New Baby Name

Olwen

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Girl · Welsh

Olwen

Say it: OL-wen

Try it with your surname

Meaning

From ôl 'track, footprint' and gwen 'white'; the tale explains it by white trefoils springing up where she trod.

Likelythe main view, with some doubt.

Its wave through time

Rare in the records

In the United States

05101518801900192019401960198020002020Peak 1917per million babies of that sex
  • 27 babies given this name since 1913
  • At its height in 1917, about 1 in 90,100 girls
  • Fewer than 5 babies a year in 2020

Through the ages

  1. Victorian and Belle Époque1837 to 1914
  2. The Modern Age1880 to today

Used by

Welsh

Famous bearers

  • Olwen, heroine of Culhwch and Olwen

Names worth a look

Where this comes from

  • Early Welsh tales, poetry and genealogies
  • United States Social Security birth records, 1880 to today source

Meanings and histories are compiled from the study of names and their languages and checked by a second review.

Meanings and histories are drawn from the study of names and their languages, each with a confidence rating; popularity figures come from official birth records. Name histories are a living field: if you know of a correction, we would be glad to hear it.