Owens
A patronymic surname meaning “son of Owen,” especially common in Wales and among people of Welsh descent.
The #140 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 1,690 Americans shares it.
Etymology
Owens is the genitive or possessive form of the personal name Owen, so the surname originally meant “Owen’s [son]” or “belonging to Owen.” The name Owen was widely used in Wales, and older sources also note an Irish equivalent form, O'h-Eoghain, linked to the same Celtic personal-name tradition. In English records, the surname developed as a hereditary family name from a father or grandfather named Owen.
History
Historical surname dictionaries repeatedly describe Owens as a Welsh patronymic, and many bearers descend from families in which Owen had first been used as a given name. Some sources also note that a minority of English occurrences may reflect older Saxon personal names rather than Welsh origin. The surname became especially common as patronymics fixed into hereditary surnames in Wales and nearby parts of Britain.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
One 19th-century source remarks that many Owens arose simply because a father or grandfather was named Owen, showing how a given name could quickly become a hereditary surname.
From the historical record
“Cp. Ewan. OWENS, Owen's (Son) : v. Owen. In Irish, this name is O'h-Eoghain. OWLE (Eng.) a nickname, or sign-name, from the Owl [O.E. rife] OWLER (Scand.) Dweller by an Alder [O.N. olr = O.E. alor] OWLES, Owle's (Son) : v. Owle.”
— Surnames of the United Kingdom: a concise etymological dictionary (2 vols in 1)