Head to head · Girls' names
Gwen vs Sol
#725 vs #722 in 2025
Sol is a whisker ahead (#722 vs #725 in 2025), but the curves point different ways: Sol is climbing the charts fast, Gwen is holding its place on the charts.
Cast your vote
Which one would you pick?
Your gut first, the numbers after — the split shows once you pick.
The tale of the tape
The tape is even: Gwen and Sol each lead 3 measures of 6.
Ranks, counts and years are measured in the official US birth record; the classroom and living figures are estimates computed from it. The dot marks the side each measure favours on the charts — more common, not better.
What the records say
146 years of US births, drawn on one scale
Two curves, one scale
Who owned which decade
- 1890s: Gwen #1246, Sol — — Gwen higher
- 1900s: Gwen #892, Sol — — Gwen higher
- 1910s: Gwen #716, Sol — — Gwen higher
- 1920s: Gwen #639, Sol — — Gwen higher
- 1930s: Gwen #390, Sol — — Gwen higher
- 1940s: Gwen #362, Sol — — Gwen higher
- 1950s: Gwen #338, Sol #5132 — Gwen higher
- 1960s: Gwen #409, Sol #4334 — Gwen higher
- 1970s: Gwen #621, Sol #4030 — Gwen higher
- 1980s: Gwen #1392, Sol #5798 — Gwen higher
- 1990s: Gwen #2534, Sol #4937 — Gwen higher
- 2000s: Gwen #1521, Sol #2611 — Gwen higher
- 2010s: Gwen #976, Sol #2020 — Gwen higher
- 2020s: Gwen #793, Sol #924 — Gwen higher
Gwen stood higher in every recorded decade — 14 of 14.
Rank by decade
| Decade | Gwen | Sol |
|---|---|---|
| 1890s | #1246 | — |
| 1900s | #892 | — |
| 1910s | #716 | — |
| 1920s | #639 | — |
| 1930s | #390 | — |
| 1940s | #362 | — |
| 1950s | #338 | #5132 |
| 1960s | #409 | #4334 |
| 1970s | #621 | #4030 |
| 1980s | #1392 | #5798 |
| 1990s | #2534 | #4937 |
| 2000s | #1521 | #2611 |
| 2010s | #976 | #2020 |
| 2020s | #793 | #924 |
Average national rank across each decade. A dash means the name sat outside the recorded top of that decade.
The names themselves
Meaning, roots, sound and the people who carried each
Where each name comes from
Gwen
White, fair, blessed (Welsh)
Welsh gwyn is the masculine form and gwen the feminine; across Welsh names the element carries the joined senses of white, fair and holy or blessed.
gwyn / gwen (Welsh, 'white, fair, blessed') → Gwenhwyfar → Gwendolen → Gwen
How it traveled
Gwen comes from the Welsh adjective gwyn/gwen, one of the most productive elements in the whole Welsh naming stock, and it stands behind Gwendolen, Gwenllian, Gwyneth and Gwenhwyfar alike. Gwenhwyfar is the Welsh name that reached French and then English romance as Guinevere, which is how a Welsh word for fair or blessed ended up in Arthurian literature across Europe.
Sol
"Sun" in Latin, Spanish and Portuguese — though a second, separate Sol means something else entirely
Two different names share this spelling. The Spanish and Portuguese Sol is the ordinary word for the sun, and also serves as the short form of Marisol and Soledad. The English and Yiddish Sol is a clipped form of Solomon (Hebrew Shlomo, from shalom, "peace") and sometimes of Saul. Which meaning a particular Sol carries depends on which family gave it.
Latin sol → Spanish Sol → Soledad / Marisol → Sol
How it traveled
Latin sol passed into the Romance languages as the plain word for the sun, and Spanish speakers have long used it as a given name in its own right, as well as the short form for Soledad and Marisol — a pattern still strong in Argentina and across Latin America. On a separate track, Norse mythology names the sun Sól, a figure recorded in the medieval Icelandic Eddas.
Where a reading is contested the note says so — this page does not turn a guess into a fact. The chain is each name's recorded forms, oldest first; the story is its opening, told in full on the name's own page.
Out loud, and in short
Gwen
GWEN
One syllable, rhyming with 'ten'. The gw- is pronounced as written, the same way it is in Welsh.
- Gwennie — The usual affectionate extension, informal and mostly family use, since Gwen is already short.
- Gwenny — Same form with a different spelling; informal.
- Gwen — Stands alone as a given name, and also serves as the everyday short form for anyone registered as Gwendolen, Gwyneth or Gwenllian.
Sol
SOHL
One syllable, rhyming with goal. In Spanish the vowel is shorter and purer than in English, closer to a clipped SOL. Expect an occasional mishearing as Saul or Sal over the phone.
