Gwenna
A Welsh feminine name derived from the word "gwen" meaning fair or blessed.
Name Census estimates that about 276 living Americans carry the first name Gwenna. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Gwenna today is around 38 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Gwenna births was 1965 (14 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Gwenna. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
For a British comparison, Name Census UK has a UK baby-name profile for Gwenna with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
276
~ 1 in 1,241,864 Americans
Peak year
1965
14 babies that year
Average age
38
years old
2023 SSA rank
#9,840
Tracked since 1935
Census
Gwenna in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 352 people with the first name Gwenna, which placed it at #26,438 in the published first-name tables. This is a snapshot of people who already had the name at the time of the Census.
The SSA sections elsewhere on this page answer a different question: how often parents gave the name to babies over time. The "people living today" figure on this page is different again: it is a current estimate built from SSA birth records and age-based survival rates, so the two numbers are not expected to match exactly.
2020 Census rank
#26,438
National first-name rank
People counted
352
352 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
86.9% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Gwenna
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Gwenna is White at 86.9%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (4.5%) and Black (3.7%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Gwenna described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given name, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown so the breakdown is easy to read across every published category. Because the 2020 Census first-name file also includes raw headcounts for each group, Name Census can show those alongside the percentages in the legend and hover tooltip.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the name Gwenna at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White86.9% · 306
- Two or more races4.5% · 16
- Black or African American3.7% · 13
- Hispanic or Latino2.6% · 9
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.4% · 5
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.9% · 3
Popularity
Gwenna: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Gwenna from the 1930s through to the 2020s, spanning 9 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1960s, with 83 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1960s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Gwenna by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Gwenna during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Origin
Meaning and history of Gwenna
The name Gwenna is of Welsh origin, derived from the Welsh word "gwen," meaning fair or blessed. It was a popular name in medieval Wales, particularly in the regions of Gwynedd and Powys.
The earliest recorded use of the name Gwenna dates back to the 12th century. One of the earliest known bearers of the name was Gwenna ferch Gruffydd, a Welsh noblewoman who lived during the late 12th century. She was the daughter of Gruffydd ap Rhys, Prince of Deheubarth.
In the 13th century, Gwenna ferch Llywelyn, a Welsh princess, was born around 1216. She was the daughter of Llywelyn the Great, Prince of Gwynedd, and his wife, Joan, Lady of Wales.
During the 14th century, Gwenna Goch, a Welsh poet and bard, was active in the court of Owain Glyn Dŵr, a Welsh prince and the last native Prince of Wales to rebel against the English. Her poetic works were highly regarded in her time.
In the 15th century, Gwenna Griffith was a Welsh noblewoman and the wife of Sir Rhys ap Thomas, a prominent figure in the Wars of the Roses. She played a significant role in the support of the House of Lancaster during the conflict.
Another notable bearer of the name was Gwenna Aubrey, a 16th-century Welsh landowner and philanthropist. She was known for her charitable works and her support of the local community in Monmouthshire.
While the name Gwenna has its roots in medieval Wales, it has been used across various cultures and regions over the centuries, though it remains most closely associated with its Welsh heritage.
People
Gwenna + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Gwenna as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with G
Other first names starting with G with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Gwenna: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Gwenna?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 276 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Gwenna going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 1,241,864 US residents.
Is Gwenna a common name?
We classify Gwenna as "Very Rare". It ranks above 78.3% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 319 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Gwenna most popular?
The single biggest year for Gwenna was 1965, when 14 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Gwenna is about 38 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Gwenna in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 352 people with the name Gwenna, or 0.12 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #26,438 in the national Census ranking for first names.
Why is the Census count different from the living estimate?
Because they measure different things. The Census figure is a count of people who had the name Gwenna in 2020. The living estimate aims to answer a current question instead: how many people with the name are alive today, based on SSA birth records and age-based survival rates. Since one number is a 2020 snapshot and the other is a present-day estimate, they are not expected to be identical.
What does the Census say about the gender split for Gwenna?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Gwenna appears almost entirely female. Of the 343 people counted with this name, 100.0% were female and only a very small share were male. The Census view is a snapshot of people living with the name in 2020, while the SSA section above tracks births across time.
What does the Census say about the background of people named Gwenna?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Gwenna is White at 86.9%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (4.5%) and Black (3.7%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself. The percentages in the chart above come from self-reported race and Hispanic-origin responses in the 2020 Census.
Which group reports the name Gwenna most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Gwenna in the 2020 Census, accounting for 86.9% (306 people in the published table).
Why can the Census sex total and race total differ slightly?
The Census Bureau published separate 2020 tables for sex and for race/Hispanic origin, and the released figures can differ slightly because of privacy protection in the public files. That is why this page treats the gender section and the race/origin section as two related snapshots instead of forcing them into one identical total.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only includes names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files have no Census demographic snapshot. When that happens, the SSA trend, gender history, and state sections still appear, but the 2020 Census demographic sections are omitted.
What does the SSA popularity chart show?
The chart tracks births, not the number of people alive with the name today. Each point shows how many babies were given the name Gwenna in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Gwenna a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Gwenna in the SSA data are female. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Is Gwenna still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Gwenna in 2024, and the page above shows its latest-year rank where available. A name can be well past its peak and still remain in steady use, especially if it built up a large population over earlier decades.
Why can a name have a lot of living bearers even if it is not trendy now?
Because living-bearer counts and current baby-name popularity measure different things. A name like Gwenna can build up a very large population over many decades, even if fewer parents are choosing it now than they did at its peak.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.
How many people are called Gwenna?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.