owen/ewen

Celtic proper name, ult. from Gk. eugenes "well-born;" via Gael. Eoghann, O.Ir. Eogan, O.Welsh Eugein, Ougein. In Medieval records, frequently Latinized as Eugenius; the form Eugene emerged in Scotland by 1178. The Breton form Even led to modern Fr. Ivain. Owenite in ref. to the communistic system of social reformer Robert Owen (1771-1858) is attested from 1829.