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Gwen

girl name
Origin
Welsh
Syllables
1
Peak era
2010s/2020s
Today
▬ Steady

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Meaning

white, fair, blessed

The story

Gwen John's paintings rarely shout. A woman sits in a plain room; a cat curls nearby; muted color slows the eye. The Welsh artist trained in London and worked in France, building portraits whose stillness can look simple until the sitter's gaze begins to hold the whole canvas. For years discussion of her life often placed louder men around her, especially her brother Augustus John and the sculptor Rodin. The paintings kept making a quieter argument for attention. Gwen is a Welsh short form drawn from the element gwen, with meanings including white, fair, and blessed. John does not supply the etymology or a personality test. She offers the name a fitting artistic association: brevity without slightness, restraint without absence. A one-syllable name and a subdued portrait can both make room for more presence than their size first suggests.

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The formal names behind Gwen

Gwen is an established short form of this name.

Gwendolyn · Welsh origin · traditionally "white ring, blessed ring"

Why we verify every short-form relationship →

How popular is Gwen around the world?

In the United States, 2,113 babies were named Gwen between 2020 and 2025. In Canada, 53 girls named Gwen were born in 2024, the 549th most common name among girls that year.

Gwen is on the official records of the United States, Canada, Ireland, England and Wales, South Australia, France and Spain.

United States

1 in 10,000

In the United States, 2,113 babies were named Gwen between 2020 and 2025.

1890speak 2010s

Shape drawn from US Social Security baby-name records. Gwen peaked in the 2010s and the 2020s in nearly equal measure. In US birth records Gwen has stayed between 512 and 6,849 births in every decade since the 1950s: a name everyone knows and few children get.

Births with a Social Security record. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration

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Canada

1 in 6,900

In Canada, 53 girls named Gwen were born in 2024, the 549th most common name among girls that year.

1991peak 2019

share of that year’s name registrations

First given names from provincial and territorial vital statistics across Canada; any name-sex-year under 5 is excluded at source, and small Quebec counts carry a randomized adjustment made at source. Shares divide by Statistics Canada’s count of live births for the year; the 2024 count is preliminary. Source: Statistics Canada, first names at birth (table 17-10-0147-01)

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Ireland

1 in 7,700

In Ireland, 7 girls named Gwen were born in 2025, the 483rd most common name among girls that year.

peak 19762025

share of that year’s name registrations

Exact registered spellings from Irish vital statistics; any name under 3 in a year is withheld at source, and accented spellings (fadas) are recorded reliably only from 2018. Source: Central Statistics Office (Ireland), Irish babies' names

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England and Wales

1 in 17,000

In England and Wales, 34 girls named Gwen were born in 2025, the 997th most common name among girls that year.

1996peak 2018

share of that year’s name registrations

Birth registrations in England and Wales (not the whole UK); exact spellings are counted separately, and any spelling under 3 in a year is withheld at source. Source: Office for National Statistics, baby names in England and Wales

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South Australia

1 in 18,000 · 2017

In South Australia, 1 girl was registered as Gwen in 2017.
The count never rose above 3 in a year, too few to chart.

Births registered in South Australia (not all of Australia) by first name and year of registration, 1944–2017, from the state’s Births, Deaths and Marriages registry, which publishes every name down to a single birth in capitals; a spelling its export repeats inside a year is counted once, and from 2018 only a top 100 is published, so the series ends at 2017. Source: Consumer and Business Services (South Australia), popular baby names

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France

1 in 43,000

In France, about 10 girls named Gwen were born in 2025, ranked 3,202nd among girls that year.
In France, about 5 boys named Gwen were born in 2025, ranked 3,659th among boys that year.

1950peak 20052025

share of that year’s births on record

Births in France by year of birth, from INSEE’s fichier des prénoms (1900–2025; Mayotte from 2012); exact spellings count separately (Léo and Leo are different names), any spelling under 3 in a year and sex is withheld at source, every count is rounded to the nearest 5 at source, and nametree keeps the spellings that reached 20 in some year. Shares divide by INSEE’s count of births in France from 1957, and before that by the file’s own total for the year; INSEE says the file is not complete before 1946. Source: Insee, fichier des prénoms (last updated 2026-07-16)

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Spain

1 in 1.4M

In Spain, 31 residents are named Gwen, ranked 21,318th among women, with a mean age of 28 years.

Residents of Spain on 1 January 2025. Spain publishes how old a name’s living bearers are, not a birth series, so there is no year chart. Source: INE (Spain), Censo de Población anual, 1 January 2025

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Argentina

last on record 2019

Gwen is not on the 2024 record for Argentina, where small counts are withheld at source.
The count never rose above 3 in a year, too few to chart.

