Gwynneth
A feminine Welsh name meaning "fair, blessed".
Name Census estimates that about 233 living Americans carry the first name Gwynneth. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Gwynneth today is around 26 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Gwynneth births was 2001 (16 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Gwynneth. 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
233
~ 1 in 1,471,049 Americans
Peak year
2001
16 babies that year
Average age
26
years old
2021 SSA rank
#14,096
Tracked since 1931
Census
Gwynneth in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 393 people with the first name Gwynneth, which placed it at #24,486 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
#24,486
National first-name rank
People counted
393
393 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
82.4% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Gwynneth
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Gwynneth is White at 82.4%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (6.6%) and Hispanic (4.3%). 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 Gwynneth 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 Gwynneth at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White82.4% · 324
- Two or more races6.6% · 26
- Hispanic or Latino4.3% · 17
- Black or African American3.8% · 15
- Asian and Pacific Islander2.8% · 11
Popularity
Gwynneth: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Gwynneth from the 1930s through to the 2020s, spanning 9 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 107 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 2000s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Gwynneth 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 Gwynneth during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Gwynneths live
Origin
Meaning and history of Gwynneth
The name Gwynneth is of Welsh origin, derived from the Welsh words "gwyn" meaning "blessed" or "fair," and "nêth" meaning "stream" or "valley." It is a feminine name that has been in use since ancient times in Wales and other parts of Britain.
The earliest recorded use of the name dates back to the 6th century, when a Welsh princess named Gwynneth ferch Culfi is mentioned in medieval Welsh literature. She was the daughter of King Culfi of Gwynedd, a region in northwest Wales.
In the 12th century, a famous figure named Gwynneth ferch Rhys was the daughter of Rhys ap Gruffydd, the Lord of Deheubarth in southwest Wales. She played a significant role in Welsh politics and history during the turbulent period of Norman conquest and Welsh resistance.
Another notable Gwynneth from history was Gwynneth Sion, a 16th-century Welsh noblewoman and heiress who inherited substantial estates in Anglesey and Caernarfonshire. Her marriage to Sir John Wynn of Gwydir helped establish one of the most influential families in North Wales during the Tudor period.
In the 17th century, Gwynneth Owens was a Welsh poet and writer who contributed to the tradition of Welsh literature and poetry. She was born around 1650 and is remembered for her poetic works and religious writings.
The name Gwynneth also appears in the 18th century, with Gwynneth Vaughan, a Welsh heiress and landowner who lived from 1714 to 1783. She was known for her philanthropic work and support of education in Wales.
While the name Gwynneth has its roots in Welsh culture and history, it has also gained popularity in other parts of the world, particularly in the English-speaking world, thanks to its unique and melodic sound. However, the name remains closely tied to its Welsh origins and continues to be a popular choice for parents seeking a name with a rich historical and cultural significance.
People
Gwynneth + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Gwynneth 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
Gwynneth: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Gwynneth?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 233 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Gwynneth 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 1,471,049 US residents.
Is Gwynneth a common name?
We classify Gwynneth as "Very Rare". It ranks above 76.2% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 255 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Gwynneth most popular?
The single biggest year for Gwynneth was 2001, when 16 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Gwynneth is about 26 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Gwynneth in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 393 people with the name Gwynneth, or 0.13 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #24,486 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 Gwynneth 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 Gwynneth?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Gwynneth appears almost entirely female. Of the 393 people counted with this name, 100.0% were female and only a very small share were male. 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 Gwynneth?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Gwynneth is White at 82.4%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (6.6%) and Hispanic (4.3%). 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 Gwynneth most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Gwynneth in the 2020 Census, accounting for 82.4% (324 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 Gwynneth in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Gwynneth a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Gwynneth 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 Gwynneth still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Gwynneth 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 Gwynneth 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 common is the name Gwynneth?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.