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Surname Etymology and Meaning of OWEN

Name meanings and etymologies are often disputed. The information here is compiled from freely available sources, and no claims whatsoever are made for accuracy, either historical or etymological.

(origin: Celtic.) The good offspring. Oen, Welsh, and Gaelic, uan, a lamb.

Source: An Etymological Dictionary of Family and Christian Names With an Essay on their Derivation and Import (1857).

1. Welsh: from the Welsh personal name Owain, probably a borrowing in Roman times of Latin Eugenius (see Eugene), but possibly of more ancient Celtic origin, cognate with Gaelic Eoghan.
2. Scottish and Irish: reduced Anglicized form of Gaelic Mac Eoghain ‘son of Eoghan’ (see McEwen).

Source: Dictionary of American Family Names (2003)