Owen Surname Meaning and Family History

Derived from the Welsh first name Owain, the surname Owen is generally thought to mean well born or noble, from the Latin eugenius. As a Scottish or Irish surname, Owen may be a shortened Anglicized form of the Gaelic Mac Eoghain (McEwan), meaning son of Eoghan. Surname Origin:  Welsh Alternate Surname Spellings:  OWENS, OWIN, OWINS, OEN, OWING, OWINGS, OWENSON, MACOWEN, HOWEN, OEN, OENE, ONN Famous People with the OWEN  Surname Daniel Owen  -  Welsh novelist; well-known for writing in the Welsh languageEvelyn Owen  -  Australian designer of the Owen machine gunJohn Owen  - early 19th century governor of North CarolinaWilliam Fitzwilliam Owen  - British naval officer and explorerRobert Owen - Welsh social reformer Where Is the OWEN  Surname Most Common? The Owen surname is most prevalent in the United States  according to  Forebears, ranking among the top 500 most common surnames in the country. Owen is found in the greatest density, however, in Wales, where it is the 16th most common surname.  Ã‚  It is also fairly common in England, where it ranks just outside of the 100 most common last names, and Australia (ranked 256th). WorldNames PublicProfiler  shows that the Owen surname in 1881 was found most frequently in Wales, especially in the area around Llandudno in northern Wales. According to Forebears, the Owen surname at that time ranked 5th in Anglesey and Montgomeryshire and 7th in  Caernarfonshire and  Merionethshire. Genealogy Resources for the Surname OWEN Contrary to what you may hear, there is no such thing as an Owen  family crest or coat of arms for the Owen surname.  Coats of arms are granted to individuals, not families, and may rightfully be used only by the uninterrupted male line descendants of the person to whom the coat of arms was originally granted. The Owen/Owens/Owing  DNA Project: Individuals with the Owen  surname, and variants such as Owens or Owing, are invited to participate in this group DNA project in an attempt to learn more about Owen family origins. The website includes information on the project, the research done to date, and instructions on how to participate.OWEN  Family Genealogy Forum: This free message board is focused on descendants of Owen  ancestors around the world.FamilySearch - OWEN  Genealogy: Explore over 4.8  million results from digitized  historical records and lineage-linked family trees related to the Owen surname on this free website hosted by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.GeneaNet - Owen  Records: GeneaNet includes archival records, family trees, and other resources for individuals with the Owen  surname, with a concentration on records and families from France and other European countries. Resources and Further Reading Cottle, Basil.  Penguin Dictionary of Surnames. Baltimore, MD: Penguin Books, 1967.Dorward, David.  Scottish Surnames. Collins Celtic (Pocket edition), 1998.Fucilla, Joseph.  Our Italian Surnames. Genealogical Publishing Company, 2003.Hanks, Patrick and Flavia Hodges.  A Dictionary of Surnames. Oxford University Press, 1989.Hanks, Patrick.  Dictionary of American Family Names. Oxford University Press, 2003.Reaney, P.H.  A Dictionary of English Surnames. Oxford University Press, 1997.Smith, Elsdon C.  American Surnames. Genealogical Publishing Company, 1997.