Head to head · Girls' names
Gwendolyn vs Itzel
#360 vs #359 in 2025
Itzel is a whisker ahead (#359 vs #360 in 2025), but the curves point different ways: Itzel is climbing the charts fast, Gwendolyn 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: Gwendolyn and Itzel 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
- 1880s: Gwendolyn #862, Itzel — — Gwendolyn higher
- 1890s: Gwendolyn #717, Itzel — — Gwendolyn higher
- 1900s: Gwendolyn #400, Itzel — — Gwendolyn higher
- 1910s: Gwendolyn #265, Itzel — — Gwendolyn higher
- 1920s: Gwendolyn #219, Itzel — — Gwendolyn higher
- 1930s: Gwendolyn #186, Itzel — — Gwendolyn higher
- 1940s: Gwendolyn #148, Itzel — — Gwendolyn higher
- 1950s: Gwendolyn #127, Itzel — — Gwendolyn higher
- 1960s: Gwendolyn #196, Itzel — — Gwendolyn higher
- 1970s: Gwendolyn #318, Itzel #9652 — Gwendolyn higher
- 1980s: Gwendolyn #537, Itzel #5534 — Gwendolyn higher
- 1990s: Gwendolyn #720, Itzel #988 — Gwendolyn higher
- 2000s: Gwendolyn #618, Itzel #416 — Itzel higher
- 2010s: Gwendolyn #446, Itzel #468 — Gwendolyn higher
- 2020s: Gwendolyn #383, Itzel #455 — Gwendolyn higher
Gwendolyn stood higher in 14 of 15 decades; Gwendolyn has held the lead since the 2010s.
Rank by decade
| Decade | Gwendolyn | Itzel |
|---|---|---|
| 1880s | #862 | — |
| 1890s | #717 | — |
| 1900s | #400 | — |
| 1910s | #265 | — |
| 1920s | #219 | — |
| 1930s | #186 | — |
| 1940s | #148 | — |
| 1950s | #127 | — |
| 1960s | #196 | — |
| 1970s | #318 | #9652 |
| 1980s | #537 | #5534 |
| 1990s | #720 | #988 |
| 2000s | #618 | #416 |
| 2010s | #446 | #468 |
| 2020s | #383 | #455 |
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
Gwendolyn
first part 'white, fair, blessed'; second part unsettled
The first element is Welsh gwen, 'white, fair, holy, blessed' — that part is not in doubt and it appears in many Welsh names. The second element is where scholars part ways: one reading takes it from dolen, 'ring, link, bow', giving something like 'white ring'; another treats the ending as arising from the Latinized form Guendoloena used in medieval texts, in which case it carries no separate meaning of its own.
Guendoloena → Gwendolen → Gwendoline → Gwendolyn
How it traveled
The name belongs to Wales, built on gwen, one of the most productive elements in the Welsh naming stock. It reaches the wider record through Geoffrey of Monmouth, whose twelfth-century Latin histories and his Vita Merlini gave the forms Guendoloena and Gwendolen to readers far outside Wales.
Itzel
Linked to Ixchel, a Maya goddess; also read through Maya itz, 'dew, nectar, sap'
Two serious readings compete. The most common holds Itzel to be a modern form of Ixchel (Ix Chel), the Yucatec Maya goddess of the moon, medicine, weaving and childbirth. The other works from the Maya root itz, which covers dew, nectar, resin and sap — the fluid that seeps from a plant. Popular lists often print 'rainbow lady' as a flat translation; that gloss is not supported by the Maya language itself. An unsettled name is a fuller one here, not a broken one.
How it traveled
The name belongs to the Yucatec Maya linguistic world, and its most-cited source, Ixchel, is documented in Maya codices and in sixteenth-century Spanish accounts of the peninsula, where she appears as a goddess of childbirth and healing with a pilgrimage site on Cozumel. Itzel itself came into general use much later, in twentieth-century Mexico, during a broad turn toward Indigenous given names alongside Xóchitl, Citlali and Nayeli.
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
Gwendolyn
GWEN-duh-lin
Stress on the first syllable. The middle syllable is usually swallowed to a quick 'duh'; some speakers say GWEN-doh-lin with the o fully pronounced, and both are accepted.
- Gwen — The standard short form, and a long-established given name in its own right, especially in Wales.
