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rowan

UK /ˈɹəʊ.ən/noun

rowan is spelled R-O-W-A-N: 5 letters and 2 syllables. It appears 2.1 times per million words in written English, the 19,077th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). People search “rowan vs rowen” about 70 times a month (Google, United States). As a noun, rowan means “Sorbus aucuparia, the European rowan” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of rowan is rowans.

How many letters and syllables are in rowan?

Letters5: R-O-W-A-N
Syllables2 (from its American pronunciation)
In writing2.1 times per million words; the 19,077th most frequent word form
Wrong spellings searchednone measured in search
Pairs people search
Rhymes with

Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); Bing searches in the United States: the average month from September 2025 to August 2026 (Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, read September 30, 2026); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.

How common is rowan?

Rowan appears 2.1 times per million words in written English, the 19,077th most frequent word form in the list.

Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).

How do you pronounce rowan?

  • UK /ˈɹəʊ.ən/
  • UK /ˈɹaʊ.ən/
  • /ˈɹaʊ.ən/

Rowan has 2 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-rowan.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).

Words people confuse with rowan

Word pairs people search, with the monthly searches for “a vs b” (G: Google, B: Bing, United States).

rowan vs rowen70 G
roan vs rowan0 B

Also written: roan, roving, rowen.

Sources: Google and Bing searches (September 2025 to August 2026, through DataForSEO); English Wiktionary (homophones, alternative spellings).

What rhymes with rowan?

One word on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as rowan from its last stressed vowel (/əʊən/, British pronunciation):

Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).

Forms of rowan

  • rowans plural

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What does rowan mean?

The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).

noun

  1. 1

    Sorbus aucuparia, the European rowan.

  2. 2

    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.

  3. 3

    obsoletewych-elm, Ulmus glabra.

  4. 4

    Alternative form of rowen (“aftermath”).

  5. 5

    ScotlanddatedDated form of roving (“an elongate bundle of fiber”).

  6. 6

    IrelandScotlandarchaicAlternative form of rown (“fish-eggs”).

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

Rowan in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese

LanguageWords
Frenchsorbier des oiseleurs (Sorbus aucuparia), sorbier, alisier (tree or shrub of the genus Sorbus)
GermanEberesche, Vogelbeere (Sorbus aucuparia), Mehlbeere (tree or shrub of the genus Sorbus)
Portuguesetramazeira, cornogodinho (Sorbus aucuparia), sorveira (tree or shrub of the genus Sorbus)
Spanishserbal de los cazadores, azarollo (Sorbus aucuparia)

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.

Where does rowan come from?

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.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What to look up after rowan