Gwendolyn
Gwendolyn was given to 848 girls in 2025, #360 among girls’ names; 124,718 Americans have been recorded with it since 1880 (Social Security Administration, published May 2026).
An estimated 85,100 Americans named Gwendolyn and born in the U.S. are alive in 2026 (68% of everyone recorded); the median is 65 years old and half are between 42 and 73.
Girls and boys together; gaps are years SSA did not record (fewer than 5 births).
Births of Gwendolyn by year: SSA national baby-name file, 1880-2025, published May 8, 2026. SSA’s notes on the data.
What does Gwendolyn mean?
Wiktionary, English section
Gwendolyn is “a female given name from Welsh, variant of Gwendolen.”
A variant of Gwendolen, Gwendoline with -lyn.
Meaning: Wiktionary, English section, as of Sep 25, 2026 (CC BY‑SA 4.0).
How popular is Gwendolyn?
#360 among girls’ names, 2025
Gwendolyn rose from #406 in 2015 to #360 in 2025 among girls’ names; its share of girls born rose from 0.44 to 0.53 per 1,000.
3,531 babies in 1953, the peak
Gwendolyn peaked in 1953, when 3,531 babies were given it (3,519 girls, #112 among girls’ names). The 848 births of 2025 are 24% of that peak.
| Year | Births | Rank | Per 1,000 girls |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 848 | #360 | 0.53 |
| 2024 | 804 | #393 | 0.50 |
| 2023 | 814 | #379 | 0.51 |
| 2022 | 802 | #389 | 0.49 |
| 2021 | 794 | #397 | 0.48 |
| 2020 | 820 | #378 | 0.51 |
| 2019 | 852 | #370 | 0.51 |
| 2018 | 845 | #371 | 0.50 |
| 2017 | 822 | #377 | 0.48 |
| 2016 | 826 | #402 | 0.47 |
Every recorded year (142)
| Year | Births | Rank | Per 1,000 girls |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | 791 | #406 | 0.44 |
| 2014 | 764 | #422 | 0.43 |
| 2013 | 651 | #471 | 0.37 |
| 2012 | 592 | #514 | 0.34 |
| 2011 | 513 | #566 | 0.29 |
| 2010 | 518 | #561 | 0.29 |
| 2009 | 522 | #582 | 0.28 |
| 2008 | 527 | #590 | 0.28 |
| 2007 | 455 | #651 | 0.24 |
| 2006 | 458 | #629 | 0.24 |
| 2005 | 508 | #564 | 0.27 |
| 2004 | 476 | #590 | 0.26 |
| 2003 | 458 | #597 | 0.25 |
| 2002 | 453 | #578 | 0.25 |
| 2001 | 374 | #672 | 0.21 |
| 2000 | 317 | #732 | 0.17 |
| 1999 | 347 | #660 | 0.20 |
| 1998 | 315 | #702 | 0.18 |
| 1997 | 311 | #691 | 0.18 |
| 1996 | 281 | #754 | 0.16 |
| 1995 | 228 | #855 | 0.13 |
| 1994 | 289 | #716 | 0.16 |
| 1993 | 267 | #773 | 0.15 |
| 1992 | 317 | #684 | 0.17 |
| 1991 | 314 | #683 | 0.17 |
| 1990 | 314 | #680 | 0.17 |
| 1989 | 318 | #648 | 0.17 |
| 1988 | 310 | #638 | 0.17 |
| 1987 | 317 | #609 | 0.18 |
| 1986 | 370 | #549 | 0.22 |
| 1985 | 410 | #494 | 0.24 |
| 1984 | 359 | #536 | 0.21 |
| 1983 | 392 | #496 | 0.23 |
| 1982 | 432 | #481 | 0.26 |
| 1981 | 444 | #478 | 0.27 |
| 1980 | 486 | #441 | 0.29 |
| 1979 | 533 | #406 | 0.33 |
| 1978 | 543 | #385 | 0.35 |
| 1977 | 586 | #367 | 0.38 |
| 1976 | 731 | #313 | 0.50 |
| 1975 | 791 | #297 | 0.54 |
| 1974 | 795 | #301 | 0.54 |
