How rare is the name Rowena?

9,883 people in the United States have the first name Rowena, about 1 in 30,561. It ranks #2,486 of 53,615 first names in the 2020 Census.

first name

ROWENA

#2,486

of 53,615 first names recorded in the 2020 Census

People
9,883
About
1 in 30,561
This common or more
79.9%
Who bears it

Of the 9,883 people named Rowena, 55.6% reported their origin as Asian or Pacific Islander, 27.8% as White and 9.2% as Black. Virtually all are female (99.9%). These count how people described themselves on the 2020 Census, not where the name comes from.

Rowena peaked in 1917, when 224 babies got the name.

Births per year, SSA records 1880–2025
18802025
Peak year
1917
Births that year
224
In 2025*
32 ▼86%
Recorded as
almost entirely female

At least 10,526 babies have been given the name since 1880. Years SSA withheld, because fewer than 5 were born, are skipped rather than drawn as zero. * 2025 is the newest year published and it undercounts: a card application is filed some time after a birth.

Rowena by decade

Among all names given to American babies, its best decade was the 1890s, when it ranked #763. The largest share of babies named Rowena, 30.6%, were born between 1901 and 1927, the Greatest Generation's birth years.

1880s#969160
1890s#763354
1900s#857406
1910s#8751,412
1920s#9671,774
1930s#9851,481
1940s#1,3591,056
1950s#1,4861,268
1960s#1,836960
1970s#2,738566
1980s#4,015391
1990s#9,299163
2000s#13,885127
2010s#11,972168
2020s#6,558240
Before 19015.3%
Greatest Generation 1901–2730.6%
Silent Generation 1928–4523.5%
Baby boom 1946–6421.5%
Generation X 1965–809.3%
Millennials 1981–964.3%
Generation Z 1997–122%
2013 and later3.6%

Rank counts both sexes together, among every name SSA recorded that decade; the number under it is births. The 2020s run only to 2025. Generation years follow Pew Research Center, which has not named a generation after 2012.

Where Rowena is most common

Compared with all babies born in each state since 1910, Rowena has been most common in Hawaii (18×), Maine (5.9×), and Oklahoma (3.6×), and least common in Michigan (0.34×).

5,307 births recorded by state, 1910–2025. 2× means twice as common as nationally. States with fewer than 30 such births are left blank, and SSA withholds any year with fewer than 5 in a state, so small states read low.

Either side of Rowena

#2,484 Darby · 9,906#2,485 Yang · 9,900#2,487 Emmy · 9,880#2,488 Hal · 9,875

Spelled almost the same

2 first names in the 2020 Census spelled within a letter or two of Rowena, most common first.

#3,415 Rowen · 6,134#25,086 Roena · 380

Compare