The Owens surname

In the 2010 U.S. Census, 182,719 people carried this name — #140 among all U.S. surnames, about 1 in every 1,610 people counted. That is up 4% from 176,334 in 2000.

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What the name means

The meaning of the Owens surname

A surname transferred from the given name.

From Owen + -s (patronymic suffix).

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary (en.wiktionary.org) — entry «Owens» (English), by Wiktionary contributors · licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0) · excerpt, lightly adapted.

As an English and Welsh surname

Bardsley classes it as a baptismal name, from a given name: ‘the son of Owen’.

An early record he cites: Nicholas fil. Oweyn, Oxfordshire, 1273 — Hundred Rolls. Fil. is Latin for “son of”.

His entry covers Owen and Owens.

From Charles W. Bardsley, A Dictionary of English and Welsh Surnames, with Special American Instances (London: Henry Frowde, 1901), p. 577 · public domain.

In Ireland’s birth registers, 1890

Ireland registered 89 births for the Owens name in 1890.

They were registered in all four provinces, most of all in Ulster. By the Registrar-General’s own method — births multiplied by 44.38 — that is about 3,900 people bearing the name in Ireland at the time. 5 of them were indexed under other spellings of the name.

Where it concentrates, on the map

Where they were born, 1890

Ulster 33
Leinster 26
Connacht 21
Munster 9

Registrar-General for Ireland, «Special Report on Surnames in Ireland» (R. E. Matheson, 1894), births index of 1890 — public domain.

In Switzerland’s population statistics

46 people named Owens live in Switzerland.

They live in 7 of Switzerland’s 26 cantons, most of all in Zurich.

Too few records to say where it concentrates region by region — these are plain counts, not shares.

Where they live today

Zurich 14
Vaud 8
Valais 8
Basel-Landschaft 5
Geneva 5
Bern 3
Basel-Stadt 3

Swiss Federal Statistical Office (FSO), «Surnames of the permanent resident population by canton», 2025, opendata.swiss/en/dataset/nachnamen-der-standigen-wohnbevolkerung-nach-kanton3 · names with fewer than 3 bearers in a canton are not published.

In Argentina’s national register

At least 33 people named Owens live in Argentina.

RENAPER only publishes a name in a province when more than ten people there share it, so the real number is higher. Most of them live in Chubut.

Too few records to say where it concentrates region by region — these are plain counts, not shares.

Where they live today

Chubut 23
Buenos Aires Province 10

RENAPER (National Registry of Persons, Argentina), surnames of residents by province, December 2021 — CC BY 4.0.

In France’s civil register

France’s register of deaths holds 20 people named Owens.

Most of them — 13 — were born outside France. Those born in France came from 4 départements, most often Pas-de-Calais.

Too few records to say where it concentrates region by region — these are plain counts, not shares.

Where they were born

Born outside France 13
Pas-de-Calais 4
Aisne 1
Paris 1
Seine-Maritime 1

Fichier des personnes décédées, INSEE — Licence Ouverte 2.0 · deaths recorded in France since 1970, by place of birth.

In the Nordic population registers

64 people named Owens are counted in Sweden and Finland.

Sweden’s figure is from 31 December 2022, the last count Statistics Sweden published. Finland counts its citizens, at home or abroad.

Counted, by country

Sweden (2022) 36
Finland (2026) 28

Own calculations based on data from Statistics Sweden (SCB), surnames with at least two bearers, 31 December 2022 — CC BY 4.0 (names with 20 or more bearers shown) · Digital and Population Data Services Agency (DVV), Finland, surname statistics, August 2026 — CC BY 4.0.

Among the farmers of England and Wales, 1880s

Owens was found among the farmers of 9 counties.

It was most frequent in North Wales: 380 in every 10,000 farmers there — about 1 in 26. Guppy counted the farmers listed in each county’s directory and recorded a name only where it reached about 7 in every 10,000; where it does not appear, it was rarer than that, not absent. His list gives one count for the spellings Owen and Owens.

