Olwen

femaleStatistical record

What official birth registration shows about Olwen: which national registrars published it, in which years, and how its recorded position changed.

No researched meaning, origin or pronunciation yet — what that means.

Olwen: Recorded since 1966, its highest recorded position is #327, and it stood at #1,894 in 2024.

2registrars recorded it
38times a registrar ranked it
59years from first to last
#327highest recorded position
9groupings it qualifies for

Region

Rising

among girls in England and Wales · 1998–2024

View as table

England and Wales · Girls rank by year
Year	Rank
1998	#2701
2005	#4798
2006	#2781
2007	#2895
2008	#3397
2009	#5556
2010	#4688
2011	#4764
2012	#3285
2013	#3160
2014	#2464
2015	#4736
2016	#2367
2017	#2502
2018	#3178
2019	#2643
2020	#1846
2021	#2499
2022	#2325
2023	#1774
2024	#1894

VerifiedSource: Office for National Statistics — Baby Names in England and Wales.Confidence: high.

See all England and Wales names · Source: Office for National Statistics — Baby Names in England and Wales

What the data shows

RisingEngland and Wales · Girls

Recorded in official data among girls in Republic of Ireland in 17 of the 52 years from 1966 to 2017.

In 2017: #873 among girls in Republic of Ireland, #2502 among girls in England and Wales.

Official data from 2 national registrars across 2 regions, 1966–2024 · Office for National Statistics. Data sources

Popularity journey

First recorded1966
First recorded at #380 among girls in Republic of Ireland in 1966 — the earliest year that source publishes this name, not necessarily the earliest it was used.
Republic of Ireland · Girls
Highest recorded1966–2017
Highest recorded position: #327 among girls in Republic of Ireland, in 1968 (recorded 1966–2017).
Republic of Ireland · Girls
Most recent2024
Most recently recorded at #1894 among girls in England and Wales, in 2024.
England and Wales · Girls

Olwen appears in 2 of the published lists Namewise holds. The longest record is England and Wales · Girls, with 21 ranked years and 171 births registered; the earliest is Republic of Ireland · Girls, from 1966.

Olwen across 2 official records

Each registrar publishes its own list, so these figures are read down a row, never across one. A position in one country is not comparable with a position in another, and Namewise never combines them into a single ranking. The birth counts do not compare across rows either, for a different reason: England and Wales registers roughly thirty times as many births a year as Northern Ireland, so a larger total says which registrar recorded it as much as how widely the name was given.

Olwen's first, highest and most recent recorded position in each official list, with the number of births each registrar registered with the name and its largest single year
Published list	First recorded	Highest	Most recent	Years recorded	Births registered	Most in one year
Republic of Ireland · Girls	#380 (1966)	#327 (1968)	#873 (2017)	17 of 52	71 (1966–2017)	6 (1975)
England and Wales · Girls	#2701 (1998)	#1774 (2023)	#1894 (2024)	21 of 27	171 (1998–2024)	16 (2023)

Olwen by decade in England and Wales · Girls

Births registered with the name in each decade of this one list, with the number of years the list covers in that decade. Bars are scaled on births a year, which is the figure that compares between decades — a decade the list only partly covers has a smaller total without being a quieter decade. Figures belong to this registrar alone and do not carry to another.

Births registered with Olwen in England and Wales · Girls, by decade, with years covered and the average per year
Decade	Births registered	Years covered	A year
1990s	5	1 of 10	5
2000s	26	5 of 10	5
2010s	73	10 of 10	7
2020sbusiest	67	5 of 10	13

Across England and Wales · Girls, the 2020s were its busiest decade — the 5 years of it this list covers, averaging 13 births a year.

See the names England and Waleshas recorded the most births with →

Olwen appears in

Groupings this name qualifies for under their own stated rules, from the same official statistics shown above.

Popularity data

Official popularity data is available for 2 regions, from 1966 to 2024. Highest recorded position: #327 in Republic of Ireland in 1968.

