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 [ syll. gwen-do-len, gw-endol-en ] The girl name Gwendolen is pronounced GWEHNDOWLahN KEY. Gwendolen's language of origin is Welsh. It is predominantly used in English and Welsh. The name Gwendolen means 'white circle, moon'. Derived from gwen which means 'white, fair, blessed, holy' ; dolen which means 'ring, bow'. The name was borne by a moon goddess in medieval legend. It was also the name of the wife of the legendary King Locrinus of the Britons, as accounted by Geoffrey of Monmouth. In Arthurian legend, it was borne by the wife of Merlin the sorcerer. It was later made known as the name of a central character in the Oscar Wilde play The Importance of Being Earnest (1895), leading to its popularity with English speakers in the 19th century. Gwendolen has 26 forms. Forms of the name include Guendolen (used in Welsh too), Gwena, Gwendaly, Gwendela, Gwendeth, Gwendi, Gwendolin (used in German and Welsh too), Gwendoly, Gwendolyne (used in Welsh too), Gwendolynn, Gwenna, Gwinn, Gwyneth (used in Welsh too), Gwynn, Gwynne, Wenda, Wendie, Wendoline, and Wendolyn. Other English forms include the short forms Gwen (used in Welsh too) and Gwenda, the pet form Wendy (used in Dutch and German too), and the spelling variants Gwendaline, Gwendalyn, Gwendoline (used in French, German, and Welsh too), and Gwendolyn (used in Welsh too). Gwendolen is an uncommon baby girl name. It is not in the top 1000 names. In 2008, among the family of girl names directly related to Gwendolen, the Dutch, English, and German Wendy was the most popular. Baby names that sound like Gwendolen include the English and Welsh Guendolen, the English Gwendaline, the English Gwendalyn, the English, German, and Welsh Gwendolin, the English, French, German, and Welsh Gwendoline, the English and Welsh Gwendolyn, the English and Welsh Gwendolyne, and the English Gwendolynn. A famous person named Gwendolen is Painter, Gwen John, born Gwendolen Mary John 22 June 1876 - 18 September 1939, Haverfordwest, Wales. KEY: approx pronunciation for Gwendolen: G as in "green (G.R.IY.N)" ; W as in "we (W.IY)" ; EH as in "Ed (EH.D)" ; N as in "knee (N.IY)" ; D as in "dee (D.IY)" ; OW as in "oat (OW.T)" ; L as in "lee (L.IY)" ; AH as in "hut (HH.AH.T)" ; N as in "knee (N.IY)"   |
