Top 30 US name Boys' name Peak 2016 238,411 births

Owen — #26 US boys' name

238,411 babies named Owen in U.S. Social Security records since 1880, with the highest year being 2016. Year-by-year trend, decade aggregates, and state-level rankings drawn from federal birth data.

1880s7581890s7611900s8601910s37911920s58731930s42851940s39221950s39451960s29161970s30181980s40541990s96592000s618752010s910902020s41604
#26
of 14,243 boys in use

More common than 99.8% of names given to boys today.

2010s
Peak decade

38% of everyone ever named Owen was born in this single decade.

2016
Single peak year

10,302 babies were named Owen in 2016 — its busiest year on record.

What the Data Says About Owen

The Social Security Administration has registered 238,411 babies named Owen between 1880 and 2024, spanning 145 consecutive years of U.S. birth records. As a boy's name, Owen currently holds the #26 rank among boys for 2024. The name reached its historical peak in 2016, when 10,302 babies received it in a single year.

Decade-level aggregation shows that Owen performed strongest in the 2010s, accumulating 91,090 births during that ten-year window. Across the 15 decades of recorded activity, Owen shows notable generational variation in parental adoption. Geographically, the name is most concentrated in California, which accounts for 18,695 births — the largest state-level total in the dataset — followed by New York and Ohio. In total, SSA state-level files list Owen in 51 of the 51 U.S. reporting jurisdictions.

No etymological entry is currently available for Owen in our reference dataset. These figures derive from SSA's annual national and state-level name files, which include any name appearing at least five times in a given year or state-year; names below that threshold are suppressed for privacy and therefore excluded from the totals shown here. The 238,411 total represents a lower bound — actual usage may be higher in years or states where the count fell below the disclosure floor. This page is provided for informational and research purposes only and does not constitute personal, legal, or naming advice.

Owen at a glance

Top 100 boys' name

Total births

238,411

Since 1880

145 years of records

Peak year

2016

10,302 births that year

Strongest decade: 2010s

Current rank

#26

In the top 100

As of 2024

Active since

1880

Recorded for 145 years

Last year on file: 2024

Owen popularity over time — boys

Annual U.S. births registered with the Social Security Administration · 2024–1880

Top 100 boys' name
Peak year (2016)
10,302
Annual births at peak — across 145 years of records
-5,00005,00010,00015,000 202420051986196719481929191018911880 78

Owen popularity over time — girls

643 total births recorded since 1915 (Owen as girls' name)

Unisex variant — 643 births
01020304050 202420182012200619991983195719261915 5

Owen by decade

Total births in each ten-year window — peak vs trough at a glance

Peak: 2010s
Peak decade
2010s
91,090 births that decade — 38% of Owen's all-time total
1880s7581890s7611900s8601910s37911920s58731930s42851940s39221950s39451960s29161970s30181980s40541990s96592000s618752010s910902020s41604

Owen by state

Where Owen concentrates geographically — total births since 1880

Geographically diffuse
Top 8 states by recorded births for the name Owen
Rank State Visual share Births Share of total
#1 California
18,695 7.8%
#2 New York
14,155 5.9%
#3 Ohio
12,982 5.4%
#4 Pennsylvania
12,809 5.4%
#5 Texas
10,943 4.6%
#6 Illinois
10,524 4.4%
#7 Michigan
9,748 4.1%
#8 Massachusetts
8,351 3.5%
California share of Owen's total US births 7.8%
Even split

18,695 of 238,411 births nationwide. Compared to a flat distribution across 51 reporting states.

Owen appears in 51 states. Explore state details →

Frequently Asked Questions

How popular is the name Owen?
238,411 babies have been named Owen since 1880. It currently ranks #26 among boys. The peak year was 2016 with 10,302 births.
When was Owen most popular?
Owen was most popular in the 2010s decade with 91,090 total births. The single peak year was 2016.
Where is Owen most popular?
The top states for the name Owen are California (18,695 births), New York (14,155 births), Ohio (12,982 births).
How long has the name Owen been used?
Owen has been recorded in Social Security data since 1880, spanning 145 years of data through 2024.
What names are similar to Owen?
Names with a similar sound or spelling include Owens, Owenn. These share a common prefix and are also used for boys.

Data Sources

Data as of 2024. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration (SSA).

Primary: Source: U.S. Social Security Administration, Baby Names from Social Security Card Applications — National Data, 1880–2024 (ssa.gov/oact/babynames). National-level data includes all names with 5 or more occurrences in a given year.

State-level: Source: U.S. Social Security Administration, Baby Names — State-Level Files (namesbystate.zip). Includes all names with 5 or more occurrences per state per year; rarer names are excluded for privacy.