Where it concentrates, on the map

Per 10,000 farmers, by county

North Wales 380
South Wales 115
Shropshire 68
Herefordshire 31
Cheshire 30
Worcestershire 18
Warwickshire 15
Lancashire 13

And 1 more county.

H. B. Guppy, «Homes of Family Names in Great Britain» (London, 1890), alphabetical list of English and Welsh names — public domain · farmers in Kelly’s Post Office Directories of the 1880s, per 10,000 farmers in each county.

In Scotland’s registers today

Owens was recorded 45 times in Scotland’s registers of births, marriages and deaths in 2025.

That made it the 579th most common name in those registers, shared with others on the same count. In 1975, the first year of the series, the count was 54. Each birth counts the child’s surname, each marriage both partners’ and each death the surname of the person who died — a yearly count of registrations, not of the people who live in Scotland.

National Records of Scotland, «Most Common Surnames, 2025» (published 26 May 2026): every surname recorded 10 or more times in the 2025 registers, and the series from 1975 · different spellings are counted separately — © Crown copyright 2026. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.

In print

Owens in American newspapers,
1881–1911.

Newspaper page from The Weekly Herald carrying the name Owens
The Weekly Herald 1881-07-15
Newspaper page from The Spanish Fork Press carrying the name Owens
The Spanish Fork Press 1909-11-18
Newspaper page from The Wilson Times carrying the name Owens
The Wilson Times 1911-02-21

Chronicling America, Library of Congress — digitised newspapers in the public domain · 1,757,883 pages in all carry the name.

In print

Owens in Australian newspapers,
1830s–2000s.

46,104 articles name a Mr, Mrs or Miss Owens. The most, 9,659, date from the 1930s. New South Wales has the most articles, but weighed against how much of each state’s press from the same decades has been digitised, the name stands out most in Queensland, at 1.3 times its expected share.

Articles, by state

New South Wales 16,057
Queensland 12,047
Victoria 8,931
South Australia 3,279
Western Australia 3,258
Tasmania 2,023
ACT (Canberra) 397
Northern Territory 27

Trove, National Library of Australia (trove.nla.gov.au) · articles in its digitised newspapers that name a Mr, Mrs or Miss Owens.

Who carried it

People named Owens,
with a public archive behind them.

  • John E. Owens
    John E. Owens 1823–1886 · actor
  • James Owens
    James Owens 1827–1901 · military personnel
  • William Owens
    William Owens 1840–1917 · politician
  • William Claiborne Owens
    William Claiborne Owens 1849–1925 · lawyer
  • Robert Bowie Owens
    Robert Bowie Owens 1870–1940 · electrical engineer

Wikidata (CC0) · portraits via Wikimedia Commons, shown cropped, in the public domain or CC0 · 216 lives in all are documented under this name.

In the public record

People named Owens,
in the records of 9 countries.

Soldiers, farmers, migrants and neighbours who carried the name and left a trace in public archives. Everyone shown here died long ago or was born more than a century ago.

United States14,316 records

14,316 records of the Owens name in the United States
  • U.S. Army enlistment records, World War II 5,786
  • U.S. veterans' cemetery records, burials to 2001 2,485
  • Other U.S. records 6,045
  1. Names engraved on the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, Washington, D.C.
    Example: U.S. war memorial
    War record Billy E. Owens

    Born 1934; from Spartanburg County, South Carolina. U.S. Army, light weapons infantry leader; killed in action 1953 in North Korea. Buried at Sunset Memorial Park, Spartanburg, South Carolina.

    U.S. National Archives, Defense Casualty Analysis System (public domain); U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, Gravesite Locator (CC0)
  2. A United States Selective Service registration card, 1942
    Example: U.S. registration card, 1942
    Military record Milton E. Owens

    Born 1918 in Missouri. Enlisted 1942 at Jefferson Barracks; apprentice electrician. U.S. Army veteran of World War II; died 1992, buried at Jefferson Barracks National Cemetery, Missouri.

