Eowyn

Meaning of Eowyn

Eowyn, pronounced AY-oh-win (/eɪ.oʊ.wɪn/), is a feminine name coined by the philologist–novelist J. R. R. Tolkien for the Shield-maiden of Rohan in The Lord of the Rings, yet its internal morphology rests on genuine Old English elements—eoh “horse” and wyn “joy”—which together yield the literal sense “delight of horses” and anchor the name in an Anglo-Saxon semantic field reflective of the Rohirrim’s mounted culture. Although unattested in authentic medieval records, this constructed etymology, coupled with the character’s narrative valor, has endowed Eowyn with an aura of historical depth that has proved appealing to modern English-speaking parents: United States birth data show that, since Tolkien’s work entered popular consciousness, the name has maintained a steady though modest presence, appearing most recently in the mid-800s of the national rankings with annual counts near one hundred. Consequently, Eowyn occupies a distinctive onomastic niche, balancing scholarly linguistic resonance, literary prestige, and relative rarity within contemporary naming conventions.