Gwendolen - Meaning of Gwendolen
What does Gwendolen mean?
[ 3 syll. gwen-do-len, gw-endol-en ] The baby girl name Gwendolen is pronounced in English as GWEHN-Dah-LihN †. Gwendolen's language of origin is Welsh. It is predominantly used in English and Welsh. The name Gwendolen means 'white circle, moon'. It is derived from gwen which means 'white, fair, blessed, holy' ; dolen '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, Gwynn, Gwynne, Wenda, Wendie, Wendoline, and Wendolyn. Other English forms include the contracted forms Gwen (used in Welsh too) and Gwenda, the diminutive 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).
See also the related categories, medieval, moon, blessed (holy), english, circle, fair, wife (sister), goddess, and welsh.
Gwendolen is an uncommon baby girl name. It is not in the top 1000 names. In 2018, among the family of girl names directly related to Gwendolen, Gwendolyn was the most popular.
Baby names that sound like Gwendolen include Gwendolyn, Gwendolyne, Gwendolynn, Gwendaline, and Gwendoline.
† Pronunciation for Gwendolen: G as in "grin (G.R.IH.N)" ; W as in "we (W.IY)" ; EH as in "ebb (EH.B)" ; N as in "knee (N.IY)" ; D as in "day (D.EY)" ; AH as in "mud (M.AH.D)" ; L as in "lay (L.EY)" ; IH as in "it (IH.T)"
A famous person named Gwendolen is Painter, Gwen John, born Gwendolen Mary John 22 June 1876 - 18 September 1939, Haverfordwest, Wales.
Gwendolen Popularity Charts
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