girl's name

Gwen

  • Gender Girl
  • Syllables 1
  • Letters 4
  • Popularity Top 1000 (US)
  • Births on record 36,352

the United States

#725

2025 births

Gwen is a girl's name with 1 syllable. In 2025 it was given to 384 babies in the United States, ranking #725. It is a well-established, commonly used name.

  • Peaked in 1959, when 951 babies were given the name.
  • After peaking in the 1950s it fell out of use, and is now climbing again — a classic revival.
  • Today about 1 in 8,634 babies in the United States is given this name.
  • First appears in US birth records in 1890.
  • 1 syllable, with the stress on syllable 1.

Gwen over time

Births per decade in the United States, 1890s to 2020s. The striped bar is the 2020s, still in progress — it covers 2020 to 2025, not a full ten years.

6,849
'90 '00 '10 '20 '30 '40 '50 '60 '70 '80 '90 '00 '10 '20
Show the numbers
Births named Gwen by decade in the United States
Decade Births
1890s 60
1900s 186
1910s 734
1920s 1,367
1930s 2,876
1940s 4,119
1950s 6,849
1960s 5,995
1970s 2,759
1980s 1,071
1990s 512
2000s 1,453
2010s 2,817
2020s (to 2025) 2,113

How popular is Gwen?

In 2025, Gwen was given to 384 babies in the United States, ranking #725 that year. It is a well-established, commonly used name.

Where Gwen is used

Ireland #498 7 in 2025
Canada #550 53 in 2024
Scotland #666 4 in 2020
United States #725 384 in 2025
England & Wales #1,006 34 in 2025
France #2,862 15 in 2025

The bar shows how near the top of each country's list the name sits, on a scale where #1 fills the row and #1,000 is a sliver. The figures beside it are the real rank and the babies recorded that year.

US figures omit any name given to fewer than five babies in a year, so the rarest names are absent from the source rather than absent from use. Data & sources.

Names that peaked alongside Gwen

These names rose and fell in the same era, which is why they tend to sound like they belong together.

Parents who like Gwen also like

Names whose popularity has risen and fallen in step with Gwen over the last century — the same taste, a different name.

Gwen in other languages

The same name as it is spelled elsewhere — not shortenings, and not different names that merely sound alike. Each one has its own record here.

Breton
Gwenn
Gallo
Gwenn
Other forms
Forms we hold no single language for — some are used across several, some are simply spelled differently.
Gwendoline

Sibling names for Gwen

Names from the same era that won't rhyme or share an initial with Gwen — the two things that make a sibling set grate.

Common questions about Gwen

How popular is the name Gwen?

In 2025, Gwen was given to 384 babies in the United States, ranking #725 that year. It is a well-established, commonly used name.

Is Gwen a girl's or a boy's name?

Gwen is given almost entirely to girls in birth records.

How many syllables are in Gwen?

Gwen has 1 syllable.

When was Gwen most popular?

Gwen peaked in 1959, when 951 babies were given the name. After peaking in the 1950s it fell out of use, and is now climbing again — a classic revival.

Is Gwen a good name?

That is not something records can settle, but they can tell you what you would be choosing. Gwen currently ranks #498 in the United States. After peaking in the 1950s it fell out of use, and is now climbing again — a classic revival. Everything else — how it sounds with your surname, who it reminds you of — is yours.