Gwen vs Gwendlyon
American parents have registered 32,911 Gwens since 1880, against 78 Gwendlyons. Gwen is still ahead, with 384 babies in 2025.
Babies given each name, 1880–2025
Gwen Gwendlyon
Each line is every baby given the name that year, girls and boys added together — the only count that means the same thing for both names. A line breaks where the name fell below five babies in a year — the point at which the SSA stops publishing it — rather than being drawn through a figure nobody published. A single published year in a gap shows as a dot.
Who was ahead
Gwen has been the commoner name in every year either was published, 1890 to 2025. The lead has never changed hands.
The closest they came was 1941, when Gwen had 347 and Gwendlyon had 9.
Side by side
| Gwen | Gwendlyon | |
|---|---|---|
| Total US births | 32,911 | 78 |
| Most in one year | 951 | 9 |
| Babies in 2025 | 384 | under 5 |
| Estimated living today | 24,000 | 60 |
| Median age today | 60 | 73 |
| Peak year | 1959 | 1941 |
| Best rank | 295th girls | 3,030th girls |
| Rank in 2025 | 725th | unranked |
| First recorded | 1890 | 1941 |
| Girls / boys | 32,617 / 294 | 78 / 0 |
A rank is a position within one sex’s list for one year, so the two rank rows are not subtracted from one another and the winning column is not marked on them. The living figure is a life-table estimate, not a count.
Which name is older
Half of the Gwendlyons alive today are over 73; half the Gwens are over 60. That is 13 years between them: two names in use at the same time, worn by two different generations.
Compare something else
Related comparisons
Social Security Administration birth records, 1880–2025, public domain. Full histories: Gwen and Gwendlyon.