boys' name ★ peaked 2016

Owen

Gender Boy Rank 2025 #31 Trend ↓ Falling 13%

Owen is usually an anglicised variant of the Welsh personal name Owain.

Rank 2025
#31
among boys · ↓5 vs 2024
Babies in 2025
7,223
named Owen · -5% vs 2024
How common
1 in 238
boys born in 2025
Peak year
2016
10,331 babies
All-time total
246,320
#158 all-time among boys
First recorded
1880
in Social Security records

Owen popularity over time

246,320 babies have been named Owen since 1880, according to official Social Security records. Switch measure to see births per year or the yearly rank.

Measure
Births per 1,000 babies of that sex, comparable across eras
1.883.755.637.518801900192019401960198020002020BoysGirls
BoysGirls

By decade. Change compares yearly averages, so the current partial decade is on equal footing. Best rank is the name's best yearly rank within the decade.

Decade Girls Boys Total Per year Change Best rank
1880s – 758 758 76 – #151
1890s – 761 761 76 0% #158
1900s – 860 860 86 +13% #182
1910s 24 3,791 3,815 382 +344% #196
1920s 19 5,873 5,892 589 +54% #195
1930s 19 4,285 4,304 430 -27% #245
1940s – 3,922 3,922 392 -9% #286
1950s 11 3,945 3,956 396 +1% #326
1960s 6 2,916 2,922 292 -26% #405
1970s 17 3,017 3,034 303 +4% #412
1980s 18 4,050 4,068 407 +34% #404
1990s 32 9,658 9,690 969 +138% #153
2000s 144 61,878 62,022 6,202 +540% #51
2010s 212 91,098 91,310 9,131 +47% #21
2020s (to 2025) 174 48,832 49,006 8,168 -11% #18

Where Owen is heading

A five-year projection from the recent trend in births per 1,000 boys (damped so it flattens over time), converted to babies at today's birth totals. The implied rank places that projection in the 2025 field. A projection, not a promise: real trends bend.

Year Projected babies Per 1,000 boys Implied rank
2026 7,013 4.11 #32
2027 6,867 4.02 #35
2028 6,744 3.95 #36
2029 6,642 3.89 #36
2030 6,556 3.84 #38

Where Owen is most popular

Boys named Owen per 1,000 boys born in each state, 2021–2025. National average: 4.65 per 1,000. Strongest in Vermont, New Hampshire, and Wyoming.

Vs national average
well below below near national above well above no data

All 50 states and DC, sorted by rate. Counts are boys named Owen born 2021–2025; the per-1,000 rate makes states of different sizes comparable, and the last column shows each state against the national average.

State Boys 2021–2025 Per 1,000 vs national
Vermont 99 15.8 +239%
New Hampshire 309 13.9 +199%
Wyoming 78 13.5 +190%
Maine 252 13.0 +179%
Rhode Island 188 11.5 +148%
Montana 178 10.1 +117%
Delaware 149 9.83 +111%
North Dakota 165 9.66 +108%
Massachusetts 1,319 9.59 +106%
Alaska 107 8.98 +93%
West Virginia 289 8.85 +90%
Wisconsin 1,034 8.73 +88%
Minnesota 1,065 8.68 +87%
Nebraska 371 8.53 +83%
South Dakota 156 8.38 +80%
Iowa 562 8.15 +75%
Connecticut 550 8.12 +75%
District of Columbia 116 7.86 +69%
Pennsylvania 2,076 7.82 +68%
Utah 738 7.73 +66%
Ohio 1,949 7.35 +58%
Michigan 1,487 7.26 +56%
Idaho 297 7.26 +56%
Colorado 925 7.17 +54%
Missouri 970 7.00 +50%
Oregon 520 6.85 +47%
Indiana 1,059 6.60 +42%
Kentucky 646 6.44 +38%
Illinois 1,635 6.40 +38%
Kansas 437 6.37 +37%
Washington 1,035 6.33 +36%
Virginia 1,179 6.21 +34%
Maryland 702 5.89 +27%
New Jersey 1,101 5.47 +18%
North Carolina 1,322 5.18 +11%
Tennessee 915 5.07 +9%
New York 2,186 5.05 +9%
Louisiana 510 4.99 +7%
Oklahoma 435 4.92 +6%
South Carolina 482 4.66 ≈ national
Hawaii 71 4.57 ≈ national
Arkansas 289 4.57 ≈ national
Alabama 484 4.43 -5%
Nevada 235 4.12 -11%
Arizona 664 4.06 -13%
Georgia 940 3.71 -20%
Mississippi 209 3.68 -21%
New Mexico 120 3.64 -22%
California 3,305 3.62 -22%
Florida 1,707 3.61 -22%
Texas 2,546 2.89 -38%

State counts come from the Social Security Administration's state files, which omit any state-year with fewer than five babies of a name, so small states can undercount slightly.

The story of Owen

Owen is a top-50 name for boys in the United States, ranked #31 in 2025 with 7,190 babies given the name. It is currently holding steady compared with a decade ago.

Since 1880, 246,320 American babies have been named Owen. Its peak came in 2016, when 10,331 newborns received the name, the signature sound of the 2010s.

The chart above shows the full history: the popularity view (births per 1,000 babies) is the honest comparison across generations, since total US births have changed enormously since 1880. Switch to the rank view to see where Owen stood among all boys' names in any year, or use the compare tool to plot it against other names.

How old are people named Owen?

