Is Owen a Name that is Unisex?

SeptBeanMamma · August 2010

What do you all think about this? I knew a girl named Owen as a kid so it seems to go both ways for me, but I've had a few folks say that Owen is definitely a boy name.

So....would naming a girl Owen be like naming her Bob?

juniper19 · August 2010

It has soft sounds, so it is slightly less masculine than other male names (like Robert or Richard or David) but I still think it is all boy.

joanithegreat · August 2010

To me Owen is a boy name all the way.

skyejo · August 2010

juniper19:
It has soft sounds, so it is slightly less masculine than other male names (like Robert or Richard or David) but I still think it is all boy.

I agree.

lost in austen · August 2010

I don't think Owen is even remotely unisex. Boy all the way.

Under.the.Rose · August 2010

mj.reilly:
No, Owen is NOT a girl's name. It is NOT unisex.
Same goes for Mason, Landon, James, Bob, Jonathan, Ryan, Kyle, Tyler...BOY names.
It's like naming you son Abigail or Olivia.

I wholeheartedly agree.

MeganColleen · August 2010

To me, Owen is definitely a boy's name. 100%.

MissLadyTay · August 2010

Owen is a boy name for sure. If you like that kind of name for a girl, name her Arwen or something. Like Liv Tyler in Lord of the Rings.

CrazyToast · August 2010

NOT unisex...only for boys!

amandainma · August 2010

I agree...Boy.

braveangel2 · August 2010

No. Owen is a boys name. Any time a girl has been named Owen, it's a boys name on a girl.

We are definitely affected by the people we see and hear when it comes to names. I know a girl named, Shane and while it's a boys name, this lends a girl tone to me. I wouldn't call it unisex by any means, but I can see how it happens.

https://www.behindthename.com/php/search.php?terms=owen&nmd=n&gender=both&operator=or

.

AndLyn · August 2010

Definitely a boy's name.

lulu3061 · August 2010

Yes, I think it would be like naming her Bob.

So Long Astoria · August 2010

Mama Cass Elliot named her daughter Owen back in the 1960s, so its not unheard of.

plunderb · August 2010

Owen is a boy's name. In 2009, there were 14 baby girls named Owen and 8,060 baby boys, so it is currently boy by a ratio of 576:1.

If you like the sound, I second pp's suggestion of Arwen. You might also try other names with similar sounds: Rowena, Noemi, Willow, Ophelia, etc.

SeptBeanMamma · August 2010

Thanks guys! I love how decisive everyone is about this. I had no idea.....

Also, thanks for the alternate suggestions. I am WORN OUT by this whole baby naming thing.

braveangel2 · August 2010

Wren might work too, but I like a lot of the other suggestions too.

MaryYVR · August 2010

Never heard of it for a girl. It's on our list of boys names though.

dana1318a · August 2010

juniper19:
It has soft sounds, so it is slightly less masculine than other male names (like Robert or Richard or David) but I still think it is all boy.

this.

EastCoastBride · August 2010

While I knew a girl who went by her MN of Owen (grandfathers name, she had a super common first name), it's definitely a BOYS name!

strangebird · August 2010

mj.reilly:
No, Owen is NOT a girl's name. It is NOT unisex.
Same goes for Mason, Landon, James, Bob, Jonathan, Ryan, Kyle, Tyler...BOY names.
It's like naming you son Abigail or Olivia.

mj.reilly beat me to it! Exactly what she said--boys name!

queenbone · August 2010

Is Owen a Name that is Unisex? No, it is all boy to me.

BizEB · August 2010

Yes, naming a girl Owen is like naming her Bob. Truly awful.

lovemytwoboys · August 2010

Owen is all boy to me.

SkobysBride · August 2010

Very much a boy's name to me.

Rangergal9 · August 2010

I think of Owen as just a boy's name.

*Scuzzlebutt* · August 2010

Owen is 110% a boy's name to me. I know Michelle Branch named her daughter Owen, but I just look at that kid and think, "there's a girl with a boy's name" It's very masculine.

MrsRoy07 · August 2010

Definitely a boy name IMO.

Allie30 · August 2010

Oh for Pete's sake! Owen is a boy name. I know a girl named Michael -- doesn't make it a unisex name. I know a boy who wears dresses -- doesn't make dresses a unisex clothing item. It's just something that one person or one family has decided to do.

PhilsWife07 · August 2010

This is one of the worst "unisex" names I've seen on this board.

starsmaycollide · August 2010

I work with kids, and that's one I have never heard of for a girl. Sounds way too weird.

lisak624 · August 2010

I think it's for boys only.

tct1219 · August 2010

i haven't heard it as a girl name but i'm sure in a few years it will be all over the place. kind of like taylor [my name] in the 80s started out as a boy's name and now it's overwhelmingly used for girls.

ZTACRYSTAL · August 2010

I think its becoming popular for a girl. I heard a little girl named Owen a few weeks ago in the mall. And I know Michelle Branch has a girl named Owen.

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