    U.S. National Archives, WWII Army Enlistment Records (public domain); U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, Gravesite Locator (CC0)
  3. A passenger manifest of the S.S. St. Paul, arriving at New York in 1903
    Example: passenger manifest, 1903
    Passenger record Eliza Owens

    Arrived at New York in 1885 aboard the City of Berlin from Liverpool and Queenstown, aged 25; servant. From Cork, Ireland; bound for New York.

    U.S. National Archives, Castle Garden Immigration Center Collection, Ship Passenger Records (unrestricted)

Showing 3 of 14,316 records for Owens in the United States.

Counts: U.S. National Archives, WWII Army Enlistment Records (public domain) · U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, Gravesite Locator (CC0) · NYC Department of Records & Information Services, Historical Vital Records (NYC Open Data) · U.S. National Archives, Castle Garden Immigration Center Collection, Ship Passenger Records (unrestricted) · New York State Department of Health, Genealogical Research Death Index · U.S. National Archives, Famine Irish Passenger Records (public domain) · U.S. National Archives, Flexoline Index Data File (public domain) · U.S. National Archives, Defense Casualty Analysis System (public domain) · Sacramento County, Historic Burials (CC BY 4.0) · City of Asheville (public domain, PDDL) · New York State, Open NY (police and firefighter memorial rolls). Example pages, not the records of the people shown: Vietnam Veterans Memorial, photo by U.S. Army Sgt. 1st Class Michael J. Carden, 2009 (public domain); U.S. Selective Service registration card, 1942 (public domain); Passenger manifest of the S.S. St. Paul, New York, 1903 (public domain).

Australia1,831 records

1,831 records of the Owens name in Australia
  • Victoria passenger lists, 1839–1923 870
  • Queensland State Archives indexes 368
  • Other Australian records 593
  1. An 1829 etching of convicts being rowed out to the prison ship York in Portsmouth Harbour
    Pictured: convicts going on board a prison ship, 1829
    Transportation record Mary Owens

    Transported to Van Diemen's Land aboard the Hindostan, sailing from London in 1839. Native of Merthyr Tydfil, Glamorgan. Applied for permission to marry in Van Diemen's Land in 1840.

    Libraries Tasmania, Tasmanian Names Index (CC BY 4.0)
  2. An 1829 etching of convicts being rowed out to the prison ship York in Portsmouth Harbour
    Pictured: convicts going on board a prison ship, 1829
    Transportation record Ann Owens

    Transported to Van Diemen's Land aboard the Lord Auckland, sailing from Dublin in 1848. Native of Dublin, Dublin. Applied for permission to marry in Van Diemen's Land in 1849.

    Libraries Tasmania, Tasmanian Names Index (CC BY 4.0)
  3. An 1829 etching of convicts being rowed out to the prison ship York in Portsmouth Harbour
    Pictured: convicts going on board a prison ship, 1829
    Transportation record John Owens

    Transported to Van Diemen's Land aboard the Elizabeth & Henry, sailing from Kingston in 1845. Native of Antrim. Applied for permission to marry in Van Diemen's Land in 1851.

    Libraries Tasmania, Tasmanian Names Index (CC BY 4.0)

Showing 3 of 1,831 records for Owens in Australia.

Counts: Public Record Office Victoria (CC BY 4.0) · Queensland State Archives (CC BY 4.0) · Libraries Tasmania, Tasmanian Names Index (CC BY 4.0) · Museums of History NSW – State Archives Collection (CC BY) · ACT Government, Transport Canberra and City Services (CC BY 4.0) · State Library of Western Australia (CC BY 4.0) · National Library of Scotland, War Office Weekly Casualty Lists (public domain). Example pages, not the records of the people shown: Prison-ship in Portsmouth Harbour, with the convicts going on board, etching by Edward William Cooke, 1829, Royal Museums Greenwich (public domain).

United Kingdom348 records

348 records of the Owens name in the United Kingdom
  • Welsh wills index cards 256
  • War Office casualty lists, 1917–1919, among the dead 66
  • Other British records 26
  1. A page of the burial register of Newtown, Wales, 1858
    Example: burial register, 1858
    Burial record William Struthers Owens

    Died 1944, aged 21; buried at Bannockburn Cemetery, Stirling, Scotland.

