Gwynne
Of Welsh origin, meaning fair, blessed, or white.
Name Census estimates that about 973 living Americans carry the first name Gwynne. It is a predominantly female name (97.9% of registrations). The average person named Gwynne today is around 58 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Gwynne births was 1951 (48 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Gwynne. 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
973
~ 1 in 352,266 Americans
Peak year
1951
48 babies that year
Average age
58
years old
1947 SSA rank
#3,953
Tracked since 1920
Census
Gwynne in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 1,252 people with the first name Gwynne, which placed it at #10,576 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
#10,576
National first-name rank
People counted
1.3K
1,252 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.4
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
89.5% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Gwynne
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Gwynne is White at 89.5%. The next largest groups are Black (4.3%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (2.3%). 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 Gwynne 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 Gwynne at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White89.5% · 1,120
- Black or African American4.3% · 54
- Asian and Pacific Islander2.3% · 29
- Two or more races1.8% · 23
- Hispanic or Latino1.8% · 22
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.3% · 4
Gender
Gender distribution for Gwynne
Gwynne leans heavily female at 97.9% of total registrations, but 30 boys have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Gwynne as a male name
- Ranked #3,953 in 1947
- 5 male births in 1947
- Peak: 1926 (8 births)
Gwynne as a female name
- Ranked #14,028 in 2023
- 6 female births in 2023
- Peak: 1951 (48 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Gwynne leans strongly female. 1,189 people counted with this name were female (95.4%), compared with 57 male bearers (4.6%).
Popularity
Gwynne: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Gwynne from the 1920s through to the 2020s, spanning 11 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1950s, with 351 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1950s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Gwynne 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 Gwynne during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Gwynnes live
The SSA's state-level files cover 7 states and territories. New York, Illinois, Pennsylvania recorded the most babies named Gwynne, while South Carolina, Ohio, New Jersey recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 13 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Gwynne
The name Gwynne is a Welsh name that has its origins in the ancient Celtic language spoken in parts of Britain and northwestern Europe. It is derived from the Welsh word "gwyn," which means "fair" or "blessed."
The name was popular among the early Welsh and Celtic peoples, who valued physical beauty and considered fair complexions to be a sign of distinction. It was often given to children as a way of expressing the parents' hope for the child to possess a fair and radiant countenance.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Gwynne can be found in the Welsh Triads, a collection of traditional stories and folklore dating back to the Middle Ages. In these tales, the name is associated with characters renowned for their beauty and virtue.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Gwynne. One of the most famous was Gwynne ap Nudd (c. 1275–1337), a Welsh warrior and leader who played a significant role in the Wars of Welsh Independence against the English.
Another prominent figure was Gwynne Vaughan (1512–1588), a Welsh poet and playwright who wrote extensively in both Welsh and English. His works were influential in preserving and promoting the Welsh language and culture during the Renaissance period.
In the 17th century, Gwynne Wynn (1619–1684) was a prominent Welsh landowner and Member of Parliament who was instrumental in the restoration of the monarchy in England after the English Civil War.
Moving forward to the 19th century, Gwynne Dyer (1855–1934) was a Welsh-born Australian businessman and politician who served as a member of the Parliament of Victoria and played a key role in the development of the mining industry in Australia.
More recently, Gwynne Dyer (born 1943) is a Canadian historian, journalist, and military historian who has written extensively on international affairs and has been a prominent commentator on global security issues.
While the name Gwynne has its roots in Welsh and Celtic culture, it has since been adopted and used across various regions and cultures, reflecting the rich diversity and shared heritage of names and their meanings.
People
Gwynne + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Gwynne 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
Gwynne: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Gwynne?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 973 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Gwynne 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 352,266 US residents.
Is Gwynne a common name?
We classify Gwynne as "Very Rare". It ranks above 89.9% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,427 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Gwynne most popular?
The single biggest year for Gwynne was 1951, when 48 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Gwynne is about 58 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Gwynne in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 1,252 people with the name Gwynne, or 0.41 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #10,576 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 Gwynne 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 Gwynne?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Gwynne leans strongly female. 1,189 people counted with this name were female (95.4%), compared with 57 male bearers (4.6%). 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 Gwynne?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Gwynne is White at 89.5%. The next largest groups are Black (4.3%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (2.3%). 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 Gwynne most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Gwynne in the 2020 Census, accounting for 89.5% (1,120 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 Gwynne in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Gwynne a female name?
Yes, 97.9% of people registered as Gwynne 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 Gwynne still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Gwynne 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 Gwynne 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 named Gwynne?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.