Gwendolyn
Meaning of Gwendolyn
Gwendolyn (pronounced GWEHN-duh-lin) skips onto the scene like a harp chord carried on a Welsh breeze, her roots tangled in the Celtic words gwen, meaning “white” or “blessed,” and the old element dolen, “ring” or “loop,” so she literally shines as a “blessed circle.” Storytellers first spotted her in medieval legends—Queen Gwendolen reportedly booted a faithless king right off Britain’s early throne—and English literature kept her glowing, from Tennyson’s poetry to Wilde’s quick-witted Gwendolen Fairfax. Across the Atlantic she enjoyed a baby-boom heyday in the 1950s, then tucked herself into the middle of the popularity charts, where she’s hovered comfortably around the 300-line ever since—never too common, never forgotten, very Goldilocks. Nicknames abound (Gwen, Winnie, Dolly), each like a charm on a bracelet, and the name’s lilting rhythm feels equally at home on a storybook princess or a boardroom boss. All told, Gwendolyn is a bright circle of history, strength, and sparkle waiting to be slipped onto a brand-new personality.
Pronunciation
English
- Pronunced as GWEHN-duh-lin (/ˌkwɛn-də-lɪn/)
U.S. Popularity Chart
States Popularity Chart
Notable People Named Gwendolyn
| Gwendolyn Elizabeth Brooks was an American poet, author, and teacher who portrayed everyday life in her community and in 1950 became the first African American to win the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry for Annie Allen. |
| Gwendolyn B. Bennett was an American Harlem Renaissance artist, writer, and journalist known for Wedding Day and for championing African American literature and rights for women. |
| Gwendolyn Fiel Garcia-Codilla is a Filipino politician who twice served as Cebu governor and also as a representative and House deputy speaker. |
| Dame Gwendolyn Tonge was an Antiguan educator and home economics pioneer who led the government Womens Desk, served as a senator on policy for women, hosted the long running Cooking Magic TV show, and earned top national and British honors. |
| Gwendolyn Ann Magee - Gwendolyn Gwen Ann Magee was an African American fiber artist who began quilting midlife and became known for abstract and narrative quilts about the African American experience, with works in major museums including the Smithsonian. |
| Gwendolyn Rosetta Capps Lightner - Gwendolyn Lightner was a trailblazing Los Angeles gospel pianist, arranger, and choir director, best known as Mahalia Jacksons accompanist and a Baptist leader who recorded with the Soul Stirrers and the Pilgrim Travelers. |
| Gwendolyn Lucy O'Soup Crane was Canada's first elected female First Nations chief. |
| Gwendolyn Margaret Lizarraga, known as Madam Liz, was a Belizean businesswoman, women's rights leader, and politician, the first woman elected to the legislature of British Honduras and its first female minister. |
| Gwendolyn Wilson Fowler was a pioneering African American pharmacist, the first Black woman licensed in Iowa and the first from the state to serve in the US Foreign Service, later honored in the Iowa Women’s Hall of Fame in 1987. |
| Gwendolyn Bradley is an American soprano known for performing on opera and concert stages worldwide. |
| Gwendolyn Zepeda is a Mexican American author and poet who served as the first Poet Laureate of Houston from 2013 to 2015. |
| Gwendolyn J. Elliott was an American police trailblazer who founded Gwen's Girls, served among the first women with the Pittsburgh Police, and became its first Black female commander. |
| Gwendolyn Muriel Grant was an Australian Impressionist painter known for portraits and coastal scenes and a pioneer among women artists exhibiting in Australia. |
| Gwendolyn Buray Ecleo-Pols is a Filipino politician who served as mayor of Dinagat from 2004 to 2013 and is an official of the Philippine Benevolent Missionaries Association. |
| Gwendolyn Koldofsky was a celebrated Canadian piano accompanist and music educator who became a Professor Emerita at USC. |