The median living Owen is about 12 years old; half are between 6 and 19. An estimated 225 thousand people named Owen are alive in the United States today.

median 12 020406080100

Estimated from births per year and Social Security period life tables; an approximation of the living age distribution, by age in years.

Owen year by year

Every year since 2001, and five-year steps back to 1880. Rank is within each sex.

Year Girls Girls rank Boys Boys rank
2025 33 #4,329 7,190 #31
2024 21 #5,921 7,599 #26
2023 30 #4,631 8,015 #20
2022 26 #5,134 8,589 #18
2021 39 #3,862 8,770 #22
2020 25 #5,134 8,669 #22
2019 27 #5,005 9,347 #21
2018 25 #5,289 9,337 #25
2017 30 #4,669 9,363 #28
2016 26 #5,246 10,305 #24
2015 18 #6,918 9,608 #36
2014 23 #5,751 9,159 #36
2013 15 #8,060 8,766 #38
2012 20 #6,519 8,695 #38
2011 18 #7,049 8,341 #44
2010 10 #11,053 8,177 #47
2009 14 #8,775 8,142 #51
2008 25 #5,709 7,802 #58
2007 13 #9,412 8,247 #56
2006 11 #10,436 8,173 #58
2005 21 #5,952 7,169 #60
2004 28 #4,787 6,707 #67
2003 14 #7,892 5,701 #72
2002 11 #9,327 4,190 #94
2001 – – 3,032 #130
2000 7 #12,797 2,715 #145
1995 6 #12,920 701 #350
1990 – – 480 #453
1985 6 #10,263 412 #422
1980 – – 351 #442
1975 – – 298 #467
1970 6 #7,716 238 #524
1965 – – 273 #471
1960 – – 386 #405
1955 – – 347 #387
1950 6 #5,139 389 #341
1945 – – 369 #308
1940 – – 363 #294
1935 – – 411 #268
1930 8 #3,589 513 #245
1925 – – 582 #227
1920 – – 598 #217
1915 5 #4,802 479 #216
1910 – – 118 #214
1905 – – 89 #196
1900 – – 93 #203
1895 – – 75 #195
1890 – – 68 #197
1885 – – 70 #188
1880 – – 78 #169

Famous people named Owen

The most globally famous bearers of the name, ranked by fame across Wikipedia editions (Pantheon project, MIT).

  1. 1 Owen Wilson Owen Wilson American actor (born 1968) Contemporary
  2. 2 Owen Hart Owen Hart Canadian-American professional wrestler (1965–1999) Contemporary
  3. 3 Owen Hargreaves Owen Hargreaves England footballer and TV pundit (born 1981) Contemporary
  4. 4 Owen Tudor Owen Tudor Welsh courtier and soldier (c.1400–1461) Medieval
  5. 5 Owen Smith Owen Smith British former politician (born 1970) Contemporary
  6. 6 Owen Coyle Owen Coyle Irish-Scottish football manager (born 1966) Contemporary
  7. 7 Owen Barfield Owen Barfield British philosopher (1898–1997) 19th century
  8. 8 Owen Nolan Owen Nolan Canadian ice hockey player (born 1972) Contemporary
  9. 9 Owen Garriott Owen Garriott American electrical engineer and astronaut (1930–2019) Contemporary
  10. 10 Owen Pallett Owen Pallett Canadian composer, violinist, keyboardist, and vocalist b. 1979 · Contemporary
  11. 11 Owen Moore Owen Moore American actor (1886–1939) 19th century
  12. 12 Owen D. Young Owen D. Young American industrialist, lawyer, and diplomat (1874–1962) 19th century
  13. 13 Owen Arthur Owen Arthur Prime Minister of Barbados from 1994 to 2008 b. 1949 · Contemporary
  14. 14 Owen Chamberlain Owen Chamberlain American physicist (1920–2006) Contemporary
  15. 15 Owen Jones Owen Jones English columnist and activist (born 1984) Contemporary
  16. 16 Owen Willans Richardson Owen Willans Richardson British physicist (1879–1959) 19th century

Portraits from Wikipedia (Wikimedia Commons).

Frequently asked questions

Quick answers about Owen, drawn from the same Social Security data as the charts above.

How old is the average Owen?

The median living Owen is about 12 years old. Half of all living Owens are between 6 and 19 years old.

How many people named Owen are alive today?

An estimated 225 thousand people named Owen are alive in the United States, based on 246,320 recorded births and Social Security life tables.

What does the name Owen mean?

Owen is usually an anglicised variant of the Welsh personal name Owain.

How popular is the name Owen in 2025?

Owen ranked #31 among boys' names in the United States in 2025, with 7,190 babies given the name, according to Social Security Administration data.

How many people are named Owen?

246,320 babies have been named Owen in the United States since 1880, based on Social Security card applications.

When was the name Owen most popular?

Owen peaked in 2016, when 10,331 newborns received the name.

Is Owen a boy or girl name?

Owen is overwhelmingly a boy's name: 100% of babies with the name.

Is the name Owen rising or falling?

Owen has been roughly stable over the past decade.

Will Owen become more popular?

Owen is trending downward. If the recent trend holds, we project roughly 6,556 boys named Owen in 2030, which would rank around #38. Forecasts assume the current trend continues and become less certain further out.

Who are famous people named Owen?

Well-known people named Owen include Owen Wilson (actor), Owen Hart (wrestler), Owen Hargreaves (soccer player).

Names like Owen

Names that sound and feel close to Owen: shared sounds, similar era, similar popularity. Each links to its full history.

Compare Owen with similar names → More names starting with O →