| 1973 | 764 | #304 | 0.52 |
| 1972 | 870 | #289 | 0.57 |
| 1971 | 1,081 | #267 | 0.65 |
| 1970 | 1,220 | #254 | 0.70 |
| 1969 | 1,200 | #247 | 0.71 |
| 1968 | 1,241 | #233 | 0.76 |
| 1967 | 1,338 | #219 | 0.81 |
| 1966 | 1,414 | #217 | 0.84 |
| 1965 | 1,702 | #194 | 1.0 |
| 1964 | 1,893 | #193 | 1.0 |
| 1963 | 2,257 | #171 | 1.2 |
| 1962 | 2,508 | #161 | 1.3 |
| 1961 | 2,536 | #165 | 1.3 |
| 1960 | 2,546 | #163 | 1.3 |
| 1959 | 2,653 | #159 | 1.3 |
| 1958 | 2,668 | #151 | 1.3 |
| 1957 | 3,303 | #132 | 1.6 |
| 1956 | 3,377 | #128 | 1.7 |
| 1955 | 3,457 | #122 | 1.8 |
| 1954 | 3,409 | #122 | 1.8 |
| 1953 | 3,519 | #112 | 1.9 |
| 1952 | 3,328 | #114 | 1.8 |
| 1951 | 3,192 | #112 | 1.8 |
| 1950 | 3,039 | #113 | 1.8 |
| 1949 | 2,836 | #114 | 1.7 |
| 1948 | 2,506 | #124 | 1.5 |
| 1947 | 2,450 | #130 | 1.4 |
| 1946 | 2,062 | #132 | 1.3 |
| 1945 | 1,560 | #151 | 1.2 |
| 1944 | 1,525 | #160 | 1.1 |
| 1943 | 1,535 | #161 | 1.1 |
| 1942 | 1,380 | #169 | 1.0 |
| 1941 | 1,268 | #168 | 1.0 |
| 1940 | 1,222 | #169 | 1.1 |
| 1939 | 1,182 | #168 | 1.1 |
| 1938 | 1,205 | #169 | 1.1 |
| 1937 | 1,084 | #184 | 1.0 |
| 1936 | 944 | #191 | 0.91 |
| 1935 | 983 | #180 | 0.94 |
| 1934 | 1,002 | #181 | 1.0 |
| 1933 | 927 | #183 | 0.92 |
| 1932 | 929 | #198 | 0.87 |
| 1931 | 893 | #205 | 0.84 |
| 1930 | 959 | #200 | 0.85 |
| 1929 | 892 | #207 | 0.80 |
| 1928 | 988 | #203 | 0.86 |
| 1927 | 960 | #204 | 0.81 |
| 1926 | 848 | #217 | 0.72 |
| 1925 | 889 | #218 | 0.73 |
| 1924 | 884 | #220 | 0.71 |
| 1923 | 849 | #222 | 0.70 |
| 1922 | 771 | #233 | 0.64 |
| 1921 | 819 | #227 | 0.66 |
| 1920 | 758 | #236 | 0.63 |
| 1919 | 647 | #252 | 0.57 |
| 1918 | 657 | #250 | 0.57 |
| 1917 | 577 | #258 | 0.53 |
| 1916 | 574 | #254 | 0.55 |
| 1915 | 575 | #246 | 0.58 |
| 1914 | 382 | #265 | 0.50 |
| 1913 | 298 | #271 | 0.48 |
| 1912 | 276 | #269 | 0.49 |
| 1911 | 194 | #279 | 0.46 |
| 1910 | 151 | #311 | 0.38 |
| 1909 | 123 | #325 | 0.35 |
| 1908 | 127 | #314 | 0.38 |
| 1907 | 100 | #356 | 0.31 |
| 1906 | 87 | #359 | 0.29 |
| 1905 | 68 | #410 | 0.23 |
| 1904 | 75 | #380 | 0.27 |
| 1903 | 62 | #404 | 0.24 |
| 1902 | 57 | #409 | 0.22 |
| 1901 | 39 | #484 | 0.16 |
| 1900 | 37 | #571 | 0.12 |
| 1899 | 27 | #599 | 0.12 |
| 1898 | 33 | #562 | 0.13 |
| 1897 | 27 | #587 | 0.12 |
| 1896 | 24 | #644 | 0.10 |
| 1895 | 28 | #566 | 0.12 |
| 1894 | 16 | #763 | 0.07 |
| 1893 | 15 | #775 | 0.07 |
| 1892 | 18 | #697 | 0.08 |
| 1891 | 6 | #1,259 | 0.03 |
| 1890 | 11 | #848 | 0.06 |
| 1889 | 12 | #773 | 0.07 |
| 1888 | 9 | #918 | 0.05 |
| 1887 | 8 | #891 | 0.05 |
| 1886 | 6 | #1,025 | 0.04 |
| 1881 | 5 | #873 | 0.05 |
| 1880 | 5 | #871 | 0.05 |
Ranks and shares: girls’ names in each year’s SSA file; share of all girls SSA recorded that year.
Is Gwendolyn a boy’s or a girl’s name?
Gwendolyn has been given almost only to girls: 333 boys in 142 years of records.
