Given name
Olwen
“one who leaves a white footprint”
Olwen is used as a given name. One Welsh interpretation is “one who leaves a white footprint.”
Meaning & origin
What it means
One Welsh interpretation is “one who leaves a white footprint.”
Where it comes from
An origin associated with this spelling is Welsh.
The story
Published U.S. birth records include this spelling as early as 1913. This is the earliest published observation available here, rather than a date for the name’s origin.
From dated birth records
Olwen through the years
- Babies since 1880
- 27
- 0 boys · 27 girls
- Most popular year
- 1917
- 12 babies
- 2025
- 0
- Outside the ranked list
- 2021–25 vs 2016–20
- —
- Too few births to compare
By the numbers
The most recent published U.S. birth count for girls is 5 in 2018. Later missing counts do not mean the name went unused. Its largest published annual count for girls was 12 in 1917. Published U.S. population figures for this spelling include 167 as a first name in 2020.
From Social Security birth records and U.S. Census name counts for this exact spelling. Other spellings are counted separately.
Olwen’s family of names
In English usage, Olwen has a diminutive in Ollie. Olwen has a related form in Olwena. Olwen has a related form in Olwenn.
Inner ring: nicknames and forms · outer: across languages.
Nicknames & forms 15
Diminutives, pet forms, short forms and variants used alongside the name.
Across languages 1
Equivalents and cognates in other languages, plus older forms it grew from.
People named Olwen
- Olwen FouéréIrish actor and writerborn 1954
- Olwen BroganBritish archaeologist of ancient Roman Libya1900–1989
Listed by how widely each person is written about, which says nothing about the name itself.
Similar names
If you love Olwen, these share its style, era, origin or sound, from outside its own family.
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