- Sol — Already the short form of Soledad, Marisol, Solange, Solomon and Saul; used as a full given name in its own right in all of those traditions.
- Solly — Informal, long attached to the Solomon line; still heard among older bearers.
- Sole — Informal Spanish alternative, mostly where the full name is Soledad.
- Solita — Spanish diminutive, affectionate and family-level rather than everyday.
Is it right for you
The differences that decide it, laid out by what you want
Choose by what you want
Choose Gwen if you want…
- a name holding steadyGwen is holding its place on the charts
Choose Sol if you want…
- a name on the way upup 502 places on the charts in five years
Each line is a measured difference between the two names — a rank, a count, a recorded form — never a judgement of either. Save the one that answers your question; it lands on your shortlist.
The trade-offs, name by name
Gwen
Strengths
- One syllable, four letters, spelled the way it sounds — little chance of a lasting spelling battle.
- Works either as a complete name or as the short form of Gwendolen, Gwyneth and Gwenllian, so a longer registered name is optional, not required.
- A documented Welsh element with centuries of continuous use behind it, including the line that produced Guinevere.
To consider
- It is already as short as a name gets, so there is nowhere to retreat to. Parents who want a formal option on a diploma sometimes register Gwendolen or Gwyneth and use Gwen every day.
- The gw- cluster is occasionally misheard over the phone as 'Wen' or 'When', and Gwyn, Gwenn and Gwynn all exist as separate spellings.
- Expect the question 'is that short for something?' more or less forever. The answer that it is a name in its own right is a short one, but you will give it often.
Sol
Strengths
- Three letters, one syllable, and no spelling ambiguity — it is written the way it sounds in English, Spanish and Portuguese alike.
- Works both as a full name and as the established short form of Soledad, Marisol, Solange and Solomon, so a longer formal name can be added later or not at all.
- A documented record in two separate traditions — Spanish-speaking families and Jewish American families — meaning it is familiar to a lot of people without being common.
To consider
- It is a word before it is a name — the sun in Spanish, a musical note in solfège, the currency of Peru. Most Sols find that unremarkable, but it does mean the name gets recognized rather than asked about.
- In English it sounds identical to "soul" and close to "sole," which invites the occasional pun and a certain amount of spelling-it-out over the phone.
- The two roads run in different directions: in Spanish-speaking contexts Sol reads clearly as a girl's name, while the older American Sol was almost always a man named Solomon. Either way, some people will guess wrong before they meet the child.
Documented properties of each name — how it spells, travels and shortens — not opinions about the child.
How each is likely to age
Gwen
40%chance Gwen feels dated by 2040
Gwen sits in the calm middle of the cycle — neither chasing a wave nor sliding off one. Middle-of-the-cycle names age slowly and predictably.
Sol
55%chance Sol feels dated by 2040
Sol is climbing fast right now. Steep climbs tend to come with steep descents — the quicker a name arrives, the more firmly it belongs to its moment.
A reading of where each name sits on the long naming cycle — computed, not measured, and explained on the data page.
With your last name
Say both in full. The notes are facts about letters and sound — a rhyme, a shared initial, the monogram — not a verdict on either name.
Type a last name to hear Gwen and Sol in full.
Weighing the whole shortlist? Run the full comparison — up to eight names with your last name, initials, classroom projections and a printable report.
Decide together
Nobody names a baby alone
Still torn between Gwen and Sol?
Put both to the vote.
One link to your partner, your parents, your sister. Each of them gets the two names, a one-tap answer and room to say why — and every reply lands in one place.
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More than two in the running? Settle it with a bracket or run the full comparison with your last name.
More head-to-heads
Same measures, different pair. Sixty more are dealt daily in the arena.
Lists that carry both names
Every list here names both Gwen and Sol — the same style, ranked by the same records.
Gwen or Sol — the short answers
- Which is more popular, Gwen or Sol?
- Sol, in 2025: Sol ranked #722 with 389 babies; Gwen ranked #725 with 384 babies.
- Which name is rising faster, Gwen or Sol?
- Sol. Over the last five years Gwen moved up 97 places; Sol moved up 502 places.
- Which is the older name, Gwen or Sol?
- Gwen entered the US charts in 1890; Sol entered the US charts in 1953. On the American record, Gwen is the older name.
- How many people are named Gwen and Sol?
- About 25,000 people named Gwen are estimated to be alive in the US today. About 4,000 people named Sol are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- Will there be other Gwens or Sols in the classroom?
- Gwen will almost certainly be the only one in school. Sol will almost certainly be the only one in school.
US figures from the Social Security Administration, 1880–2025. Votes are battle voters on this site, not the birth record. Data & methodology
Keep playing
Sixty more head-to-heads are dealt in the arena every day — or line up Gwen, Sol and the rest of your shortlist with your last name in one printable report.
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