Rowena

Revision History

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12/7/2022, 9:35 PM Mike C update #113
1/21/2022, 9:40 PM Mike C update #111
11/16/2019, 11:04 AM Mike C update #105
1/22/2019, 10:01 AM Mike C update #101
5/31/2018, 2:36 PM Mike C update #99
12/3/2014, 12:28 AM Mike C update #89
2/12/2007, 1:03 AM Mike C earliest recorded revision

Gender Feminine
Usage English
Pronounced Pron. ro-EEN-ə

Meaning & History

Meaning uncertain. According to the 12th-century chronicler Geoffrey of Monmouth, this was the name of a daughter of the Saxon chief Hengist. It is possible (but unsupported) that Geoffrey based it on the Old English elements hroð "fame" and wynn "joy", or alternatively on the Old Welsh elements ron "spear" and gwen "white". It was popularized by Walter Scott, who used it for a character in his novel Ivanhoe (1819).