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Gwendolynn vs Gwenetta

American parents have registered 1,454 Gwendolynns since 1880, against 223 Gwenettas. Gwendolynn is still ahead, with 34 babies in 2025.

Babies given each name, 1880–2025

Births per year: Gwendolynn against Gwenetta, 1880 to 2025 0 13 25 38 50 1880 1900 1920 1940 1960 1980 2000 2020

Gwendolynn Gwenetta

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

Of the 92 years in which either name was published, Gwendolynn for 89 years and Gwenetta for 3 years. The lead changed hands 6 times.

Side by side

  Gwendolynn Gwenetta
Total US births 1,454223
Most in one year 4114
Babies in 2025 34under 5
Estimated living today 1,300190
Median age today 2462
Peak year 20231955
Best rank 3,709th girls3,095th girls
Rank in 2025 4,172ndunranked
First recorded 19211950
Girls / boys 1,454 / 0223 / 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 Gwenettas alive today are over 62; half the Gwendolynns are over 24. That is 38 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: Gwendolynn and Gwenetta.