Is Rowan really that popular?

Rowan is extremely trendy and to me feels overused / overdone these days
@Newnamenewname109870
wanted to be honest
It is not just the popularity of the name itself but Roman with an M is THE fastest rising boy name. Roman with M has risen over 600 places to now be top 20 and still rising. There were two baby Romans in my Nct group and I know quite a few baby Rowan's too. If you're wanting something even remotely unusual then I'd avoid two of the top trending names like Rowan and Roman

https://names.darkgreener.com/#roman

Here the name is very popular, albeit with different spellings

I've met three or four at baby classes over the past 18 months, so it's pretty common in my area of the North West

About 1000 a year-more boys than girls. So not popular at all.

I only posted a link, but it's not easy to find unless you know it's there. IIRC it only shows data for names in the top 100 in England and Wales.

Names might appear unusual but might be extremely popular within certain communities. And they might not to be popular in one year but popular other years.

I know quite a few people who can't say R. Either they say w or v, but sometimes they can't roll it.
It's quite common in children.

It’s worth adding that this is my experience living in an area - according to the very useful map posted by @KirstenBlest - where the name Rowan is seemingly not particularly unpopular!

I have a little Rowan. Got some time to kill while he naps and I can’t be bothered to get up and clean the kitchen so will give my two cents here instead 😊

No regrets at all, lovely name with a personal connection for me. Went for it despite some off-putting comments I read on threads here when I was pregnant….. apparently it’s constantly confused with RoMan, you can’t move for baby Romans and Rowans in any given baby/toddler group, it’s lost in the ‘sea’ of Reubens Rorys so why bother, it’s storming up the name charts and it’s going to be a top ten name before you know it….

I have not met another one except an acquaintance’s 13 year old. Most people I meet compliment the name but find it mildly unusual. I haven’t (personally) met anyone who has great difficulty with the difference between a W and an M either. I have met one other ‘R’ name (Rupert) in one of 4 baby groups/classes I go to. It certainly HAS increased in popularity, now something like 60th most popular boy’s name, as evidenced by ONS name data if you’re into that. So if for example you want a really unusual name outside the top 100 then that’s worth some thought. Personally I am glad it’s had a little boost recently because a) it’s a good name that deserves popularity, and b) I used to enjoy meeting other kids with my name so I think it’d be nice for my boy if he ran into another little Rowan at some point. I still believe despite claims of extreme ‘trendiness’ that he is very unlikely to be in classes FULL of Rowans!

The other concern some have raised was that names experiencing an increase in popularity over a short number of years can ’date’ a person. I don’t get this worry at all. Many (most?) names have peaks and troughs of popularity and the apparent shame of someone being able to work out when you might have been born by your name is a complete non issue to me.

Go for it if you love it too. 😊

I only know one Rowan, she is in her early 30's

I would assume Rowan was a girl

If you love it, use it. Even if you completely made a name up, there's no guarantee that someone local wouldn't copy you.

The name stats are a guide but won't show a sharp spike in popularity. If you choose a name that can have a longer form or a short form, or different spellings, check the stats for those too. Finn isn't particularly popular, but Finley is and spellings like Finlay, Findlay etc might mean a lot of Finns. With Rowan, maybe check Rohan, Roan, Roman and Ronan as well.

It's a lovely name, I don't know any and haven't heard any in DS nursery or day care.

@CastleTower , it means it is fairly likely that there will be multiples in the school year.
The school I went to even had multiples for full names in the same school year, and the duplicated boy's name was not a particularly common one. The duplicated girl's name was an Amelia Rose Smith type name, but the boy's more something like Stanley James Williams.

Local primary school had 4 Olivias in one class a few years ago.

Even the darkest areas in that map are 1.7%, so multiples in a class would be unlikely.

My friends toddler is called Rowan, he's 2

@Newnamenewname109870 , Baby names in England and Wales - Office for National Statistics (ons.gov.uk), scroll down to 4. Baby names by mother’s usual area of residence. You can zoom in and out.
The darker the area, the more popular the name. It's not popular in my area, but more popular than Noah in some areas.

@Newnamenewname109870 its going to be one of those if you love it you take the chance. Olivia has been number 1 girls name for years but i only know one in her 30s. My daughter is now in secondary school and has never come across any. But there are multiple of lots of other names. She was one of 4 with the same name during primary school even though I’d never met any children with her name before. My second has a name that I’d never heard before I chose it for her and is only 361st most popular name, but she’s only 2.5 and already come across 3 children with the same name.

Choose a name that you love, you won’t get a good idea of how popular it is in your area until you start going to baby/toddler groups, nursery or school.

I think it's a lovely name for girl or boy, actually don't know any at all!

Callie and Kelly are actually quite similar especially if you have an American accent. Similarly I never know if Dr Weaver in ER was Kerry or Karrie.

Rowan and Joanne are so different. Stress is totally different as is the 2nd vowel sound
ROW-un
Jo-AN

I know two boy Rowans. One is 8 and the other is in his 30s.
it was on my list but when DS arrived we thought he didn’t suit it. Nice name, not sure I’d use it for a girl but I think it has an androgynous feel.

@Qilin , it could well be. The ONS page shows popularity by region, but the data is that of the year before last, I think.
A name is more likely to be on your radar if you know of one, so it could be that only a handful of babies are given the name, but they'll be in the same area.

I know an adult female Rowan and a 22 year old boy.

I agree, I think they are very different names but it does happen. I have a friend who is a Callie (Caroline) and people always think she’s saying Kelly on the phone, as well.

I know one.