Rowan

Where Rowan comes from

Anglicised from the Irish saints' name Ruadhán (“little red one”), or as a surname from Ó Ruadháin (“descendant of Ruadhán”).
— Wiktionary's entry for Rowan
  • Irish
  • English
  • 2 syllables
Along the way
  1. 1916
    First appearance
    #3,897 among boys, 5 babies — the first year at least five got the name.
  2. 1955
    Rowan Atkinson born
    English actor, comedian, and screenwriter
  3. 2001
    Rowan Blanchard born
    American actress
  4. 2003
    Mostly boys from here
    Until now more girls than boys got the name; from this year it's the other way round, and has stayed that way.
  5. 2025
    Peak, #59
    5,212 babies named Rowan — more than any year before or since.
In the dictionary
  • A male given name from Irish.
  • A unisex given name from English of modern usage, often associated with the rowan tree.
Namesakes
  • Rowan Atkinson · English actor, comedian, and screenwriter, born 1955
  • Rowan Blanchard · American actress, born 2001
  • Rowan Williams · Archbishop of Canterbury, born 1950
  • Rowan McKellar · British rower, born 1994
  • Rowan Joffé · British screenwriter and director, born 1973

Sources: the origin note and dictionary entry are quoted from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0); the namesakes come from Wikidata (CC0); the milestones are worked out from the SSA record.