Gwendolen
About Gwendolen
Gwendolen, an ancient Welsh favorite, retired decades ago in favor of the short form Gwen, but now, as in the case all across the naming board, the nickname has faded and the more distinguished original is up for reappraisal.
Gwendolen means "white circle," probably alluding to an ancient moon goddess, and appears in both Welsh and English legend, once as a fairy with whom King Arthur fell in love and another was the wife of the wizard Merlin.
Gwendolen is the name of principal characters in George Eliot's novel Daniel Deronda and in the Oscar Wilde play, The Importance of Being Earnest.
An alternate spelling is Gwendolyn, as in Gwendolyn Brooks, the first African-American woman to win a Pulitzer prize for poetry. Gwendolyn, always the more popular spelling in the U.S. and the full name of the character Winnie Cooper on The Wonder Years is now at Number 514, having reached as high as 112 in the 1950's.
Singer Gwen Stefani was actually christened Gwen.
As of October 2026, Gwendolen ranked #9072 in US births in 2025 SSA, peaked at #1680 in 1903.
Editor's take: The name Gwendolen is a girl's name of Welsh origin meaning "white ring, circle".
Popularity & trends
Data table
| Year | US rank | Births | Per million |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | — | 0 | 0 |
| 2015 | — | 0 | 0 |
| 2016 | — | 0 | 0 |
| 2017 | — | 0 | 0 |
| 2018 | — | 0 | 0 |
| 2019 | — | 0 | 0 |
| 2020 | — | 0 | 0 |
| 2021 | — | 0 | 0 |
| 2022 | — | 0 | 0 |
| 2023 | — | 0 | 0 |
| 2024 | — | 0 | 0 |
| 2025 | — | 0 | 0 |
Similar names
These 20 names were selected by our users looking for other names like Gwendolen.
- Mathilde
- Cecile
- Brigid
- Leonore
- Gwendoline
- Marion
- Arnella
- Marian
- Eugenia
- Magdalene
- Leonor
- Elinor
- Rosaline
- Deirdre
- Shoshana
- Nadine
- Heloise
- Marta
- Oralee
- Margery
Gwendolen on lists
Famous Gwendolens
- Gwendolen Mary "Gwen" John
Welsh artist
- Gwendolen Florence Mary Guinness
Countess of Iveagh, British politician
- Gwendolen Margaret Carter
Canadian,American political scientist
- Gwendolen Mary "Gwen" Darwin Raverat
English wood engraver
- Gwendolen Mary Fitzalan
Howard, Duchess of Norfolk
- (Florence) Gwendolen Rees
Welsh zoologist and parasitologist
- Gwendolen Josephine Gyngell
daughter of TV journalist Leila McKinnon & David Gyngell
Gwendolen in pop culture
- Gwendolen Harleth
a central character in George Eliot's 'Daniel Deronda'
- Gwendolen Fairfax
character from Oscar Wilde's 'The Importance of Being Earnest'
- Gwendolen Chant
a central character in Diana Wynne Jones's 'Charmed Life'
- "Gwendolen
" novel by Buchi Emecheta
Variations & nicknames
- GwendolineWelsh
- WendolynWelsh
- GwendolinWelsh
- GwynneWelsh
- GwendaWelsh
- GwynethWelsh
- WendolenWelsh