Guyon
A French name meaning "guide" or "one who leads the way".
Name Census estimates that about 8 living Americans carry the first name Guyon. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Guyon today is around 67 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Guyon births was 1958 (5 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Guyon. 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 Guyon is about 67 years old today, placing it firmly among the names of earlier generations. Most living Guyons were born before 1969.
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Guyon. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
8
~ 1 in 42,844,292 Americans
Peak year
1958
5 babies that year
Average age
67
years old
1966 SSA rank
#4,174
Tracked since 1958
Popularity
Guyon: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Guyon from the 1950s through to the 1960s, spanning 2 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1960s, with 5 total registrations. The name continues to be given at rates close to its all-time high, suggesting it has not yet fallen out of fashion.
Babies born per year
Decades
Guyon 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 Guyon 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 Guyon
The given name Guyon has its origins in the medieval French language and culture, tracing back to the 12th century. It is derived from the Old French word "guion," which referred to a guidon or standard-bearer in military contexts. This word, in turn, has its roots in the Frankish term "waidanjan," meaning "to show the way."
During the Middle Ages, the name Guyon was particularly prevalent in northern France, where it was often associated with individuals who held the honored position of guidon-bearer or standard-bearer in armies and military orders. The name's connection to this role likely contributed to its widespread popularity among the French nobility and knightly classes.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Guyon can be found in the 12th-century French epic poem "La Chanson de Roland," which recounts the exploits of the legendary Frankish knight Roland during the reign of Charlemagne. In this literary work, Guyon is mentioned as a valiant knight who fought alongside Roland.
Throughout history, several notable figures have borne the name Guyon. One of the most prominent was Guyon de Montfort (c. 1181-1228), a French knight and crusader who played a significant role in the Albigensian Crusade against the Cathar heretics in southern France during the early 13th century.
Another influential figure was Jeanne-Marie Bouvier de la Motte-Guyon (1648-1717), a French mystic and writer who was a prominent advocate of the Quietist movement within the Roman Catholic Church. Her influential work, "A Short and Very Easy Method of Prayer," gained widespread recognition and acclaim.
In the realm of literature, Guyon is also the name of the central character in the 17th-century English allegorical poem "The Faerie Queene" by Edmund Spenser (1552-1599). The character Guyon represents the virtue of temperance and embarks on a quest to slay the monster of intemperance.
Another notable individual with the name Guyon was Jean-Raymond Guyon (1675-1733), a French explorer and military officer who played a crucial role in the early colonization of Louisiana and the settlement of New Orleans in the early 18th century.
The name Guyon has also been associated with various other historical figures, including Guyon de Crèvecoeur (died c. 1259), a French nobleman and marshal, and Guyon de Maleville (c. 1221-1305), a French jurist and author who served as the Lord Chancellor of France.
People
Guyon + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Guyon 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
Guyon: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Guyon?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 8 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Guyon 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 42,844,292 US residents.
Is Guyon a common name?
We classify Guyon as "Very Rare". It ranks above 24.6% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 10 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Guyon most popular?
The single biggest year for Guyon was 1958, when 5 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Guyon is about 67 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 Guyon in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Guyon a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Guyon 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 Guyon still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Guyon 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 Guyon 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 the name Guyon?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.