# Gwendolen (first name)

Source: https://namelineage.com/first-name/gwendolen/  
Publisher: Name Lineage. US counts from the Social Security Administration; England and Wales counts from the Office for National Statistics; meaning and etymology from Wiktionary. Data updated 2026-11-11.

| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Usually given to | girls |
| Origin | Welsh |
| Meaning | “white”, “fair”, “blessed”, “ring”, “bow”, “hair”, “brow” |
| Pronunciation | not recorded |
| Nicknames | none recorded |
| Variant spellings | Gwendolyn, Guendolen |
| US babies named this | 889 since 1880 |
| Boys / girls in the US | 0 / 889 (100% girls) |
| Babies in England and Wales | 110, 1996 to 2025 |

## Etymology

From Welsh Gwendolen, from gwen (“white, fair, blessed”) + dolen (“ring, bow, hair, brow”).

## What it means

Gwendolen is grouped under holy and white.

## Popularity

The last 15 years of each series. A year is missing when too few babies were given the name for the agency to publish it: five in the US, three in England and Wales.

### United States, girls

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2011 | 7 | 13,859 |
| 2012 | 9 | 11,602 |
| 2013 | 16 | 7,521 |
| 2014 | 22 | 5,861 |
| 2015 | 27 | 5,030 |
| 2016 | 27 | 5,046 |
| 2017 | 15 | 7,594 |
| 2018 | 13 | 8,303 |
| 2019 | 14 | 7,879 |
| 2020 | 18 | 6,435 |
| 2021 | 10 | 9,820 |
| 2022 | 11 | 9,266 |
| 2023 | 17 | 6,759 |
| 2024 | 13 | 8,122 |
| 2025 | 11 | 9,072 |

### England and Wales, girls

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2006 | 3 | 5,061 |
| 2007 | 5 | 3,667 |
| 2009 | 5 | 3,936 |
| 2010 | 10 | 2,392 |
| 2011 | 3 | 5,785 |
| 2013 | 7 | 3,160 |
| 2014 | 9 | 2,659 |
| 2016 | 6 | 3,609 |
| 2018 | 7 | 3,178 |
| 2019 | 7 | 3,151 |
| 2020 | 4 | 4,535 |
| 2021 | 5 | 3,961 |
| 2023 | 6 | 3,598 |
| 2024 | 6 | 3,695 |
| 2025 | 4 | 4,867 |

## In other languages

- French: Gwendoline
- Italian: Guendalina
- Welsh: Gwendolen

## How to read these numbers

A count is babies registered with that name in that year, not people alive now, so a name common a century ago can have a large total and few recent births.