Humanverse

Gwendolynn vs Gwenivere

American parents have registered 1,454 Gwendolynns since 1880, against 811 Gweniveres. But in 2025 it was Gwenivere that was commoner, 51 babies to 34.

Babies given each name, 1880–2025

Births per year: Gwendolynn against Gwenivere, 1880 to 2025 0 25 50 75 100 1880 1900 1920 1940 1960 1980 2000 2020

Gwendolynn Gwenivere

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 80 years and Gwenivere for 12 years. The lead changed hands 11 times.

Side by side

  Gwendolynn Gwenivere
Total US births 1,454811
Most in one year 4187
Babies in 2025 3451
Estimated living today 1,300810
Median age today 246
Peak year 20232022
Best rank 3,709th girls2,174th girls
Rank in 2025 4,172nd3,130th
First recorded 19211970
Girls / boys 1,454 / 0811 / 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 Gwendolynns alive today are over 24; half the Gweniveres are over 6. That is 18 years between them: two names in use at the same time, worn by two different generations.

Where each one is strongest

How much commoner the name is in that state than it is nationally, from births recorded since 1910.

Compare something else

Related comparisons

Social Security Administration birth records, 1880–2025, public domain. Full histories: Gwendolynn and Gwenivere.