Rowan
//ˈɹəʊ.ən// name, noun
name, noun ·Uncommon ·Advanced level
Definitions
Noun
- 1 Sorbus aucuparia, the European rowan.
- 2 Alternative form of rowen (“aftermath”). alt-of, alternative
- 3 Dated form of roving (“an elongate bundle of fiber”). Scotland, alt-of, countable, dated, uncountable
- 4 Alternative form of rown (“fish-eggs”). Ireland, Northern-England, Scotland, alt-of, alternative, archaic, countable, uncountable
- 5 Eurasian tree with orange-red berrylike fruits wordnet
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- 6 Any of various small deciduous trees or shrubs of genus Sorbus, belonging to the rose family, with pinnate leaves, corymbs of white flowers, and usually with orange-red berries.
- 7 wych-elm, Ulmus glabra. obsolete
Proper Noun
- 1 A surname from Irish.
- 2 A male given name from Irish.
- 3 A unisex given name from English of modern usage, often associated with the rowan tree.
- 4 A locality in the Wagga Wagga council area, southern New South Wales, Australia.
Example
More examples"Rowan loves building miniature figurines of fantastical creatures and machines."
Etymology
Etymology 1
Originally Scots and northern English, from Middle English ron, rone, compare also Northern English raan, ran. At first referring to its fruits, of North Germanic origin, from Old Norse reynir. Also related to Norwegian Bokmål rogn, Danish røn. Ultimately related to the root of red.
Etymology 2
Anglicised from the Irish saints' name Ruadhán (“little red one”), or as a surname from Ó Ruadháin (“descendant of Ruadhán”).
Related phrases
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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.