Owen is usually an anglicised variant of the Welsh personal name 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 Eugenis> OW Ou[u]ein, Eug[u]ein ... variously written in MW as Ewein, Owein, Ywein. LL gives the names Euguen, Iguein, Yuein, Ouein. The corresponding form in Irish is Eoghan." [2] Morgan and Morgan note that there are less likely alternative explanations, and agree with Rachel Bromwich that Welsh Owein "is normally latinised as Eugenius", and that both the Welsh and Irish forms are Latin derivatives. [2]
The Welsh name is a cognate and near-homonym of the Irish name Eógan (pronounced /'oːəun/, partially anglicised as 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, 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 Ouen, as in the case of Ouen of Rouen, metropolitan bishop of Rouen, known in Latin as Audoenus, from Germanic Audwin and Aldwin with French variant form Audoin. The anglicisation of the French digraph ou to ow is common in words such as couard>coward, and Old French poueir>power, tour>tower, etc. Welsh Owain has sometimes been Latinised as Audoenus in certain parish registers, through a folk etymology process, because both Owain and Ouen/Audwin have a typical anglicised form of Owen. [2]
A relatively uncommon English surname, Owin, has also sometimes been spelt Owen.
The following notable people have Owen as a surname or first name.
Holmes is an English-language surname with several origins.
Trevor is a common given name or surname of Welsh origin. It is an habitational name, deriving from the Welsh tre(f), meaning "homestead", or "settlement" and fawr, meaning "large, big". The Cornish language equivalent is Trevorrow and is most associated with Ludgvan.
The surname Cox is of English or Welsh origin, and may have originated independently in several places in Great Britain, with the variations arriving at a standard spelling only later. There are also two native Scottish & Irish surnames which were anglicised into Cox.
Paterson is a Scottish and Irish surname meaning "Father's son" or "son of Patrick". In Connacht, and Ulster, the name is considered to be an Anglicised form of the Irish language surname Ó Casáin. Paterson is rarely used as a given name. There are other spellings, including Patterson. Notable people with the surname include:
Barry is both a given name and an Irish and West African surname. The given name can be an Anglicised form of some Irish personal names or shortened form of Barrington or Finbarr, while the surname has numerous etymological origins, and is derived from both place names and personal names.
Éogan is an early Irish male given name, which also has the hypocoristic and diminutive forms Eoganán, Eóghainin, Eóghain and Eóghainn. The Modern Irish form of the name is Eoghan.
Thomas is a common surname of English, Welsh, Irish, Scottish, French, German, Dutch, and Danish origin.
The surname Burns has several origins. In some cases, it derived from the Middle English or Scots burn, and originated as a topographic name for an individual who lived by a stream. In other cases the surname is a variant form of the surname Burnhouse, which originated as a habitational name, derived from a place name made up of the word elements burn and house. In other cases the surname Burns originated as a nickname meaning "burn house". In other cases, the surname Burns is an Anglicised form of the Irish Ó Broin, which means "descendant of Bran". In some cases the surname Burns is an Americanized form of the Jewish surname Bernstein, which is derived from the German bernstein ("amber").
The surname Ford has several origins. In some cases it originated as a name for someone who lived near a ford, and is therefore derived from the Old English and Middle English ford. In some cases, the surname is derived from places named Ford. Examples of such places include Ford in Northumberland, a place in Somerset, Ford in Shropshire, Ford in West Sussex, and Forde in Dorset.
Morgan is a surname of Welsh origin.
Eugene is a common male given name that comes from the Greek εὐγενής (eugenēs), "noble", literally "well-born", from εὖ (eu), "well" and γένος (genos), "race, stock, kin". Gene is a common shortened form. The feminine variant is Eugenia or Eugenie.
Walsh is a common Irish surname, meaning "Briton" or "foreigner", taken to Ireland by soldiers from Britain, namely Welsh, Cambro-Norman, Cornish and Cumbrian soldiers during and after the Norman invasion of Ireland. It is the fourth most common surname in Ireland, and the 265th most common in the United States. There are variants including "Walshe", “Welch”, "Welsh", and "Brannagh". Walsh is uncommon as a given name. The name is often pronounced "Welsh" in the south and west of the country. In Great Britain, Guppy encountered the name only in Lancashire. It is the surname of the Barons Ormathwaite.
Ward is a surname of either Old English or Old Gaelic origin, common in English-speaking countries.
Eoin is a masculine Irish-language given name. The Scottish Gaelic equivalent is Eòin and both are closely related to the Welsh Ioan. It is also cognate with the Irish Seán and English John. In the Irish language, it is the name used for all Biblical figures known as John in English, including John the Baptist and John the Apostle.
Ewan is an anglicisation of the Scottish Gaelic name Eòghann. It is possibly a derivative of the Pictish name, Uuen, "The Warrior" or "born of the mountain". It is most common as a male given name in Scotland and Canada. It is also, less commonly, a surname, especially among the Scottish Clans, examples of variation in spelling include McEwan’s beer and MacEwan University.
Bowen is a Celtic surname representing two separate Celtic ethnicities, the Welsh ab Owain meaning "son of Owen" and the Irish Ó Buadhacháin meaning "descendant of Bohan". The Bowen lineage can be traced back to Llwyngwair in the 11th century, near Nevern in Pembrokeshire. The Bowen surname was adopted in 1424. There are seven Bowen crests and the Bowen/Owen family group share a tartan. The Bowen/Bowens surnames are more commonly found in southern Wales, while the Owen/Owens surnames are more commonly found in northern Wales.
Owain is a name of Welsh origin, variously written in Old Welsh as Ougein, Eugein, Euguen, Iguein, Ou(u)ein, Eug(u)ein, Yuein, and in Middle Welsh as Ewein, Owein, and Ywein. Other variants of the name Owain include Ewein, Iguein, Owein, Ouein, Ywen, Ywein, Ywain, Yuein, and Yvain. Owain has also been Latinized as Oenus.
Owens is a surname representing two separate Celtic ethnicities: the Welsh from ab Owain meaning "son of Owen" with English patronymic-s, and the Irish by the Gaelic surname Mac Eoghain.
Madden is the Anglicized surname of Madadhan of Irish origin, meaning "hound". It is also a less popular, gender-neutral given name.
Quinn is an Anglicised form of the Irish Ó Coinn or Mac Cuinn. The latter surname means "descendant of Conn". The surname Quinn is also rendered Ó Cuinn or Mac Cuinn in Irish. The surname is borne by several unrelated families in Ireland, especially in the northern province of Ulster and also the counties of Clare, Longford, and Mayo. According to the historian C. Thomas Cairney, the O'Quins were part of the Conmaicne Rein tribe in Ireland who came from the Erainn tribe who were the second wave of Celts to settle in Ireland from about 500 and 100 BC. The most notable family of the name are that of Thomond, a Dalcassian sept, who derive their surname from Niall Ó Cuinn who was slain at the Battle of Clontarf in 1014. This family was formerly represented by the Earls of Dunraven. Another family is that seated in Annaly, who were related to the O'Farrell lords of Longford. Another Quinn family was seated at An Chraobh, County Tyrone and they were related to the O'Neill Kings of Tír Eoghain and for whom they acted as Hereditary Quartermasters. Other families include one seated in Antrim; one seated in Raphoe; and one called Clann Cuain, seated near Castlebar. In the seventeenth century, the surname Quinn was common in Waterford. In 1890, the surname was numerous in Dublin, Tyrone, Antrim, and Roscommon. Quinn is one of the twenty most common surnames in Ireland. The surname Quinn is sometimes associated with Catholics, while Quin is associated with Protestants.