Skip to content
rarebabynames.Name discovery

A LITTLE UNCOMMON. ENTIRELY YOURS.

Gwen

Meaning, origin and pronunciation, with published usage by place and year.

Keep this name?

Checking your saved choices…

Share this name or preview its baby card in Discover.

Open sharing and baby cards in Discover

Meaning

Welsh given name; also a short form of Gwendolen or Guinevere.

The exact English entry explicitly records Welsh female given-name use and both short-form relationships. These are formation descriptions, not a settled literal meaning; the licensed mythical-son narrative is not independently established by this entry.

Origin

Celtic

Licensed Oddity Software Baby Names Plus database. Cleaned and matched to this spelling; not independently verified. The source label may describe language, region, or tradition rather than a precise linguistic derivation.

Oddity Software · licensed source label.

English pronunciation

/ɡwɛn/

Recorded English reading of the Welsh-linked given name and documented short forms.

Recorded English reading, as published. Accents and preferred pronunciations can differ.

Published name usage

Counts apply only to the exact spelling, place, year and recorded usage shown. Places are separate; these figures are never added into a worldwide total. Missing or suppressed records never mean zero.

Latest published record available for this spelling in each place and recorded usage
PlaceYearRecorded usagePublished birthsRankNotes
Canada2025Girls40 · preliminary7422025 figures are preliminary. Quebec counts below five are randomly imputed by the publisher before national aggregation. Accents are removed in the source; this profile was matched only where the catalog spelling was unambiguous. Unpublished values are unknown, not zero. Rank basis: source published.
France2025Girls10 (rounded to 5)3202Counts are rounded to the nearest multiple of five. Ranks use unrounded publisher counts with randomly ordered ties; equally rounded counts can have different ranks. National coverage excludes Mayotte before 2012. Missing years are unavailable, not zero. Automated direction labels are withheld for this rounded-count series. Rank basis: source published.
France2025Boys5 (rounded to 5)3659Counts are rounded to the nearest multiple of five. Ranks use unrounded publisher counts with randomly ordered ties; equally rounded counts can have different ranks. National coverage excludes Mayotte before 2012. Missing years are unavailable, not zero. Automated direction labels are withheld for this rounded-count series. Rank basis: source published.
England & Wales2025Girls34997Published ranks differ from ranks calculated over visible rows. Counts retained; automated trend labels withheld. Rank basis: source published.
Scotland2020Girls4636Source-reported counts; unpublished names are not zero. Rank basis: source published.
Ireland2025Girls7483Names below three occurrences are unpublished. Accent recording changed in 2018; comparisons across that boundary may not describe the same spelling coverage. Counts refer to registrations in the year. Missing years are unavailable, not zero. Rank basis: source published.
United States2025Girls384725Source-reported counts; unpublished names are not zero. Rank basis: calculated from published counts.
United States1970Boys64230Source-reported counts; unpublished names are not zero. Rank basis: calculated from published counts.

Canada, Ireland and France coverage includes confidently matched existing profiles only; unmatched spellings are awaiting review. French counts are rounded to five.

Sources & notes

Open an entry for its source, credit, licence and full qualifications. Different name traditions remain separate.

Language of use: English

Checked against cited source

The exact English proper-name entry explicitly records given-name use. Credit: Wiktionary contributors. Adapted and condensed by Rare Baby Names; CC BY-SA 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). No source audio reused.

Credit: Wiktionary contributors. Adapted by Rare Baby Names: wording shortened and name contexts separated. Recorded pronunciations are shown as published.

View original source

This adapted text is available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

CC BY-SA 4.0

Meaning: Welsh given name; also a short form of Gwendolen or Guinevere.

Checked against cited source

The exact English entry explicitly records Welsh female given-name use and both short-form relationships. These are formation descriptions, not a settled literal meaning; the licensed mythical-son narrative is not independently established by this entry. Credit: Wiktionary contributors. Adapted and condensed by Rare Baby Names; CC BY-SA 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). No source audio reused.

Credit: Wiktionary contributors. Adapted by Rare Baby Names: wording shortened and name contexts separated. Recorded pronunciations are shown as published.

View original source

This adapted text is available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

CC BY-SA 4.0

Short form of: Guinevere

Checked against cited source

The entry records independent Welsh name use and separately the Gwendolen and Guinevere diminutive traditions; these histories and counts remain distinct.

Credit: Wiktionary contributors. Adapted by Rare Baby Names: wording shortened and name contexts separated. Recorded pronunciations are shown as published.

View original source

This adapted text is available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

CC BY-SA 4.0

Short form of: Gwendolen

Checked against cited source

The entry records independent Welsh name use and separately the Gwendolen and Guinevere diminutive traditions; these histories and counts remain distinct.

Credit: Wiktionary contributors. Adapted by Rare Baby Names: wording shortened and name contexts separated. Recorded pronunciations are shown as published.

View original source

This adapted text is available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

CC BY-SA 4.0

Origin: Celtic

Oddity Software · licensed source

Licensed Oddity Software Baby Names Plus database. Cleaned and matched to this spelling; not independently verified. The source label may describe language, region, or tradition rather than a precise linguistic derivation.

Oddity Software · source

Licensed publication use; not an open-data license

English pronunciation: /ɡwɛn/

Checked against cited source

Recorded English reading of the Welsh-linked given name and documented short forms.

Credit: Wiktionary contributors. Adapted by Rare Baby Names: wording shortened and name contexts separated. Recorded pronunciations are shown as published.

View original source

This adapted text is available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

CC BY-SA 4.0

country_CA

View statistics source (link unavailable)

country_FR

View statistics source (link unavailable)

country_IE

View statistics source (link unavailable)

(C) Crown copyright. Data supplied by National Records of Scotland.

Attribution: (C) Crown copyright. Data supplied by National Records of Scotland.

License: Open Government Licence v3.0

View statistics source

View licence

Source: Office for National Statistics licensed under the Open Government Licence

Attribution: Source: Office for National Statistics licensed under the Open Government Licence

License: Open Government Licence v3.0

View statistics source

View licence

U.S. Social Security Administration

Attribution: U.S. Social Security Administration

View statistics source

Statistics Canada, Table 17-10-0147-01, 1991–2025, released 23 September 2026.

Credit: Statistics Canada, Table 17-10-0147-01, 1991–2025, released 23 September 2026.

License: Statistics Canada Open Licence

Adaptation: Adapted from Statistics Canada, First names at birth by sex at birth, selected indicators, Table 17-10-0147-01, reference years 1991–2025. This does not constitute an endorsement by Statistics Canada of this product.

View statistics source

View licence

Central Statistics Office, Ireland, VSA50 and VSA60, updated 27 February 2026.

Credit: Central Statistics Office, Ireland, VSA50 and VSA60, updated 27 February 2026.

License: CC BY 4.0

Adaptation: Adapted by Rare Baby Names: joined the published count and rank indicators and matched unambiguous existing spellings. Source values retained.

View statistics source

View licence

Source : Insee, Fichier des prénoms, updated 16 July 2026.

Credit: Source : Insee, Fichier des prénoms, updated 16 July 2026.

License: Open Licence 2.0 (Etalab)

Adaptation: Adapted by Rare Baby Names: column names and sex codes mapped and unique case-only spellings matched to existing profiles. Published rounded counts and ranks retained.

View statistics source

View licence