Wynona
Feminine name derived from a Native American word meaning "first-born daughter".
Name Census estimates that about 1,499 living Americans carry the first name Wynona. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Wynona today is around 52 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Wynona births was 1930 (97 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Wynona. 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 Wynona with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
1.5K
~ 1 in 228,655 Americans
Peak year
1930
97 babies that year
Average age
52
years old
2024 SSA rank
#2,626
Tracked since 1899
Census
Wynona in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 1,672 people with the first name Wynona, which placed it at #8,631 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
#8,631
National first-name rank
People counted
1.7K
1,672 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.6
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
67.0% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Wynona
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Wynona is White at 67.0%. The next largest groups are Black (14.4%) and American Indian/Alaska Native (7.4%). 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 Wynona 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 Wynona at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White67.0% · 1,121
- Black or African American14.4% · 241
- American Indian and Alaska Native7.4% · 123
- Two or more races6.0% · 100
- Asian and Pacific Islander2.8% · 47
- Hispanic or Latino2.4% · 40
Popularity
Wynona: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Wynona from the 1890s through to the 2020s, spanning 14 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1930s, with 756 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 1930s peak, Wynona remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Wynona 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 Wynona during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Wynonas live
The SSA's state-level files cover 17 states and territories. Oklahoma, Texas, Kansas recorded the most babies named Wynona, while West Virginia, Pennsylvania, North Carolina recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 66 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Wynona
The name Wynona is believed to have originated from the Native American Sioux language, specifically the Dakota dialect. It is derived from the word "winona," which means "firstborn daughter" or "eldest daughter." This name has been in use among the Sioux tribes for centuries, reflecting their cultural traditions and familial values.
In the early 19th century, the name Wynona gained wider recognition due to its association with a legendary figure in Sioux history. Winona, a young woman from the Mdewakanton Dakota tribe, is said to have sacrificed her life to save her tribe from a severe famine. Her selfless act became embedded in the oral traditions of the Sioux people, and her name became a symbol of bravery and selflessness.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Wynona can be found in the writings of the American author and historian Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. In his famous poem "The Song of Hiawatha," published in 1855, Longfellow included a character named Winona, further popularizing the name among non-Native audiences.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Wynona. One of the most famous was Wynona Lippert (1901-1990), an American silent film actress and dancer who appeared in several productions during the 1920s. Another notable figure was Wynona Ward (1924-2011), a pioneering African American businesswoman and civil rights activist who founded the first black-owned radio station in the state of Mississippi.
In the realm of music, Wynona Judd (born 1964) is a highly acclaimed American country music singer and songwriter. She is best known for her successful musical partnership with her mother, Naomi Judd, as part of the duo The Judds. Wynona has won numerous awards, including five Grammy Awards and eight Billboard Music Awards.
Another notable individual with the name Wynona was Wynona Carr (1899-1994), an American actress and dancer who performed on Broadway and in several Hollywood films during the 1920s and 1930s. She was also known for her advocacy work in the African American community.
Lastly, Wynona Harris (1901-1982) was a prominent American social worker and educator who dedicated her life to improving the lives of underprivileged children and families. She served as the executive director of the Chicago Urban League and was instrumental in establishing several community centers and youth programs throughout the city.
People
Wynona + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Wynona as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with W
Other first names starting with W with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Wynona: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Wynona?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 1,499 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Wynona 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 228,655 US residents.
Is Wynona a common name?
We classify Wynona as "Rare". It ranks above 92.4% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 3,774 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Wynona most popular?
The single biggest year for Wynona was 1930, when 97 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Wynona is about 52 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Wynona in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 1,672 people with the name Wynona, or 0.55 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #8,631 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 Wynona 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 Wynona?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Wynona appears almost entirely female. Of the 1,667 people counted with this name, 99.9% 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 Wynona?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Wynona is White at 67.0%. The next largest groups are Black (14.4%) and American Indian/Alaska Native (7.4%). 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 Wynona most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Wynona in the 2020 Census, accounting for 67.0% (1,121 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 Wynona in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Wynona a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Wynona 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 Wynona still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Wynona 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 Wynona 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 share the name Wynona?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.