Wynonna
A blend of names of Native American and English origin.
Name Census estimates that about 462 living Americans carry the first name Wynonna. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Wynonna today is around 13 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Wynonna births was 2024 (67 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Wynonna. 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.
People living today
462
~ 1 in 741,893 Americans
Peak year
2024
67 babies that year
Average age
13
years old
2024 SSA rank
#2,627
Tracked since 1985
Census
Wynonna in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 254 people with the first name Wynonna, which placed it at #32,878 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
#32,878
National first-name rank
People counted
254
254 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
60.6% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Wynonna
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Wynonna is White at 60.6%. The next largest groups are American Indian/Alaska Native (15.4%) and Hispanic (8.3%). 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 Wynonna 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 Wynonna at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White60.6% · 154
- American Indian and Alaska Native15.4% · 39
- Hispanic or Latino8.3% · 21
- Black or African American5.9% · 15
- Two or more races5.9% · 15
- Asian and Pacific Islander3.9% · 10
Popularity
Wynonna: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Wynonna from the 1980s through to the 2020s, spanning 5 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2020s, with 251 total registrations. The name continues to be given at rates close to its all-time high, suggesting it has not yet fallen out of fashion.
Babies born per year
Decades
Wynonna 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 Wynonna during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Wynonnas live
The SSA's state-level files cover 6 states and territories. Texas, Pennsylvania, California recorded the most babies named Wynonna, while Iowa, Wisconsin, Michigan recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 8 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Wynonna
The name Wynonna has its origins in the English language and is a derivative of the name Winona. It is believed to have been derived from the Dakota Sioux word "winohna," which means "firstborn daughter" or "first-born child."
The name Wynonna gained popularity in the United States during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. It was particularly popular among families with Native American heritage or those who admired Native American culture.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Wynonna is found in the 1880 United States Census, where a small number of individuals were listed with this name. However, it was not until the mid-20th century that the name gained wider recognition.
One of the most notable individuals named Wynonna was the American country music singer Wynonna Judd, born Christina Ciminella on May 30, 1964. She rose to fame as part of the mother-daughter duo The Judds, alongside her mother, Naomi Judd.
Another historical figure with the name Wynonna was Wynonna Smith (1838-1923), a Cherokee woman who was one of the last surviving participants of the Trail of Tears, the forced relocation of Native Americans from their ancestral homelands.
In literature, the name Wynonna appeared in the novel "The Grapes of Wrath" by John Steinbeck, published in 1939. One of the characters in the novel was named Wynonna, although her role was minor.
The name Wynonna was also borne by Wynonna Ward (1914-2001), an American actress and singer who appeared in several Broadway productions and films throughout the mid-20th century.
Another notable individual with the name Wynonna was Wynonna Whitegoat (1884-1969), a prominent member of the Northern Cheyenne tribe and a respected advocate for Native American rights.
While the name Wynonna is not as common today as it once was, it still holds significance for those with ties to Native American culture and heritage, as well as for those who appreciate its unique and melodic sound.
People
Wynonna + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Wynonna 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
Wynonna: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Wynonna?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 462 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Wynonna 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 741,893 US residents.
Is Wynonna a common name?
We classify Wynonna as "Very Rare". It ranks above 83.8% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 469 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Wynonna most popular?
The single biggest year for Wynonna was 2024, when 67 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Wynonna is about 13 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Wynonna in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 254 people with the name Wynonna, or 0.08 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #32,878 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 Wynonna 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 Wynonna?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Wynonna leans strongly female. 252 people counted with this name were female (98.4%), compared with 4 male bearers (1.6%). 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 Wynonna?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Wynonna is White at 60.6%. The next largest groups are American Indian/Alaska Native (15.4%) and Hispanic (8.3%). 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 Wynonna most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Wynonna in the 2020 Census, accounting for 60.6% (154 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 Wynonna in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Wynonna a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Wynonna 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 Wynonna still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Wynonna 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 Wynonna 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 common is the name Wynonna?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.