Guin
An English surname derived from the French place name Guines.
Name Census estimates that about 1 living Americans carry the first name Guin. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Guin today is around 112 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Guin births was 1936 (5 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Guin. 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.
Key insights
- • The typical person named Guin is about 112 years old today, placing it firmly among the names of earlier generations. Most living Guins were born before 1924.
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Guin. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
1
~ 1 in 342,754,338 Americans
Peak year
1936
5 babies that year
Average age
112
years old
1936 SSA rank
#3,756
Tracked since 1936
Popularity
Guin: popularity over time
Babies born per year
Decades
Guin 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 Guin during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
| Decade | Male | Female | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1930s | 5 | 0 | 5 |
Origin
Meaning and history of Guin
The name Guin has its origins in the Celtic languages, with roots that can be traced back to the ancient Britons and Gauls. The earliest known form of the name was likely "Gwinno" or "Gwynno," which meant "blessed" or "fair" in Brittonic Celtic.
Over time, the name evolved and took on various spellings, such as "Gwyn," "Gwynn," and "Gwynne" in Welsh, and "Guin" or "Guine" in French and English. It was particularly popular among the ruling classes in medieval Britain and France.
One of the earliest recorded mentions of the name can be found in the Welsh Triads, a collection of traditional narratives from the 9th century. Here, the name appears as "Gwynn," referring to a legendary figure associated with the Isle of Man.
In the 12th century, the name gained prominence with the rise of the House of Anjou in France. Guin or Guine was the name of a noblewoman, the wife of Geoffrey Plantagenet, Count of Anjou, and the mother of King Henry II of England.
Another famous bearer of the name was Guin or Guine, the sister of Arthur, the legendary British king of the late 5th and early 6th centuries. She is a central figure in the Arthurian legends, often portrayed as a sorceress or enchantress.
In the 16th century, Guin (also spelled Gwynn or Gwynne) was a relatively common name among the Welsh gentry. One notable example is Gwynn Jones (c. 1520 - c. 1580), a Welsh landowner and Member of Parliament during the reign of Elizabeth I.
In the literary world, Guin ap Nudd is a character from Welsh mythology who appears in the Mabinogion, a collection of medieval Welsh tales. He is portrayed as the ruler of the Otherworld and is associated with hunting and the supernatural.
Another historical figure with the name was Guine de Lusignan (c. 1190 - c. 1250), a French noblewoman who married Geoffrey de Lusignan, a prominent Crusader and military leader during the Sixth Crusade.
People
Guin + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Guin as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with G
Other first names starting with G with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Guin: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Guin?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 1 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Guin 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 342,754,338 US residents.
Is Guin a common name?
We classify Guin as "Very Rare". It ranks above 3.8% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 5 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Guin most popular?
The single biggest year for Guin was 1936, when 5 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Guin is about 112 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
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 Guin in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Guin a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Guin 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 Guin still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Guin 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 Guin 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.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only covers names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files do not have a published Census demographic snapshot. In those cases, the page still shows the SSA trend, gender history, and state data.
How many people have Guin as a first name?
For a quick modern take, check how many people have the name Guin on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org.