girl's name
Gwendolyn
GWEN-duh-lin
- Origin Welsh
- Gender Girl
- Syllables 3
- Letters 9
- Popularity Top 1000 (US)
- Births on record 126,658
the United States
#360
2025 births
Gwendolyn means white ring or blessed ring, from Welsh, and the second element is genuinely a ring — a torc or armlet, which was the standard Celtic mark of rank. Our data marks it reviving.
- Gwendolyn is a name of Welsh origin.
- Peaked in 1953, when 3,531 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 3,910 babies in the United States is given this name.
- 3 syllables, with the stress on syllable 1.
Gwendolyn over time
Births per decade in the United States, 1880s to 2020s. The striped bar is the 2020s, still in progress — it covers 2020 to 2025, not a full ten years.
Show the numbers
| Decade | Births |
|---|---|
| 1880s | 45 |
| 1890s | 205 |
| 1900s | 775 |
| 1910s | 4,331 |
| 1920s | 8,677 |
| 1930s | 10,179 |
| 1940s | 18,407 |
| 1950s | 32,049 |
| 1960s | 18,692 |
| 1970s | 7,933 |
| 1980s | 3,838 |
| 1990s | 2,983 |
| 2000s | 4,548 |
| 2010s | 7,174 |
| 2020s (to 2025) | 4,882 |
What Gwendolyn means
Gwendolyn means white ring, or fair bow. The Welsh gwen means white, fair or blessed, and the second element is usually read as a ring or a bow.
Where Gwendolyn comes from
Gwendolyn is Welsh, from gwen — white, fair and by extension blessed, a word that also carries holiness in Welsh — joined to an element read as either dolen, a ring or link, or a word for a bow. The ring reading fits Celtic material culture directly: the torc worn at the neck and the armlet were the standard marks of rank, and gold ones turn up across Iron Age Britain. Gwendolen appears in Geoffrey of Monmouth as a legendary queen of the Britons, and Oscar Wilde used it in 1895.
Gwendolyn in use
Gwendolyn peaked in the United States in 1953, when 3,531 babies were registered, and our data marks it reviving. It charts in three of the seven markets we track — 360th in the United States on 848 births, 483rd in Canada and 1384th in England and Wales on 23 — across 126,658 lifetime births. It is one of four reviving names in this group, alongside Blanche, Leona and Fernand.
How popular is Gwendolyn?
In 2025, Gwendolyn was given to 848 babies in the United States, ranking #360 that year. It is a well-established, commonly used name.
Where Gwendolyn is used
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 Gwendolyn
These names rose and fell in the same era, which is why they tend to sound like they belong together.
Parents who like Gwendolyn also like
Names whose popularity has risen and fallen in step with Gwendolyn over the last century — the same taste, a different name.
2 nicknames for Gwendolyn
Each one is a name in its own right — the figure underneath is how it is doing today, so you can see which short forms are rising and which have faded.
Gwendolyn 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.
- Dutch
- Gwen
- Other forms
- Forms we hold no single language for — some are used across several, some are simply spelled differently.
- Gwendoline Gwendolin
Sibling names for Gwendolyn
Names from the same era that won't rhyme or share an initial with Gwendolyn — the two things that make a sibling set grate.
Common questions about Gwendolyn
What does the name Gwendolyn mean?
White ring, or fair bow — the Welsh gwen, white or blessed, with an element read as a ring.
Why would a ring be in a name?
Torcs and armlets were the standard Celtic marks of rank, and gold ones are found across Iron Age Britain.
Is Wendy short for Gwendolyn?
It is used that way, though Wendy was popularized independently by Peter Pan in 1904.
Is Gwendolyn coming back?
Our data marks it reviving, at 360th in the United States.
How popular is the name Gwendolyn?
In 2025, Gwendolyn was given to 848 babies in the United States, ranking #360 that year. It is a well-established, commonly used name.
Is Gwendolyn a girl's or a boy's name?
Gwendolyn is given almost entirely to girls in birth records.
How many syllables are in Gwendolyn?
Gwendolyn has 3 syllables.
When was Gwendolyn most popular?
Gwendolyn peaked in 1953, when 3,531 babies were given the name. After peaking in the 1950s it fell out of use, and is now climbing again — a classic revival.
What are the nicknames for Gwendolyn?
Gwendolyn is usually shortened to Gwen and Wendy.
Is Gwendolyn a good name?
That is not something records can settle, but they can tell you what you would be choosing. Gwendolyn currently ranks #360 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.