What is the origin of the surname Bowen?

Answer 1

The surname Bowen has two origins. The Welsh origin means 'son of Owain', meaning well-born or noble. The Irish origin is an Anglicized form of the Gaelic "O'Buadhachain", the prefix "O", meaning grandson or descendant of, and "Buadhach", a personal name meaning "victorious". The surname dates back to the late 13th Century when John Bowen was recorded in the 1305 in the Register of the Freemen of the City of York. The Coat of Arms most associated with the family is a blue shield with a gold lion rampant within an orle of gold roses, the Crest being an arm couped at the elbow and erect habited black cuffed ermine holding in the hand proper a chaplet of laurel green. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Madocus ap Oweyn, which was dated 1292, in Shropshire, during the reign of King Edward 1.