Rowena

Girl name

Rowena has been given to 10,526 babies in the U.S. since 1880. It peaked in 1917.

Meaning & origin

From the name of the daughter of Hengist and wife of Vortigern in Geoffrey of Monmouth's 12th century pseudohistorical Latin work Historia regum Britanniae. There have been attempts to connect it to some unattested Old English or Common Brittonic name, but without any real evidence. It was revived after Walter Scott used it in his novel Ivanhoe (1819). Some places are named after Lady Rowena in the novel.

Origin: Germanic languages

Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Popularity over time births per year, 1880–2025

Hover or tap the chart to read any year.

Total babies

10,526

Peak year

1917 (224 babies)

Rank in 2025

Below top 1000

First recorded

1880

10-year trend

▲ +167%

Gender split

All girls

Names with a similar vibe

Same primary gender, peaked around the same years, and roughly as common as Rowena.

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