Gwenda
Feminine · “fair and good”
Gwenda looks ancient and is not. It is a Welsh name built from Welsh elements according to Welsh rules, which makes it entirely legitimate, but it was assembled in the twentieth century rather than inherited from the medieval poets. Wales has been making new names out of old parts for a long time, and this is one of them.
How old is the name Gwenda?
Gwenda first appears in US birth records in 1921 — 104 years ago. The typical Gwenda alive today was born around 1954, making them about 71 years old. About 1,700 people named Gwenda are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Gwenda most popular?
Gwenda peaked in 1952, reaching #884 nationally. See the whole 1952 chart.
Where it comes from
From Gwen to Gwenda
The story of Gwenda
The second element is doing more than decorating. Da is one of the commonest words in Welsh, the plain everyday adjective for good, and it turns up in greetings and in the names of things constantly. Joining it to the element meaning fair or blessed produces a compound that a Welsh speaker reads instantly and completely, with no archaism and nothing to look up. That is unusual for a name. Most compounds of this kind contain at least one element that has dropped out of the living language and survives only inside names, which is why they need explaining. This one does not: it is made entirely of words still in daily use.
Meaning
fair and good
Two Welsh words joined. The first is the familiar element that opens Gwendolen and Gwyneth. The second is the ordinary Welsh adjective for good, which is where the name's second half comes from and why it is shorter than its relatives.
How the name formed
- Gwen
- Gwenda
Related forms: Gwenda
Pronouncing Gwenda
GWEN-duh
Two syllables with the stress at the front. Welsh says it the same way, which is not always true of Welsh names in English mouths.
Nicknames for Gwenda
Moderate
What the data says
146 years of official birth records
The long climb, and where it stands now
The same years in position rather than babies
- First recorded
- 1921
- Most girls named
- 1952109 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #884reached in 1952
- Change vs 2012
- +20.0%6 in 2018, from 5
Rank is a position, a count is a headcount, and they move independently — a name can hold its rank while the number of babies behind it falls. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration.
Gwenda in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Gwenda in Welsh — same name
Gwendas among us
people named Gwenda are estimated to be alive in the US today
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Is it right for you
Questions parents actually ask
Fashion outlook
Gwenda sits outside the current charts, and that is its own kind of answer: naming cycles can only date the names they carried up. A name this rare has no decade stamped on it — it cannot go out of fashion, because it was never in.
Based on 146 years of naming cycles. How we read them
The trade-off
- Both elements are living Welsh words, so the meaning is transparent to anyone who speaks it.
- Gwen sits inside it as a short form that stands entirely on its own.
- It is easy for English speakers to say correctly on the first attempt.
- It is a modern coinage, and any page presenting it as medieval is overstating the case.
- Gwenda, Gwennda and Gwendy all appear, and the spelling gets queried.
- It is closely tied to the middle decades of the last century in American use.
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Gwenda
Feminine
Frequently asked
- How many Gwendas are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 1,700 people named Gwenda are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Gwenda in 2025?
- Gwenda is rarely given in the US today — it does not rank in the top 2000 girl names.
- Will my child share the name Gwenda with classmates?
- Gwenda will almost certainly be the only one in school.
More G names
The most-given names starting with G, all years combined.
Grace#38 · Gloria#654 · Gladys#3211 · Geraldine#2438 · Gail#8362 · Gertrude#6546 · Georgia#99 · Gina#2076
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Gwenda? See the current top 100.
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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