Owens

It seems that Owen is a lot more common than we had thought. The image at left is from the Baby Name Wizard. It shows the Social Security Administration data on the name Owen over the years. You can see that from 1880 to about 1970, the name enjoyed relative obscurity. However, starting in the 1980s, the popularity of the name began to rise, and since 2000, it has skyrocketed. This might be coincidental with some of the rise to fame of stars such as Owen Wilson, Clive Owen, and Michael Owen (!).

Recently, one of my co-workers mentioned that two of her recent patients were named Owen. A few days later, one of my bosses remarked that she had met a baby named Owen over the weekend.

Then to top it all off, we went to a holiday party last weekend at Nan's friend's apartment. We ran into a couple who we'd met before, and it turned out that the wife was pregnant again. The perfunctory questions were exchanged, and it turned out that we are due within days of each other, delivering at the same hospital, and both having boys, whose names, by now you will have guessed, will both be Owen.