# Rowan (first name)

Source: https://namelineage.com/first-name/rowan/  
Publisher: Name Lineage. US counts from the Social Security Administration; England and Wales counts from the Office for National Statistics; meaning and etymology from Wiktionary. Data updated 2026-11-11.

| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Usually given to | boys and girls |
| Origin | Irish |
| Meaning | “little red one”, “descendant of ruadhán” |
| Pronunciation | /ɹoʊən/, 2 syllables |
| Nicknames | none recorded |
| Variant spellings | none recorded |
| US babies named this | 72,853 since 1880 |
| Boys / girls in the US | 50,628 / 22,225 (31% girls) |
| Babies in England and Wales | 18,136, 1996 to 2025 |

## Etymology

Anglicised from the Irish saints' name Ruadhán (“little red one”), or as a surname from Ó Ruadháin (“descendant of Ruadhán”).

## Popularity

The last 15 years of each series. A year is missing when too few babies were given the name for the agency to publish it: five in the US, three in England and Wales.

### United States, girls

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2011 | 544 | 534 |
| 2012 | 684 | 454 |
| 2013 | 714 | 427 |
| 2014 | 774 | 413 |
| 2015 | 989 | 331 |
| 2016 | 1,351 | 240 |
| 2017 | 1,448 | 213 |
| 2018 | 1,459 | 212 |
| 2019 | 1,353 | 230 |
| 2020 | 1,179 | 255 |
| 2021 | 1,262 | 241 |
| 2022 | 1,139 | 277 |
| 2023 | 1,288 | 234 |
| 2024 | 1,198 | 266 |
| 2025 | 1,240 | 249 |

### United States, boys

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2011 | 1,047 | 309 |
| 2012 | 1,151 | 300 |
| 2013 | 1,197 | 292 |
| 2014 | 1,548 | 240 |
| 2015 | 1,816 | 219 |
| 2016 | 2,194 | 182 |
| 2017 | 2,847 | 140 |
| 2018 | 3,041 | 129 |
| 2019 | 3,223 | 118 |
| 2020 | 3,258 | 113 |
| 2021 | 3,648 | 105 |
| 2022 | 3,763 | 96 |
| 2023 | 4,215 | 76 |
| 2024 | 4,667 | 71 |
| 2025 | 5,212 | 59 |

### England and Wales, girls

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2011 | 69 | 583 |
| 2012 | 74 | 573 |
| 2013 | 72 | 569 |
| 2014 | 99 | 443 |
| 2015 | 66 | 625 |
| 2016 | 93 | 468 |
| 2017 | 90 | 486 |
| 2018 | 95 | 455 |
| 2019 | 95 | 443 |
| 2020 | 98 | 433 |
| 2021 | 104 | 423 |
| 2022 | 88 | 472 |
| 2023 | 84 | 471 |
| 2024 | 101 | 425 |
| 2025 | 96 | 423 |

### England and Wales, boys

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2011 | 473 | 135 |
| 2012 | 449 | 137 |
| 2013 | 494 | 123 |
| 2014 | 502 | 127 |
| 2015 | 572 | 111 |
| 2016 | 619 | 105 |
| 2017 | 626 | 103 |
| 2018 | 708 | 89 |
| 2019 | 734 | 82 |
| 2020 | 774 | 71 |
| 2021 | 938 | 63 |
| 2022 | 985 | 61 |
| 2023 | 1,093 | 51 |
| 2024 | 1,246 | 41 |
| 2025 | 1,398 | 30 |

## People named Rowan

- Rowan Atkinson, English actor, comedian, and screenwriter (born 1955)
- Rowan Blanchard, American actress (born 2001)
- Rowan Williams, Archbishop of Canterbury (2002–2012)
- Rowan McKellar, British rower
- Rowan Joffé, British screenwriter and director (born 1973)
- Hamilton Rowan Gamble, American jurist and politician (1798–1864)
- Rowan Woods, Australian film director
- Rowan Vine, English footballer (born 1982)
- RJ Barrett, Canadian basketball player (born 2000)
- Robyn Hitchcock, British musician
- Gavin Menzies, British naval officer and author (1937–2020)
- Route 94, British DJ and producer

## How to read these numbers

A count is babies registered with that name in that year, not people alive now, so a name common a century ago can have a large total and few recent births.