Given-name components of births in Argentina 2012–2024; national cells are lower bounds and no sex split is published. Source: RENAPER (Argentina), Dirección Nacional de Población, given names 2012-2024

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Austria

last on record 2022

Gwen is not on the 2025 record for Austria, which publishes every first name down to a single birth, so the name was not given there that year.
The count never rose above 2 in a year, too few to chart.

Live births in Austria by year of birth, 1984–2025, from Statistik Austria’s first-name statistics; spellings that differ only by special characters are counted together (umlauts stay apart), every name down to a single birth is published, and the count covers babies with Austrian citizenship only until 2009, every baby from 2010, and from 2015 also births abroad to mothers living in Austria. Shares divide by Statistik Austria’s count of live births from 2010, and before that by the file’s own total for the year. Source: Statistik Austria - data.statistik.gv.at (OGDEXT_VORNAMEN_1, updated 2026-07-09)

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Mexico City City

last on record 2017

Gwen is not on the 2022 record for Mexico City, where small counts are withheld at source.
The count never rose above 5 in a year, too few to chart.

Civil-registry acts in Mexico City by registration year. Counts are lower bounds (names under 6 in a month and borough are removed at source) and count name-instances, not people; compound names are split, so “Maria Jose” counts under each part. 2023, a partial extract through 3 Mar with no cell on record for this name, is excluded. Source: Registro Civil of Mexico City, open data portal, registered given names 2000-2023

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Montevideo City

last on record 2004

Gwen is not on the 2011 record for Montevideo, whose registry withholds nothing, so the spelling was not given there that year.
The count never rose above 1 in a year, too few to chart.

Births in the department of Montevideo (not all of Uruguay) by first name and year of birth, 1940–2011, from the city’s civil registry, which writes names in capitals, almost always without accents; counted as spelling groups (accent and punctuation variants merged), nothing is withheld at source, and 2012 is excluded as a partial year. Source: Servicio de Registro Civil, Intendencia de Montevideo, Partidas de Registro Civil de Montevideo (Licencia de Datos Abiertos - Uruguay); 2012 dropped as partial

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New Zealand

last on record 1944

Gwen is not on the 2025 record for New Zealand, where names under 10 in a year are excluded at source.

peak 19182025

share of that year’s name registrations

First given names from New Zealand birth registrations, grouped by registration year; any name under 10 in a year is excluded at source. Shares divide by Stats NZ’s count of births registered to mothers living in New Zealand, under 1% below the registry’s own count. Source: Department of Internal Affairs (New Zealand), baby name popularity over time

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Poland

last on record 2014

Gwen is not on the 2025 record for Poland, where names given fewer than 2 times in a year are withheld at source.
The count never rose above 2 in a year, too few to chart.

First names given to children born in Poland by year of birth, 2000–2025, from the PESEL population register (Ministry of Digital Affairs); exact spellings count separately (Łukasz and Lukasz are different names), names given fewer than 5 times in a year were left off the list through 2012 and fewer than 2 times from 2013, and the register also counts children born abroad, so its yearly sums run above Poland’s live births. Shares divide by the register’s own published total for the year, never by births. Source: Ministry of Digital Affairs, PESEL register (dane.gov.pl)

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Scotland

last on record 2020

Gwen is not on the 2024 record for Scotland, where spellings under 3 in total are suppressed at source.

peak 19772024

share of that year’s name registrations

Births registered in Scotland; different spellings count separately but accents are merged at source, and any spelling under 3 in total is suppressed. Source: National Records of Scotland, babies' first names

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Not on the record in Puerto Rico: that registry withholds small counts, so rare uses may sit below its floor.

Not on the Chile record: nametree keeps spellings that reached 5 registrations in some year, so rarer uses are not shown. Not on Norway’s list: Statistics Norway lists only first names carried by 200 or more living people, so rarer names are not shown.

All records: the most popular baby names around the world →

Names that fit alongside Gwen

Bronwyn Gwyneth Lynnette Artie Ella Mila

Where Gwen travels

Welsh Patagonian · white, blessed (the feminine of gwyn); the root syllable of half the Welsh name book, complete on its own

Keep exploring

Welsh Patagonian baby names · British and London baby names · Short names · Familiar but never popular

Name trails: explore connections from Gwen →

The Gwen deep dive

Written for you · $1.99 →

Whether you’re naming a baby or exploring your own name’s history, this is a personal letter, not a list: where Gwen truly comes from, how it traveled, and what a century of records reveals. If you have grown a tree on nametree, it also considers how Gwen fits with your family’s names and surname.

Both reports, explained →

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