- Wendy — Used as a short form since the early twentieth century; also independently common as a full name, particularly for women born mid-century.
- Lyn — Taken from the ending rather than the beginning; also spelled Lynn and used as a name on its own.
- Gwennie — Informal and affectionate, mostly family use.
- Also Dolly.
Itzel
eet-SEL
Spanish stress falls on the second syllable, and the tz is one quick ts sound, as in 'cats'. English speakers commonly say it-ZELL, which most families accept without correcting.
- Itzy — The most common informal short form in Spanish-speaking families; also written Itzi.
- Itze — Informal, used mainly within the family; rarely written on documents.
- Chelo — Used occasionally through the Ixchel connection; more common among older speakers and not attached to Itzel everywhere.
Is it right for you
The differences that decide it, laid out by what you want
Choose by what you want
Choose Gwendolyn if you want…
- a name holding steadyGwendolyn is holding its place on the charts
- a name with more sound in itGwendolyn runs 3 syllables, Itzel 2
- plenty of nickname options5 recorded short forms — Gwen, Wendy and Lyn
- a long American recordGwendolyn was already in use when US records began in 1880
Choose Itzel if you want…
- a name on the way upup 209 places on the charts in five years
- a name with fewer syllablesItzel is 2 syllables to Gwendolyn's 3
- a newer arrivalItzel entered the US charts in 1977
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
Gwendolyn
Strengths
- Comes with Gwen already attached — a short form that has stood alone as a name for centuries, so the child has a formal and a casual option from day one.
- A documented line back to twelfth-century Welsh-Latin sources, plus a nineteenth-century literary record in English.
- Long, unbroken presence in American use rather than a recent arrival, so it is familiar to nearly everyone without being common in any classroom.
To consider
- Three spellings circulate — Gwendolyn, Gwendoline, Gwendolen — so expect to spell it out routinely, and to see the other two come back at you on forms and envelopes.
- The name is strongly represented among older generations in the US, which means some people will hear it as belonging to their grandmother's cohort rather than to a small child. That reading fades as fewer people hold that association.
- The gw- opening is unfamiliar outside Welsh and can get flattened to Gwen-do-line or Wendolyn by speakers of other languages.
Itzel
Strengths
- Short, two syllables, and spelled exactly as it sounds in Spanish — no silent letters and no competing spellings in wide use.
- Works in both Spanish and English mouths without changing form, which matters in bilingual families.
- Rooted in a documented Maya naming tradition rather than invented recently, so it has real history behind it.
To consider
- English speakers who have not met the name usually guess it-ZELL rather than eet-SEL. Both are in use, so decide early which one your family will answer to, because the correction is a lifelong small task otherwise.
- The meaning is genuinely unsettled. If you want a name whose translation you can state in one line to relatives, this one will always come with a footnote — and the popular 'rainbow lady' gloss is not something the Maya language supports.
- Over the phone it is often heard as Itzayana, Ixchel or Isabel, and the tz can come back written as ts or z.
Documented properties of each name — how it spells, travels and shortens — not opinions about the child.
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 Gwendolyn and Itzel in full.
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Decide together
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More head-to-heads
Same measures, different pair. Sixty more are dealt daily in the arena.
Lists these names appear on
- Long and elegant: names with room to breathe
- Midcentury modern: tomorrow's comeback bets
- Nine-letter names, the long end of the chart
- Welsh names beyond Dylan
- all guides
Where Gwendolyn and Itzel each sit in the library — alternatives in the same style, ranked by the same records.
Gwendolyn or Itzel — the short answers
- Which is more popular, Gwendolyn or Itzel?
- Itzel, in 2025: Itzel ranked #359 with 850 babies; Gwendolyn ranked #360 with 848 babies.
- Which name is rising faster, Gwendolyn or Itzel?
- Itzel. Over the last five years Gwendolyn moved up 18 places; Itzel moved up 209 places.
- Which is the older name, Gwendolyn or Itzel?
- Gwendolyn was already in use when US records began in 1880; Itzel entered the US charts in 1977. On the American record, Gwendolyn is the older name.
- How many people are named Gwendolyn and Itzel?
- About 88,500 people named Gwendolyn are estimated to be alive in the US today. About 21,000 people named Itzel are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- Will there be other Gwendolyns or Itzels in the classroom?
- Gwendolyn will almost certainly be the only one in school. Itzel 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
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