Gwyn
A Welsh masculine name derived from "gwyn" meaning white or blessed.
Name Census estimates that about 1,689 living Americans carry the first name Gwyn. It appears on both sides of the gender split, with 87.6% of registrations being female. The average person named Gwyn today is around 57 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Gwyn births was 1962 (135 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Gwyn. 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
1.7K
~ 1 in 202,933 Americans
Peak year
1962
135 babies that year
Average age
57
years old
1978 SSA rank
#6,150
Tracked since 1915
Gender
Gender distribution for Gwyn
Gwyn leans heavily female at 87.6% of total registrations, but 299 boys have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Gwyn as a male name
- Ranked #6,150 in 1978
- 5 male births in 1978
- Peak: 1918 (12 births)
Gwyn as a female name
- Ranked #8,600 in 2024
- 12 female births in 2024
- Peak: 1962 (129 births)
Popularity
Gwyn: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Gwyn from the 1910s through to the 2020s, spanning 12 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1960s, with 750 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1960s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Gwyn 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 Gwyn during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Gwyns live
The SSA's state-level files cover 15 states and territories. California, North Carolina, Pennsylvania recorded the most babies named Gwyn, while Washington, South Carolina, Minnesota recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 28 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Gwyn
The name Gwyn has its origins in Welsh, being derived from the word "gwyn" meaning "fair" or "blessed". It has been a popular name in Wales for centuries, particularly during the Middle Ages when it was often associated with nobility and royalty.
One of the earliest recorded examples of the name Gwyn dates back to the 6th century AD, when a Welsh prince named Gwyn ap Nudd was mentioned in the Welsh Triads, a collection of medieval literature. He was a legendary figure who was said to have led the Wild Hunt, a supernatural group of huntsmen and hounds who roamed the night.
In the 12th century, the name Gwyn appeared in the Historia Regum Britanniae (History of the Kings of Britain) by Geoffrey of Monmouth, a renowned chronicler of the time. The book mentions a character named Gwyn ap Nudd, who was described as the leader of the fairy people of Annwn, the Welsh Otherworld.
Throughout history, there have been several notable individuals named Gwyn. One of the most famous was Gwyn ap Gwilym (c. 1350 - c. 1420), a celebrated Welsh poet and bard who was renowned for his love poems and nature poetry. His works were widely influential and helped to establish the Welsh poetic tradition.
Another prominent figure was Gwyn Williams (1925 - 1995), a Welsh historian and academic who wrote extensively on Welsh history and culture. He was a leading authority on Welsh nationalism and played a significant role in promoting the study of Welsh history in universities.
In the world of sports, Gwyn Jones (1907 - 1999) was a Welsh rugby union player who represented Wales in the 1930s. He played as a fly-half and was part of the Welsh team that won the Five Nations Championship in 1933 and 1935.
Gwyn Thomas (1913 - 1981) was a Welsh novelist and playwright, best known for his humorous and satirical works that explored working-class life in Wales. His novel "Sorrow for Thy Sons" was a seminal work in Welsh literature and was later adapted for television.
Finally, Gwyn Alf Williams (1925 - 1995) was a Welsh historian and academic who specialized in the history of the Industrial Revolution and the working class in Britain. He was a prominent figure in the field of labor history and made significant contributions to the understanding of Welsh social history.
People
Gwyn + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Gwyn 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
Gwyn: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Gwyn?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 1,689 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Gwyn 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 202,933 US residents.
Is Gwyn a common name?
We classify Gwyn as "Rare". It ranks above 93% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 2,404 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Gwyn most popular?
The single biggest year for Gwyn was 1962, when 135 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Gwyn is about 57 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Gwyn a female name?
Yes, 87.6% of people registered as Gwyn 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.