ROWDEN
The surname Rowden is of English origin. In the traditional system of English surnames it belongs to the class of locational names, taken from a place that the bearers once inhabited before they migrated elsewhere.
It is derived from the Old English term ruh denu, whose components mean “rough” or “overgrown” and “valley” respectively. The name therefore originally described a person who dwelt by a rough or rugged valley. The element dun, meaning a low hill, is a Celtic word that was adopted into Old English from the pre‑Roman British language, and it appears in the earliest forms of the place name recorded in the Domesday Book of 1086 as Ruedene and in the Fees Book of Herefordshire in 1249 as Rugedun.
The village that gave rise to the surname lies in Herefordshire, near the town of Hereford. Locational surnames were usually conferred upon former inhabitants who moved away, and were thereafter identified by the name of their place of origin. The first documented spelling of the family name that survives is that of Jana Rowdon, who was christened on 11 June 1539 at Bromyard, Herefordshire during the reign of King Henry VI.
Variations of the surname are common, reflecting changes in spelling over time and in different regions. Recorded variants include Rowdon, Rouden, Roudon, Rodden, Ruadhan, Ruddan, Ruddon, Rowson, Roweson, Rouen, Rown, Rowney, Rowin and Roon. In some cases the spelling was altered by linguistic shift; for example, the consonant following an initial r may have been reduced or omitted, producing the form Rodden. The Gaelic name MacRothain may have been Anglicised to Rodan, a corruption closely related to the earlier surname.
In the modern era the name remains most common in the United Kingdom, where it is especially concentrated in London and the South West counties of Devon and Somerset. The United States, Australia and New Zealand also have sizeable populations of people who carry the surname. In the United States, it is frequent in Midwestern states such as Ohio, Illinois, Michigan and Indiana, while in Australia it is found in both the eastern and western states. The name can be encountered in Canada, South Africa, Mexico, the Czech Republic and Germany as a result of emigration and marriage.
Historical records also reveal social links among bearers of the surname. A notable instance is the marriage of John Rowden and Elizabeth Baker, which was recorded at St. James's, Duke's Place, London, on 2 June 1685. This and other documents attest to the presence of the family within Anglican, and more broadly Christian, communities throughout the British Isles and beyond.
Typical given names associated with the Rowden surname
Male
- Andrew
- Christopher
- David
- James
- John
- Mark
- Paul
- Peter
- Richard
- Stephen
Female
- Deborah
- Elizabeth
- Helen
- Jennifer
- Julie
- Karen
- Laura
- Lisa
- Nicola
- Patricia
- Sarah
- Shona
Similar and related surnames
Related and similar names are generated algorithmically based on the spelling, and may not necessarily share an etymology.
How to communicate the surname Rowden in...
Braille
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Morse
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Semaphore
There are approximately 1,297 people named Rowden in the UK. That makes it roughly the 6,021st most common surname in Britain. Around 20 in a million people in Britain are named Rowden.
Surname type: Location or geographical feature
Origin: English
Region of origin: British Isles
Country of origin: England
Religion of origin: Christian
Language of origin: English
Famous people named Rowden
- Diana Rowden - Spy (1915 to 1944)
Names and descriptions courtesy of Wikipedia, and may contain errors. This is not intended to be an exhaustive list of every famous person with this name.