swimmer
- Owen Walter (born 1979), Canadian ice hockey defenceman
- Owen Warner (born 1999), English actor
- Owen Wilson (born 1968), American actor
- Owen Wright (disambiguation), multiple people
- Owen D. Young (1874–1962), American businessman, lawyer, and diplomat
Fictional characters
- Owen (Black Clover), a character in the manga series Black Clover
- Owen, a character from the animated reality series Total Drama
- Owen Grady, protagonist of Jurassic World
- Owen Green, a character in the podcast The Bright Sessions
- Owen Harper, protagonist in the television series Torchwood
- Owen Hunt in Grey's Anatomy
- Owen Lars, a Star Wars character, step-uncle of Luke Skywalker
- Owen Lawton, a character in Karen McManus's novel One of Us Is Next
- Owen Lift, son of Momma Lift in Throw Momma from the Train
- Owen Manning, a character in Chicago Med
- Owen Marshall, protagonist defense attorney in the television series Owen Marshall, Counselor at Law
- Owen Meany, title character in John Irving's novel A Prayer For Owen Meany
- Owen Mercer, the second Captain Boomerang in DC Comics
- Owen Milgrim, a main character in the miniseries Maniac
- Owen Milligan from the Degrassi series
- Owen Moore from the action-adventure video game, The Last of Us Part II
- Owen Paris from the Star Trek franchise
- Owen Quine, a character in J. K. Rowling's novel The Silkworm
- Owen Tillerman, a main character in the TV series Central Park
- Owen Underhill in King's novel Dreamcatcher
- Owen Wells in Gabrielle Zevin's novel Elsewhere
- Owen the Incline Engine, a character from the children's television series Thomas and Friends
See also
Notes and References
- Web site: Patronymic Welsh Surnames.
- Book: Morgan . T. J. . Morgan . Prys . Welsh Surnames . University of Wales Press . 1985 . Owain (Owen, Bowen, Ednowain) . 172–173.
- Book: Ó Corráin . Donnchadh . Maguire . Fidelma . Irish Names . 1981 . 1990 . 87–88.
