Gwendolynn
A feminine name of Welsh origin meaning "ring bearer" or "blessed ringlet".
Name Census estimates that about 1,219 living Americans carry the first name Gwendolynn. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Gwendolynn today is around 33 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Gwendolynn births was 2023 (41 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Gwendolynn. 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
1.2K
~ 1 in 281,177 Americans
Peak year
2023
41 babies that year
Average age
33
years old
2024 SSA rank
#5,485
Tracked since 1921
Popularity
Gwendolynn: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Gwendolynn from the 1920s through to the 2020s, spanning 11 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 290 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Gwendolynn remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Gwendolynn 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 Gwendolynn during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Gwendolynns live
The SSA's state-level files cover 4 states and territories. California, Texas, Indiana recorded the most babies named Gwendolynn, while Missouri, Indiana, Texas recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 12 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Gwendolynn
The name Gwendolynn is a feminine given name of Welsh origin, derived from the Welsh elements "gwen" meaning "fair" or "white," and "olynn" meaning "blessed." It is a variation of the name Gwendoline, which has its roots in the 6th century and is believed to have been borne by a Welsh female saint.
The earliest recorded use of the name Gwendolynn can be traced back to the Middle Ages, where it was occasionally used among Welsh nobility and royalty. One notable historical figure with this name was Gwendolynn ferch Llywelyn, a 13th-century Welsh princess and daughter of Llywelyn the Great, Prince of Gwynedd.
In literature, the name Gwendolynn appears in Geoffrey of Monmouth's 12th-century work "Historia Regum Britanniae" (History of the Kings of Britain), where it is mentioned as the name of a mythical British queen. This literary reference may have contributed to the name's popularity during the medieval period.
Throughout history, the name Gwendolynn has been borne by several notable individuals. In the 17th century, Gwendolynn Hughes (1603-1675) was a Welsh writer and poet known for her religious works. In the 19th century, Gwendolynn Rees (1818-1892) was a prominent Welsh author and educator who wrote children's stories and educational materials.
Moving into the 20th century, Gwendolynn Brooks (1917-2000) was an acclaimed African American poet and teacher. She was the first Black author to win the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry in 1950 for her book "Annie Allen." Another notable bearer of the name was Gwendolynn Killebrew (1940-2021), an American singer and actress who performed with the Platters vocal group in the 1960s.
In the world of sports, Gwendolynn Christie (born 1978) is a British actress and former semi-professional basketball player, best known for her role as Brienne of Tarth in the HBO series "Game of Thrones."
People
Gwendolynn + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Gwendolynn 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
Gwendolynn: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Gwendolynn?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 1,219 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Gwendolynn 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 281,177 US residents.
Is Gwendolynn a common name?
We classify Gwendolynn as "Rare". It ranks above 91.3% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,420 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Gwendolynn most popular?
The single biggest year for Gwendolynn was 2023, when 41 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Gwendolynn is about 33 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Gwendolynn a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Gwendolynn in the SSA data are female. 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.
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.