Rowan

What Rowan means

Means “little red one”

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

Source: Wiktionary, “Rowan” (revision 94200296), CC BY-SA 4.0. Quoted from the etymology; we don’t write our own.

How popular is Rowan?

US: Rising: up from #219 in 2015. England & Wales: Rising: up from #111 in 2015.

Biggest US share so far: 2025, when 5,212 boys got the name (#59 that year). First in the US records in 1916.

How common

• About 1 in 328 baby boys in the US in 2025
• About 1 in 195 baby boys in England and Wales in 2025
• About 1 in 209 baby boys in Scotland in 2025

“1 in N” divides by all listed births for that sex. The US list leaves out names given to fewer than 5 babies, and the UK lists leave out names given to 2 or fewer, so the real figure is a little rarer than shown.

Where in the US

Most popular in WY (17.43 per 1,000 boys), VT (10.73 per 1,000 boys), NH (9.1 per 1,000 boys) in 2025.

SSA state data, 2025. Share of all listed boys born in each state.

US vs UK

Rowan is #59 in the US and #30 in England & Wales (2025).

Same sex as this page (boys). SSA (US), ONS (England and Wales), NRS (Scotland).

Boy or girl?

In 2025, 80.8% of US babies named Rowan were boys.

Counts below the publishing threshold (US 5, UK 3) are not included.

How to say it

IPA from Wiktionary.

Other spellings parents chose in 2025

• Rowen617 US · 43 E&W
• Rowin17 US
• Rawen0 US · 8 E&W
• Rowoon7 US
• Rawan0 US · 4 E&W

Names that sound the same and differ by a letter or two, with baby counts for the same sex. US and E&W counts.

If you like Rowan

Boys

• Kian#400Editor’s note Up from #489 in 2015 to #400 in 2025 in the US
• Rhys#410Welsh, from Old Welsh Ris, meaning “ardor, fiery warrior”^*
• Alden#598“old + friend”^*
• Finn#206“the Sami”^*
• Ronan#247Irish, meaning “little seal”^*
• Declan#139Editor’s note More popular in the US than England & Wales: #139 vs #372 in 2025

For a sister

• Willow#44From the word “willow”^*
• Dahlia#215Editor’s note Up from #412 in 2015 to #215 in 2025 in the US
• Rory#230“red-haired king”^*
• Violet#13From the word “violet”^*
• Mercy#862Editor’s note Up from #1,011 in 2015 to #862 in 2025 in the US
• Gwen#725Same root as Wendy, meaning “watercourse with a bend + island”^*

Picked from the US top 1,000 in 2025: names Wiktionary also files under English, Irish & Celtic, whose US popularity since 1990 rose and fell most like Rowan’s. Rank is US 2025.