The Baby Name Wizard

Reader Contributions

Contribute to, or edit, this collection of community wisdom on the name Owen!

Comments and insights on the name Owen: | Edit

Share what you know!

Personal experiences with the name Owen: | Edit

My son (age 4) is named Owen. It is a nice name and I haven't regretted choosing it for one second. It is easy to pronounce as well. I always feel sorry for toddlers and preschoolers who can't pronounce their own names.

Nicknames for Owen: | Edit

Such a great name, doesn't need a nickname!

O
Ollie
Owie
Owie-O

Meanings and history of the name Owen: | Edit

St. Owen was bishop of Rouen, France in the 7th century. He was born in Sancy, near Soissons, about 600 AD of a Frankish family. While he was still a child, his family housed and entertained the exiled St. Columban, who greatly influenced his early education. In his youth Owen was sent to the court of St. Clotaire II where he became an outstanding student. He gained the favor of the King and his son, who appointed him chancellor. While in office, Owen steadily opposed the then prevalent practice of simony (the practice of buying and selling ecclesiastical privileges and positions in the Catholic Church).

Owen, the nobleman, at a corrupt court, began to see the size and shape of the struggle to keep the light of Christianity burning. He became a monk and a monastery builder in 636. He was made bishop of Rouen in Normandy in 641, and built monastery after monastery, for he clearly saw that only throught these centers of Catholic living and learning could Europe be savedfrom darkness. He kept up his court connections, advising the weak Merovingian kings.

As a layman, St. Owen, with his zeal, piety and learning, was considered equal to any of the bishops. He gained a reputation for assisting the poor and homeless and ministered to widows and orphans throughout the kingdom.

He died on August 24, 684, and is buried near the main altar of St. Owen Church in Rouen. His feast day is 24 August.

Famous real-life people named Owen: | Edit

St. Owen, Church reformer in Medieval France
St. Nicholas Owen, Catholic defender in Elizabethan England
Michael Owen, English soccer star
Owen Wilson, American actor
Owen Tudor,ancestor of Tudor dynasty
Owen Davis, Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright
Owen Barfield, British Christian writer and friend of C.S. Lewis
Owen Hart, World Wrestling Federation Star
Son of Phoebe Cates and Kevin Kline
Owen Meredith, English Poet.
Owen Glendower, Welsh ruler and the last native Welshman to hold the title Prince of Wales.
Owen Wister, American writer and "father" of western fiction.

Owen in song, story & screen: | Edit

A Prayer for Owen Meany, by John Irving. Published in 1989.
Dr. Owen Hunt, character in TV show "Grey's Anatomy"
Owen Cauldwell, a Hufflepuff student in the Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling