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Baby names

Find baby name inspiration and advice on the Mumsnet Baby Names forum.

Original poster

Owen: boring or classic?

39 replies

crabette · 21/10/2020 17:05

Thinking of Owen for a boy's name.

Can't quite decide if it's in the cool category of being underused; classic; known and pronounceable but a bit unusual / quirky; strong; and masculine.... which is entirely what I want.

....or if I'm just being boring! What do you guys think?

Our fave girls option is Nina, if that helps in terms of our style.

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FizzingWhizzbee123 · 22/10/2020 23:02

Classic and currently underused

MichelleOR84 · 22/10/2020 20:44

I love it ! No idea if it’s classic but it’s definitely not boring .

VenusClapTrap · 22/10/2020 19:53

Good name. There’s one at my dc’s school and it sounds fresh and slightly retro (in a good way).

Firebird83 · 21/10/2020 21:47

It’s nice.

adayatthebeach · 21/10/2020 20:51

Makes me think of Danny Devito in Thow momma from the train movie.

HairyToity · 21/10/2020 20:43

The only reason we didn't have Owen is that a good friend had already used it, and this put DH off.

HairyToity · 21/10/2020 20:42

Classic. A name I considered for my DS.

finallychangedmyusername · 21/10/2020 20:41

I really, really like Owen. It's an underused classic for me.

IamnotwhouthinkIam · 21/10/2020 20:39

I think because Owen is now so widely used in other English speaking countries (particularly the US), it feels more of a slightly quirky or modern classic rather than very Welsh anymore (the Owain spelling/pronunciation, I'd assume some Welsh heritage).

Nina works wells with Owen and has a similar feel to me - neither are boring or super popular but both are simple, slightly off -beat but well-known names that suit all ages (but are not as traditional or perennially popular as say James, Thomas or Elizabeth, C/Katherine etc.)

emmathedilemma · 21/10/2020 20:37

I wouldn’t choose it but it doesn’t offend me. It’s a good sound name and I don’t think it’s overused?

Dartsplayer · 21/10/2020 20:17

I like it. My son has 2 Owen's in his year group at school (Y9)

Kanaloa · 21/10/2020 20:14

I see it as a sort of ‘fresh’ classic. It reminds me of names like Seth, Calvin, Jonas. The type of name everyone knows how to spell/pronounce but aren’t so popular that there are a few in every nursery class.

MuserOwl · 21/10/2020 20:03

I don't mind it. It's like Noah to me. It sounds like a girls name.

MondeoFan · 21/10/2020 20:02

I like it, it's a nice short name and not overused

PoodleMoth · 21/10/2020 20:01

Boring but looks like I am in the minority!

KEH1982 · 21/10/2020 19:58

Another mother of an Owen here!

I'm half Scottish half English and my husband is English. He didn't like any Scottish names I suggested so I vetoed anything ordinarily English!

Luckily I have a half Welsh grandmother so I trawled the Welsh section of the name book and came up with Owen! My grandmother cried when she heard what we named him Grin so I earned brownie points there.

Strong, easy to spell and suits a little boy as much as an adult - thought it couldn't be shortened but i am the worst for calling him O, Little O and Owie Blush

Spied · 21/10/2020 19:56

Great name.
Strong, masculine and outdoorsy is the image I getSmile

emptyplinth · 21/10/2020 19:55

I like it. Classic, will work for him at any age.

Horehound · 21/10/2020 19:53

Can't stand it. Purely because the woman opposite me in hospital who had a c section said his name in such a droll way any time he cried. Oowweennnn oweennn

It just sounded like a moan to me.

nancybotwinbloom · 21/10/2020 19:52

I haven't met an Owen for years. It's a really nice name.

IamEarthymama · 21/10/2020 19:51

Owen is a wonderful name.
I am biased because my son is called Owen and I still love it as much as ever.

MikeUniformMike · 21/10/2020 19:10

Forgot to add that Lloyd has the same meaning as Gray. Smile

Owen is fine btw.

MikeUniformMike · 21/10/2020 19:09

I know lots of people with the surname Owen, although unfortunately not Michael.

Other welsh 'surnames' that can be first names are Vaughan (same meaning as Buchan) and Lloyd, and I suppose Rees. Not keen on Rees, but the others are fine. I really like Lloyd as a first name.

Owain is pronounced like Owen but the ai bit is like 'eye', but people sometimes tend to say it as Owen.

I also think of Lewis or Fraser as more of a surname than a first name.

Original poster
crabette · 21/10/2020 18:53

@MikeUniformMike That's so funny, I hadn't considered it as a surname at all until you said that. Michael Owen I guess. Not sure I've ever met anyone with the surname though.

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Original poster
crabette · 21/10/2020 18:51

@phantomish (& @DramaAlpaca !) - Being in Scotland, I know quite a few Ewan / Euan's round here - so while Eoin is really lovely, I'd worry about it getting mixed up in pronounciation / being too close to friends' baby names for us to use it here!

Owain is lovely too, but I think given neither of us are Welsh nor living in Wales, the anglicised version might be best.

Enjoying that generally people seem to like it though!

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