A male name. a common, Welsh name; in Middle English romances often spelled Owain, Owayne, Ywain. It is probably the same as the Irish Eoghan, and it has been supposed to be derived from Latin Eugenius (q.v.); cf. Emrys from Ambrose, Gladys from Claudia. See also Ewen.

Ouen, Ouuin, Owine Domesday Book 1086. Ouein Lib Lond 10th C. Uwen Anglo-Saxon Chronicle 10th C. Oenus Pipe Roll 1164. Owen Curia Regis Rolls 1200, The Coventry Leet Book 1492, Hundred Rolls 1273. Oweyn Hundred Rolls 1273. Owyne The Coventry Leet Book 1524.

Which is now almost as English as it is Welsh and a surname as well as a ‘Christian’. ‘The notable Owen Glendower, as Shakespeare has taught us to call him, was really Owain ap Gruffydd of Glendfrdwy, his estate in Merionethshire, where he kept a grand household. It was he who made Owen the most common of Welsh names. Owain is so like (Welsh) oen... a sheep or lamb, that it is generally so translated; but it is most likely that... Owen ought to be carried much further back to the same source as the Erse Eoghan, which comes from eoghunn, youth, from og, young, and is translated, young warrior,’ Yonge.

Some derive this from the Irish name Eogan, signifying ‘youth.’ Camden thinks it is corrupted from Eugenius (see Eugenia). Dr. Chalmers says, “Uuen seems to be the well-known name of Owain, signifying ‘apt to serve or minister,’ and appearing under this form in the Welsh MS. Chronicle of the Saxons in the British Museum. One of the British Reguli of Strathcluyd was named Uen or Huen.”

Welsh (masculine) God’s grace, or God’s gift.

Celtic (masculine) - Lamb, or form of John.

A Celtic name, meaning: Warrior. (Latin) Well-born.