Corwyn
Welsh name meaning "blessed circle" or "illustrious friend".
Name Census estimates that about 436 living Americans carry the first name Corwyn. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Corwyn today is around 37 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Corwyn births was 2006 (16 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Corwyn. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
People living today
436
~ 1 in 786,134 Americans
Peak year
2006
16 babies that year
Average age
37
years old
2024 SSA rank
#11,169
Tracked since 1946
Census
Corwyn in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 456 people with the first name Corwyn, which placed it at #22,008 in the published first-name tables. This is a snapshot of people who already had the name at the time of the Census.
The SSA sections elsewhere on this page answer a different question: how often parents gave the name to babies over time. The "people living today" figure on this page is different again: it is a current estimate built from SSA birth records and age-based survival rates, so the two numbers are not expected to match exactly.
2020 Census rank
#22,008
National first-name rank
People counted
456
456 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
65.1% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Corwyn
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Corwyn is White at 65.1%. The next largest groups are Black (21.7%) and Two or More Races (5.0%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Corwyn described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given name, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown so the breakdown is easy to read across every published category. Because the 2020 Census first-name file also includes raw headcounts for each group, Name Census can show those alongside the percentages in the legend and hover tooltip.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the name Corwyn at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White65.1% · 297
- Black or African American21.7% · 99
- Two or more races5.0% · 23
- Hispanic or Latino4.2% · 19
- American Indian and Alaska Native2.4% · 11
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.5% · 7
Popularity
Corwyn: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Corwyn from the 1940s through to the 2020s, spanning 9 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 84 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 2000s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Corwyn by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Corwyn during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Origin
Meaning and history of Corwyn
The name Corwyn has its origins in the Welsh language and culture, dating back to the early medieval period. It is derived from the Welsh words "cor" meaning "a circle" or "a choir" and "gwyn" meaning "white" or "blessed." The combination of these words suggests a meaning of "blessed circle" or "blessed choir."
In its earliest recorded usage, the name Corwyn was associated with Welsh monasteries and religious communities, where it may have been given to individuals who were part of monastic choirs or circles of worship. The name's connection to the concepts of blessedness and purity aligned with the spiritual ideals of these religious orders.
One of the earliest known historical references to the name Corwyn can be found in a 12th-century manuscript from the Abbey of Llanthony in Wales, which mentions a monk named Corwyn ap Rhys (born around 1145). This individual is believed to have been a renowned scholar and scribe within the abbey's community.
As the name spread beyond monastic circles, it became more widely used among the Welsh nobility and gentry. One notable figure bearing the name was Corwyn ap Iorwerth (1220-1280), a Welsh landowner and military leader who played a prominent role in conflicts against English forces during the 13th century.
In the 16th century, the name Corwyn gained further recognition through the work of Corwyn ap Rhys (1505-1568), a Welsh poet and storyteller who is credited with preserving and popularizing numerous Welsh folktales and literary traditions.
Another historical figure of note was Corwyn Jones (1645-1722), a Welsh minister and theologian who served as the rector of Llanfair Dyffryn Clwyd and was known for his influential sermons and religious writings.
During the 19th century, the name Corwyn was carried across the Atlantic by Welsh immigrants to North America. One notable bearer was Corwyn Hughes (1820-1892), a Welsh-American entrepreneur and industrialist who founded the Corwyn Mining Company in Pennsylvania.
As the name Corwyn continued to be used over the centuries, it retained its Welsh roots and association with concepts of blessedness, purity, and spiritual devotion, reflecting the rich cultural and religious heritage of its origins.
People
Corwyn + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Corwyn as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with C
Other first names starting with C with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Corwyn: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Corwyn?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 436 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Corwyn going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 786,134 US residents.
Is Corwyn a common name?
We classify Corwyn as "Very Rare". It ranks above 83.2% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 472 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Corwyn most popular?
The single biggest year for Corwyn was 2006, when 16 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Corwyn is about 37 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Corwyn in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 456 people with the name Corwyn, or 0.15 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #22,008 in the national Census ranking for first names.
Why is the Census count different from the living estimate?
Because they measure different things. The Census figure is a count of people who had the name Corwyn in 2020. The living estimate aims to answer a current question instead: how many people with the name are alive today, based on SSA birth records and age-based survival rates. Since one number is a 2020 snapshot and the other is a present-day estimate, they are not expected to be identical.
What does the Census say about the gender split for Corwyn?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Corwyn leans strongly male. 427 people counted with this name were male (94.7%), compared with 24 female bearers (5.3%). The Census view is a snapshot of people living with the name in 2020, while the SSA section above tracks births across time.
What does the Census say about the background of people named Corwyn?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Corwyn is White at 65.1%. The next largest groups are Black (21.7%) and Two or More Races (5.0%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself. The percentages in the chart above come from self-reported race and Hispanic-origin responses in the 2020 Census.
Which group reports the name Corwyn most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Corwyn in the 2020 Census, accounting for 65.1% (297 people in the published table).
Why can the Census sex total and race total differ slightly?
The Census Bureau published separate 2020 tables for sex and for race/Hispanic origin, and the released figures can differ slightly because of privacy protection in the public files. That is why this page treats the gender section and the race/origin section as two related snapshots instead of forcing them into one identical total.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only includes names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files have no Census demographic snapshot. When that happens, the SSA trend, gender history, and state sections still appear, but the 2020 Census demographic sections are omitted.
What does the SSA popularity chart show?
The chart tracks births, not the number of people alive with the name today. Each point shows how many babies were given the name Corwyn in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Corwyn a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Corwyn in the SSA data are male. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Is Corwyn still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Corwyn in 2024, and the page above shows its latest-year rank where available. A name can be well past its peak and still remain in steady use, especially if it built up a large population over earlier decades.
Why can a name have a lot of living bearers even if it is not trendy now?
Because living-bearer counts and current baby-name popularity measure different things. A name like Corwyn can build up a very large population over many decades, even if fewer parents are choosing it now than they did at its peak.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.
How many people are called Corwyn?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.