Gwenneth
A feminine Welsh name meaning "blessed" or "fair" or "radiant".
Name Census estimates that about 157 living Americans carry the first name Gwenneth. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Gwenneth today is around 24 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Gwenneth births was 2006 (10 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Gwenneth. 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
157
~ 1 in 2,183,149 Americans
Peak year
2006
10 babies that year
Average age
24
years old
2022 SSA rank
#14,178
Tracked since 1922
Census
Gwenneth in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 278 people with the first name Gwenneth, which placed it at #31,017 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
#31,017
National first-name rank
People counted
278
278 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
70.9% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Gwenneth
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Gwenneth is White at 70.9%. The next largest groups are Black (16.5%) and Hispanic (5.4%). 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 Gwenneth 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 Gwenneth at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White70.9% · 197
- Black or African American16.5% · 46
- Hispanic or Latino5.4% · 15
- Asian and Pacific Islander2.9% · 8
- Two or more races2.5% · 7
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.8% · 5
Popularity
Gwenneth: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Gwenneth from the 1920s through to the 2020s, spanning 8 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 61 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 2010s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Gwenneth 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 Gwenneth 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 Gwenneth
The name Gwenneth originated from the Welsh language and culture. It is a feminine given name derived from the Welsh elements "gwen" meaning fair or blessed, and "neth" meaning niece or daughter. The name can be roughly translated to mean "fair daughter" or "blessed daughter".
Gwenneth has its roots in ancient Celtic traditions and beliefs. The name was particularly popular among the Welsh people during the Middle Ages, a time when Celtic culture and language were more widespread across parts of Britain. Similar spellings like Gweneth, Gwennan, and Gwendith were also used in various regions.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Gwenneth can be found in a 12th-century Welsh manuscript, where it was used to refer to a noblewoman from Powys, a historic region in Wales. This suggests that the name was already in use among the Welsh aristocracy during that time period.
In the 13th century, a nun named Gwenneth ferch Griffith is mentioned in records from the Llanthony Priory in Monmouthshire, Wales. This provides evidence of the name being used in religious contexts as well.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Gwenneth. One of the most famous was Gwenneth Paltrow (born 1972), an American actress known for her roles in films such as Shakespeare in Love (1998) and Iron Man (2008).
Another notable Gwenneth was Gwenneth Vaughan (1926-2019), a Welsh writer and poet who published several collections of poetry and writings in both Welsh and English.
In the 16th century, Gwenneth Siôn (c. 1530-1591) was a Welsh noblewoman and landowner who played a significant role in preserving the Welsh language and culture during a time of English influence.
Gwenneth Griffith (1841-1915) was a Welsh writer and educator who wrote extensively on Welsh history and culture, contributing to the preservation of Welsh language and literature.
Gwenneth Jones (1955-), a British science fiction author, has written numerous acclaimed novels and short stories, often exploring themes of gender, identity, and social issues.
While the name Gwenneth is of Welsh origin, it has been used across various cultures and regions over time, reflecting its rich history and cultural significance.
People
Gwenneth + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Gwenneth 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
Gwenneth: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Gwenneth?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 157 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Gwenneth 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 2,183,149 US residents.
Is Gwenneth a common name?
We classify Gwenneth as "Very Rare". It ranks above 70.9% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 204 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Gwenneth most popular?
The single biggest year for Gwenneth was 2006, when 10 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Gwenneth is about 24 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Gwenneth in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 278 people with the name Gwenneth, or 0.09 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #31,017 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 Gwenneth 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 Gwenneth?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Gwenneth leans strongly female. 276 people counted with this name were female (98.9%), compared with 3 male bearers (1.1%). 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 Gwenneth?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Gwenneth is White at 70.9%. The next largest groups are Black (16.5%) and Hispanic (5.4%). 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 Gwenneth most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Gwenneth in the 2020 Census, accounting for 70.9% (197 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 Gwenneth in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Gwenneth a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Gwenneth 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.
Is Gwenneth still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Gwenneth 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 Gwenneth 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 Gwenneth?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.