Rowena

Spellings & scripts●

Locally spelled Ровена in RU Russia.

Spellings marked ● are how people bearing the name write it in our records; ○ marks a model's transliteration. Click a spelling to open its page.

Meaning & origin●

Languages●

Language is read off each record's context, not declared by the bearer; a share is of all records for this spelling.

Other names spelled this way◐

Rowena is also recorded as 2 other names, grouped separately because the records behind them do not connect to the one described above.

• Spanish given name90K records spelled Rowena9 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in Philippines, United States, Brazil, Spain

  Languages: Spanish, Portuguese, French

  Also written Rowëna, Rowéna, Roweña, Rōwénà

• Turkish given name392 records spelled Rowena3 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in Philippines, United States, United Kingdom, Türkiye

  Languages: Turkish, Azerbaijani

  Also written Rowëna

54 further groups record this spelling and are not listed here.

Grouping is the name graph's, not a register's: two spellings join a group when the evidence links them, so a group is a claim about the records rather than about the people.

Other recorded senses●

Rowena is also recorded in 3 other lexicons, as a different name or as an ordinary word. These are senses of the spelling, not of the name above.

• In French, Forme féminine galloise de Rowen/Riowen; d’origine celtique, « heureux roi ».

  as a name·Le grand guide des prénoms (Enfant - Education)

• In French, Nom d’origine brittonique/celtique, popularisé par la tradition anglo-saxonne.

  as a name·Le grand guide des prénoms (Enfant - Education)

• In English, Old English; well-known friend.

  as a name·Baby names, 25,350 baby names nicknames for your family, friends pets, including the top 100 names, 2,000 most popular…

Ordered by how much of this spelling's record each language holds, so a sense from a language the name is barely used in sits last rather than first.

Over time●

US SSA — National Baby Names (1880–present) — 146 years between 1880–2025. One register's own figures, never a sum across registers: two registers counting the same people would double them.

Notable people with this name●

• Rowena Meeks Abdyb. 1887USAmerican modernist painter (1887-1945)
• Rowena Mary Bruceb. 1915GBEnglish chess player
• Dodie Heathb. 1926USnot in their usual nameAmerican actress (1926–2023)
• Rowena Cooperb. 1935GBScottish actress
• Rowena Hillb. 1938GBWelsh poet
• Rowena Morrillb. 1944USAmerican artist (1944–2021)
• Rowena Wallaceb. 1947GBactress
• Rowena Kingb. 1970GBBritish actress
• Rowena Websterb. 1987AUAustralian female water polo player
• Rowena Meredithb. 1995AUAustralian rower

The ten people covered by the most Wikipedia language editions — a proxy for cross-cultural notability, which favours historical and Western figures over equally prominent contemporary ones — shown by birth year. Source: Wikidata (CC0).

Evidence●

Register rows as of the 2026-09-12 data build · 390 rows in the corpus for this spelling.

Frequently asked questions

How common is the name Rowena?

We estimate roughly 15 thousand people bear Rowena (counting its spellings and scripts) across 10 countries in our records.

In which country does Rowena have the most bearers?

Rowena is most frequently recorded in the Philippines, where it is most often spelled rowena.

How common is Rowena compared with other names?

In the Philippines, Rowena is the 56th most common given name of 462,140 given names recorded there.

Is Rowena a male or female name?

Rowena is a female name in our records. Opposite-gender entries fall within the cross-gender noise we measure in the source data, so we don't report them as usage.

What does the name Rowena mean?

Recorded meaning: A female given name from the Germanic languages.