    Stirling Council. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.
  2. A petition to the probate court of St. Louis, 1848
    Example: probate petition, 1848
    Probate record Jane Owens

    Will proved in 1938; of Ffynon Groew, Flint.

    National Library of Wales, Wills Index Cards (CC0)
  3. A First World War roll of honour of the staff of C. & E. Morton Ltd
    Example: roll of honour, 1914–1919
    War record Y. T. Owens

    Monmouthshire Regiment. Listed among the dead in the War Office casualty list of 1918.

    National Library of Scotland, War Office Weekly Casualty Lists (public domain)

Showing 3 of 348 records for Owens in the United Kingdom.

Counts: National Library of Wales, Wills Index Cards (CC0) · National Library of Scotland, War Office Weekly Casualty Lists (public domain) · Stirling Council. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. · MOLA and HS2, St James's burial ground data. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. · National Library of Scotland, Rolls of Honour (public domain). Example pages, not the records of the people shown: Burial register of Newtown, Montgomeryshire, 1858, National Library of Wales (CC0); Petition to the probate court, St. Louis, 1848, Missouri Historical Society (public domain); C. & E. Morton Ltd roll of honour, 1914–1919, photo by Adrian S Pye via Geograph (CC BY-SA 2.0).

Canada248 records

248 records of the Owens name in Canada
  • Nova Scotia Archives name indexes 114
  • Mountain View Cemetery, Vancouver 50
  • Other Canadian records 84
  1. A Canadian First World War grave register card for a soldier who died of wounds in 1917
    Example: Canadian war grave register, 1917
    War record Naaman Owens

    Served in the No. 2 Construction Battalion in the First World War, private; of Bridgetown, Nova Scotia.

    Nova Scotia Archives. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence - Nova Scotia.
  2. A passenger manifest of the S.S. St. Paul, arriving at New York in 1903
    Example: passenger manifest, 1903
    Passenger record Wm Sen'r Owens

    Came to Ontario in 1865 aboard the Britania, landing at Portland, bound for Whitby, Ontario; Irish.

    Archives of Ontario. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence – Ontario.
  3. Fairview Lawn Cemetery in Halifax, Nova Scotia
    Example: Canadian cemetery
    Burial record Wendell Owens

    Buried in 1969 at Queen's Park Cemetery, Calgary, Alberta, aged 78.

    City of Calgary. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence – City of Calgary.

Showing 3 of 248 records for Owens in Canada.

Counts: Nova Scotia Archives. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence - Nova Scotia. · City of Vancouver. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence – Vancouver. · City of Winnipeg. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence – Winnipeg. · Veterans Affairs Canada. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence - Canada. · City of Calgary. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence – City of Calgary. · Archives of Ontario. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence – Ontario. · National Library of Scotland, War Office Weekly Casualty Lists (public domain) · City of Niagara Falls. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence – Niagara Falls. · Contains information provided by the City of Waterloo under licence. Example pages, not the records of the people shown: Canadian First World War circumstances-of-death register (scan by Scottgraham87 via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0); Passenger manifest of the S.S. St. Paul, New York, 1903 (public domain); Fairview Lawn Cemetery, Halifax, photo by Edgar El (CC BY 3.0).

New Zealand46 records

46 records of the Owens name in New Zealand
  • Christchurch City cemetery records 42
  • Marlborough District cemetery records 3
  • War Office casualty lists, 1917–1919, among the dead 1
  1. A page of the burial register of Newtown, Wales, 1858
    Example: burial register, 1858
    Burial record James Fitzgerald Owens

    Died 1985, aged 77; buried at Picton Cemetery, Marlborough.

    Marlborough District Council (CC BY 4.0)
  2. A page of the burial register of Newtown, Wales, 1858
    Example: burial register, 1858
    Burial record James Joseph Owens

    Died 1974, aged 89; buried at Waimairi Cemetery, Christchurch, Canterbury.