Olwen's recorded popularity observations by year, region and administrative category, including rank, registered births, source confidence and when each region's data was last reviewed.
Year	Region	Category	Rank	Births registered	Confidence	Status
2024	England and Wales	female	#1894	15	High	Verified
2023	England and Wales	female	#1774	16	High	Verified
2022	England and Wales	female	#2325	11	High	Verified
2021	England and Wales	female	#2499	10	High	Verified
2020	England and Wales	female	#1846	15	High	Verified
2019	England and Wales	female	#2643	9	High	Verified
2018	England and Wales	female	#3178	7	High	Verified
2017	England and Wales	female	#2502	10	High	Verified
2016	England and Wales	female	#2367	11	High	Verified
2015	England and Wales	female	#4736	4	High	Verified
2014	England and Wales	female	#2464	10	High	Verified
2013	England and Wales	female	#3160	7	High	Verified
2012	England and Wales	female	#3285	7	High	Verified
2011	England and Wales	female	#4764	4	High	Verified
2010	England and Wales	female	#4688	4	High	Verified
2009	England and Wales	female	#5556	3	High	Verified
2008	England and Wales	female	#3397	6	High	Verified
2007	England and Wales	female	#2895	7	High	Verified
2006	England and Wales	female	#2781	7	High	Verified
2005	England and Wales	female	#4798	3	High	Verified
1998	England and Wales	female	#2701	5	High	Verified
2017	Republic of Ireland	female	#873	3	High	Verified
1996	Republic of Ireland	female	#534	3	High	Verified
1990	Republic of Ireland	female	#409	5	High	Verified
1988	Republic of Ireland	female	#492	3	High	Verified
1987	Republic of Ireland	female	#446	4	High	Verified
1983	Republic of Ireland	female	#529	3	High	Verified
1980	Republic of Ireland	female	#401	6	High	Verified
1979	Republic of Ireland	female	#420	5	High	Verified
1978	Republic of Ireland	female	#428	5	High	Verified
1976	Republic of Ireland	female	#360	6	High	Verified
1975	Republic of Ireland	female	#379	6	High	Verified
1974	Republic of Ireland	female	#490	3	High	Verified
1970	Republic of Ireland	female	#396	4	High	Verified
1969	Republic of Ireland	female	#443	3	High	Verified
1968	Republic of Ireland	female	#327	5	High	Verified
1967	Republic of Ireland	female	#354	4	High	Verified
1966	Republic of Ireland	female	#380	3	High	Verified

England and Wales hub — collected by Office for National Statistics
Republic of Ireland hub — collected by CSO Ireland

See methodology and data sources for how popularity data is collected and what "confidence" means.

What the record shows

Recorded by 2 registrars between 1966 and 2024, ranked in 37 years of that period.

Its highest recorded position is #327, first reached in 1968.

Its largest count from any one registrar is 16 births, registered in England and Wales in 2023.

Its record falls into 9 separate stretches, with a longest absence of 6 years.

A second registrar first ranked it in 1998, and 32 years separate the first registrar to record it from the last.

Every figure here is counted from the seven official registrars Namewise holds. A position is only ever a place within the list that published it, and a record that thins or stops is a fact about what registrars printed — never about how many children received the name.

Where to go next

Records with a comparable body of evidence, so the catalogue can be read outward from this one. Each group states the rule it was selected by.

Next in the catalogue

The records either side of this one alphabetically.

Oluwatosin · #439, 22y
Olve · #201, 46y
Olwyn · #236, 53y
Olympia · #910, 28y

A comparable record

Records held by the same 2 registrars, over a similar number of ranked years, whose highest position is closest to this one. A similar body of evidence — never a claim that the names themselves are alike.

Lucille · #327, 41y
Hamdi · #328, 35y
Henrietta · #325, 36y
Siham · #330, 37y

Also first recorded in the 1960s

Records whose earliest ranking in Namewise's registrar data also falls between 1960 and 1969.

Fionna · #327, 11y
Gladys · #327, 26y
Ingrida · #327, 23y
Lucille · #327, 41y

Olwen was ranked #327 in Republic of Ireland · Girls in 1968. These are the names immediately either side of it on that published list — a fact about the registrar's own output, not a similarity judgement.

