Gwen

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Girl · Welsh

Gwen

Say it: GWEN

Try it with your surname

Meaning

Welsh gwen, feminine of gwyn, 'white, fair, blessed'.

Certainscholars agree on this meaning.

Its wave through time

Most used in the 1950s

In the United States

020406018801900192019401960198020002020Peak 1959per 100,000 babies of that sex
  • 31,126 babies given this name since 1890
  • At its height in 1959, about 1 in 2,100 girls
  • 330 babies in 2020

Through the ages

  1. The High and Late Middle Ages1100 to 1450
  2. The Modern Age1880 to today

Used by

WelshEnglish

Famous bearers

  • Gwen John, Welsh painter

Names worth a look

Where this comes from

  • Medieval European charters and records
  • National census records of the 19th and 20th centuries
  • United States Social Security birth records, 1880 to today source

Meanings and histories are compiled from the study of names and their languages and checked by a second review.

Meanings and histories are drawn from the study of names and their languages, each with a confidence rating; popularity figures come from official birth records. Name histories are a living field: if you know of a correction, we would be glad to hear it.