    Christchurch City Council (CC BY 4.0)
  3. A page of the burial register of Newtown, Wales, 1858
    Example: burial register, 1858
    Burial record Robert Owens

    Died 1981, aged 67; buried at Omaka Cemetery, Marlborough.

    Marlborough District Council (CC BY 4.0)

Showing 3 of 46 records for Owens in New Zealand.

Counts: Christchurch City Council (CC BY 4.0) · Marlborough District Council (CC BY 4.0) · National Library of Scotland, War Office Weekly Casualty Lists (public domain). Example pages, not the records of the people shown: Burial register of Newtown, Montgomeryshire, 1858, National Library of Wales (CC0).

Netherlands14 records

14 records of the Owens name in the Netherlands
  • Dutch population registers 5
  • Dutch church registers before 1811 5
  • Dutch civil registers (births, marriages, deaths) 4
  1. A page of the Berlin civil register, 1880
    Example: civil register, 1880
    Death record Richard Owens

    Died 1867 in Hellevoetsluis, aged 22; "zeevarende".

    Open Archives, Streekarchief Voorne-Putten (CC BY 4.0)
  2. A page of the Berlin civil register, 1880
    Example: civil register, 1880
    Death record Rober Owens

    Died 1848 in Rotterdam, aged 22.

    Open Archives, Stadsarchief Rotterdam (CC BY 4.0)

Showing 2 of 14 records for Owens in the Netherlands.

Counts: Open Archives (CC BY 4.0). Example pages, not the records of the people shown: Civil register, Berlin, 1880, Landesarchiv Berlin (CC0).

France3 records

3 records of the Owens name in France France's national death register, 1970–2001
  1. A page of the death register of Nice, 1930
    Example: French death register, 1930
    Death record Jimmy Raymond Owens

    Born 1957 in Laon (Aisne); died 1975 in the United States.

    Insee, Fichier des personnes décédées (Licence Ouverte)

Showing 1 of 3 records for Owens in France.

Counts: Insee, Fichier des personnes décédées (Licence Ouverte). Example pages, not the records of the people shown: Death register of Nice, 1930, Archives départementales des Alpes-Maritimes (public domain).

Ireland2 records

2 records of the Owens name in Ireland County Galway graveyard records
  1. A page of the burial register of Newtown, Wales, 1858
    Example: burial register, 1858
    Burial record Thomas Owens

    Died 1886, aged 77; buried at Cortoon, Co. Galway.

    Galway County Council (CC BY 4.0)

Showing 1 of 2 records for Owens in Ireland.

Counts: Galway County Council (CC BY 4.0). Example pages, not the records of the people shown: Burial register of Newtown, Montgomeryshire, 1858, National Library of Wales (CC0).

Germany2 records

2 records of the Owens name in Germany Germany's First World War casualty lists, 1914–1919
  1. A page of the German First World War casualty lists, 18 April 1918
    Example: German casualty list, 1918
    Casualty list Wilhelm Owens

    From Tönning, Eiderstedt. Reported missing in the Imperial Navy casualty list of 7 April 1915; then reported dead in the list of 21 September 1916.

    Verein für Computergenealogie e.V. (2026). Deutsche Verlustlisten des Ersten Weltkriegs – Datensammlung (Version 1.0), DOI 10.5281/zenodo.18330751 (CC0)

Showing 1 of 2 records for Owens in Germany.

Counts: Verein für Computergenealogie e.V. (2026). Deutsche Verlustlisten des Ersten Weltkriegs – Datensammlung (Version 1.0), DOI 10.5281/zenodo.18330751 (CC0). Example pages, not the records of the people shown: Deutsche Verlustlisten, Prussian list 1116, 18 April 1918 (scan via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 3.0).

Other spellings of this name

The same name, spelled another way.

Spellings that H. B. Guppy (England and Wales, 1890) or the Registrar-General for Ireland (births index of 1890) counted as one name together with Owens.

Nearby in the index

Surnames next to Owens.

When the index is not enough

This page says where Owens is.
A volume says what happened to it.

Every page in the index is free and stays free. The Heritage Volume is the long form: the full paper trail, the arms, the crossing — bound, and yours.

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