Olwen and the names beside it

Two names in the same published list are measured on the same scale, in the same year, by the same registrar — so these are positions that genuinely passed each other, not a similarity judgement. Drawn from the 2,573 names with a recorded popularity standing (common, familiar, uncommon), so a name outside that set could have passed Olwen without appearing here.

Olwen moved ahead of

Cheryl Compare
In 2019 they stood at #2643 and #2286 in England and Wales · Girls; by 2020 that had become #1846 and #5493.
Therese Compare
In 2019 they stood at #4736 and #4103 in England and Wales · Girls; by 2020 that had become #1846 and #5493.
Belinda Compare
In 2015 they stood at #4736 and #2945 in England and Wales · Girls; by 2016 that had become #2367 and #5785.
Jeanette Compare
In 2015 they stood at #4736 and #4103 in England and Wales · Girls; by 2016 that had become #2367 and #5785.

Moved ahead of Olwen

Amalie Compare
In 2004 they stood at #2701 and #3848 in England and Wales · Girls; by 2005 that had become #4798 and #931.
Ada Compare
In 2004 they stood at #2701 and #3142 in England and Wales · Girls; by 2005 that had become #4798 and #951.
Blake Compare
In 2008 they stood at #2895 and #5201 in England and Wales · Girls; by 2009 that had become #5556 and #3936.
Ezra Compare
In 2013 they stood at #3160 and #5742 in England and Wales · Girls; by 2014 that had become #2464 and #1628.

Moved the opposite way to Olwen

Alexandra Compare
Between 1966 and 2017 in Republic of Ireland · Girls, Olwen went from #380 to #873 while Alexandra went from #288 to #111.
Alice Compare
Between 1966 and 2017 in Republic of Ireland · Girls, Olwen went from #380 to #873 while Alice went from #73 to #35.
Anna Compare
Between 1966 and 2017 in Republic of Ireland · Girls, Olwen went from #380 to #873 while Anna went from #36 to #12.
Annie Compare
Between 1966 and 2017 in Republic of Ireland · Girls, Olwen went from #380 to #873 while Annie went from #139 to #74.

Moved the same way as Olwen

Alison Compare
Between 1966 and 2017 in Republic of Ireland · Girls, Olwen went from #380 to #873 and Alison from #98 to #145.
Alma Compare
Between 1966 and 2017 in Republic of Ireland · Girls, Olwen went from #380 to #873 and Alma from #310 to #579.
Amanda Compare
Between 1966 and 2017 in Republic of Ireland · Girls, Olwen went from #380 to #873 and Amanda from #97 to #471.
Andrea Compare
Between 1966 and 2017 in Republic of Ireland · Girls, Olwen went from #380 to #873 and Andrea from #185 to #396.

What's not yet available

Meaning
Origin
Pronunciation
Nicknames and spelling variants

Absence from this list does not mean the name isn't genuinely meaningful or widely used — only that Namewise hasn't sourced and reviewed that content yet. Absence from a specific year or geography above does not prove zero use there either; official statistics only publish names above a minimum threshold.

Official popularity data is available for 2 regions, from 1966 to 2024. Highest recorded position: #327 in Republic of Ireland in 1968. Source data last verified 2026-07-21.

Olwen

Olwen at a glance

What the data shows

Popularity journey

Olwen across 2 official records

Olwen by decade in England and Wales · Girls

Olwen appears in

Popularity data

What the record shows

Where to go next

Next in the catalogue

A comparable record

Also first recorded in the 1960s

Names published alongside Olwen

Olwen and the names beside it

Olwen moved ahead of

Moved ahead of Olwen

Moved the opposite way to Olwen

Moved the same way as Olwen

Olwen at a glance

Olwen across 2 official records

Olwen by decade in England and Wales · Girls

Olwen appears in

What the record shows

Where to go next

Next in the catalogue

A comparable record

Also first recorded in the 1960s

Names published alongside Olwen

Olwen and the names beside it

Olwen moved ahead of

Moved ahead of Olwen

Moved the opposite way to Olwen

Moved the same way as Olwen