Girls and boys named Gwendolyn: the SSA national file counts each sex separately.
How many people are named Gwendolyn, and how old are they?
85,100 alive in 2026, estimated
That is 68% of the 124,718 Americans ever recorded as Gwendolyn. The median Gwendolyn alive today is 65 years old; half are between 42 and 73.
The 2020 Census counted 74,571 people named Gwendolyn (74,468 women and girls, 103 men and boys). SSA’s births carried forward to Census day, April 1, 2020, predict 88,773 born in the U.S. The Census count is 16% below that prediction. Possible reasons: people who give a short form or another name to the Census, and a survival estimate that can run high.
Alive today, by age
Alive today, by generation
| Generation | Born | Alive |
|---|---|---|
| Silent Generation | 1928-1945 | 6,740 |
| Baby Boomers | 1946-1964 | 41,500 |
| Generation X | 1965-1980 | 14,100 |
| Millennials | 1981-1996 | 5,210 |
| Generation Z | 1997-2012 | 7,070 |
| Generation Alpha | 2013-2025 | 10,400 |
An estimate, not a count. SSA’s files count people born in the United States who received a Social Security number, so anyone born abroad is not in them; before 1937 most people got a number as adults, and their survival is counted from that age.
Living estimate: SSA births carried forward with the survival rates in SSA’s cohort life tables (2024 Trustees Report) for each birth year and sex. How the estimate is made. Count: Census Bureau, first names in the 2020 Census (released April 14, 2026; names reported 100 or more times, with the Bureau’s disclosure-avoidance adjustment).
Where are babies named Gwendolyn born?
The states with the most babies named Gwendolyn are Texas, California and New York, with 18% of its births recorded by state since 1910.
| State | Since 1910 | Rank, girls | vs. national |
|---|---|---|---|
| Texas | 8,559 | #586 | 1.0× |
| California | 6,810 | #521 | 0.7× |
| New York | 6,664 | #445 | 0.6× |
| Illinois | 6,468 | #225 | 1.0× |
| Georgia | 6,281 | #691 | 1.8× |
| North Carolina | 6,054 | #458 | 1.6× |
| Pennsylvania | 5,614 | #307 | 0.7× |
| Louisiana | 5,500 | not ranked | 2.1× |
| Florida | 5,458 | #621 | 1.6× |
| Alabama | 5,173 | #865 | 1.9× |
Where Gwendolyn is more common than its national share predicts
Relative to its national share, Gwendolyn is most over-represented in Louisiana: since 1910 it was given 2.1 times as often there as its national share each year would predict.
States: SSA state file, 1910-2025, published May 8, 2026; births count girls and boys together, and the rank is among girls’ names in the state in 2025. The file leaves out any state and year with fewer than 5 babies of the name, so small states are undercounted; each ratio compares the state’s births of Gwendolyn with the births its national share predicts year by year, for states with at least 100 births of the name.
Names spelled alike
Of these 8 names spelled alike, given to 129,541 babies since 1880, Gwendolyn is the most given (96% of them). In 2025 it was given to 848 of their 922 babies (92%), again the most given.
| Name | Since 1880 | Births 2025 | Peak year |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gwendolyn | 124,718 | 848 | 1953 |
| Gwendolynn | 1,454 | 34 | 2023 |
| Gwendalyn | 1,207 | 17 | 2008 |
| Gwendolen | 889 | 11 | 1971 |
| Gwendlyn | 498 | under 5 | 1952 |
| Gwendelyn | 394 | under 5 | 2002 |
| Gwendalynn | 293 | 12 | 2008 |
| Gwendloyn | 88 | under 5 | 1959 |
Spelled alike: names in the SSA national file with the same pattern of letters and sounds and at most two letters apart, and Wiktionary’s listed forms; births since 1880 and in 2025, and each name’s peak year, from the SSA national file, published May 8, 2026. Some are separate names, not spellings of one.
Names that rose and fell in the same decades as Gwendolyn
Names whose births rose and fell across the same decades, measured on each decade’s share of births.
Similar histories: each decade’s share of births, from the SSA national file, 1880-2025, published May 8, 2026. SSA’s notes on the data.
More about Gwendolyn and names like it
- Compare Gwendolyn and GwendolynnBirths, ranks, peak and the living estimate side by side.
- The most given names of the 1950sGwendolyn peaked in 1953.
- Texas’s most given namesThe state where SSA recorded the most babies named Gwendolyn since 1910.
- The top names of 1953The year the most babies were named Gwendolyn.
- The names of the Baby BoomersMost people named Gwendolyn alive today were born 1946-1964.
- Names starting with GMost given first.