Help!! Rowen or Freya?

[scubastevie]

I'm an awful mind changer. I change my mind about everything!! We had decided on Rowen for our baby girl but a friend recently mentioned it in a sort of I-don't-like-that-name sort of way. This is precisely why we didn't want to tell anyone as I don't want anyone poo-pooing it. So we also like Freya but it is so popular (no.25). So, do you like Rowen? Do you like Freya? Am I being silly about popularity (how many Freya's do you know?) any alternative suggestions please?? Thank you!!

[RiaOverTheRainbow]

Both are lovely. For me Freya's only downside is it's popularity, and Rowan's is the ow/oe pronunciation (I prefer ow).

[sausageandorangepickle]

I know RowAn both as a boys and girls name.

I wondered if OP and maybe others had the -en ending in mind because of welsh names that have -wyn endings for the male version and -wen for the female (e.g. Gwyn/Gwen)

So in that case no-one would have a -an ending, all the boys would be Rowyn, and the girls Rowen!

[lifesobeautiful]

I knew a stunning girl called Rowen - who ended up a model - so I've always liked it! Go for it.

[SchroSawMargeryDaw]

Freja is top of our list so I would probably say that I prefer Freya best. :)

Love Rowan though, it's a great name and also quite close to the top of our list. :o

[pinkgirlythoughts]

SIL is named Rowen (this spelling). MIL and FIL believe her to be the only person in the world with this spelling, and were really genuinely surprised when she said she'd recently met someone with a daughter named Rowhen (and no, that's not a typo either!). They kept saying "don't you mean Rowena? Or RowAn?"

FWIW, I like both Rowen and Freya :)

[aufaniae]

Rowan

[tabulahrasa]

I've always known Rowan as a girl's name (other than Rowan Atkinson) and the row rhymes with cow not toe.

I like it.

[GW297]

I love Freya!

[FranglaisMaman]

I vote for Freya just because it sounds more feminine to me than Rowan/Rowen and I like the girly albeit popular names (so shoot me).

However, don't let your friend's reaction put you off the name that YOU love. And if you love Rowan/Rowen then you should call her that and sod the nay-sayers . If that's always been your first choice, go with it.

[jaggythistle]

Rowan with an a. I knew a nice Freya, but she'd be my age - mid 30s. I know one baby girl Rowan.

[burcham12]

Rowan looks feminine. Rowen looks masculine. Please go with Rowan!

[LarkinSky]

I know two preschool Rowans (girls) and one adult Rowan (male). All spelt with an 'a' - Rowan. It was on our baby names lists for both genders.

To me Rowen with an e looks misspelt. I really don't like Rowena, however.

Its quite interesting to put 'Rowan' in Facebook's search engine as you'll see an even mix of male and female Rowans come up. I like doing this to see what people with a certain name, around the world, look like.
Not many results for the Rowen spelling though - they all seem to be Rowenas.

[attheendoftheday]

Those were our top two names for dd1. We went for Rowan as I was put off by how common Freya is these days.

[TenthMuse]

I think one problem with slightly more unusual names is that there will tend to be one or two well-known carriers of the name (in this case, Rowan Atkinson and Rowan Williams) who most people will automatically associate it with. So you'll therefore get comments like 'Rowan is a boy's name because of Rowan Atkinson'. That's why so many people favour more familiar, established names - if you say 'Kate', or 'Emily', for instance, people have many more associations to choose from, and won't form opinions of it based on a single person. I have the same problem when I say I like the name Elsa - people immediately say "You can't use that for a child because of that lion in 'Born Free'!"

[AyeOopMoose]

Please don't listen to what anyone says and go for what you really like!

In your case Rowan see personally I prefer Freya as it's more feminine but then I'm not naming your baby!

[shoobidoo]

Rowen or Rowena definately!

[monica77798]

I like Freya more than Rowen. I thought Rowen (Rowan?) was a boy's name. It will always just remind me of Rowan Atkinson.

[scubastevie]

Lol not bothered if you know of other Rowans from non artsy families :) I thought Morgan was a girls name? Not keen though. It has def traditionally been unisex, and i like the link with the Rowan tree which is pretty. I never really wanted a unisex name but love Rowan; it's unusual enough but not very common whilst still pretty and can suit young and old. I think it could grow on people if they're not keen at first.
If you like Rowan, what's your vote on spelling?

[BuntyPenfold]

Where do they come from gounglone?

[goinglone]

I'm afraid the female Rowans that I know of (both big and small), most definitely do not come from 'artsy' 'alternative' families; quite the opposite!

[GrumpyOldHorsewoman]

Please - anything but Freya (my most hated girl's name). I think of a really annoying woman on holiday once, whose DD (aged about 3) was crawling under everyone's tables and being badly behaved while her mother just whined "Freeeeyaaaaa" while doing nothing to distract her.
Now my cousin has named her baby Freya, much to my disappointment.

[TenthMuse]

I'd disagree that Rowan's downmarket for a girl - all the female Rowans I've come across have been thoroughly middle-class, albeit often with somewhat artsy or 'alternative' parents (e.g. one had parents who followed Wicca). And historically I think it's been pretty much unisex (one of the few names that genuinely are), although possibly more so in Scotland than England.

[badtime]

I think Rowan as a girls name is more traditional in Scotland.