Fun Facts About the Name Gwynevere
- 424 babies named Gwynevere: U.S. records list 424 babies given the name Gwynevere from 1880 through 2025.
What Does the Name Gwynevere Mean?
Gwynevere is a variant spelling of Guinevere, the English form of the Welsh name Gwenhwyfar. The Welsh name is normally analyzed as gwen ("white," "fair," "blessed") joined with hwyfar ("smooth," "soft"), so the literal sense is close to "smooth and fair" or "soft and white." A long-standing literary gloss is "white phantom" or "white shadow," which reads the second element as related to hwyf ("phantom," "spirit"). The "smooth, soft" explanation is the more common linguistic one; the "phantom" reading survives mainly as a customary poetic interpretation rather than as the primary etymology.
Gwynevere Name History & Origins
The earliest documented form of the name is the Welsh Gwenhwyfar, which appears in medieval Welsh prose and verse as the wife of Arthur, including the tale Culhwch and Olwen and the Welsh Triads. The name traveled into Latin and French: Geoffrey of Monmouth's Historia Regum Britanniae (c. 1136) gives the Latin form Guanhumara, and later French romances use Guenièvre. From these sources the English Guinevere developed.
Gwynevere is a respelling that keeps the English pronunciation while following the older Welsh look of the name with its -wy- and -evere pattern. It is an anglicized visual variant of Guinevere rather than a distinct medieval form. The same Welsh root lies behind other names: the Cornish development of Gwenhwyfar produced Jennifer, and the Italian Ginevra is another descendant.
How Popular is the Name Gwynevere?
Gwynevere has historically been an exceptionally rare given name in the United States, remaining well outside the national mainstream. It saw its highest recorded annual births in 2024. Its best rank was #2,976 in 2024.
U.S. name popularity from 1880-2025, based on SSA data. Rank shows how the name compares with other names - lower numbers mean greater popularity. Births shows how many babies received the name each year.
| Year | Rank | Births | % |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | #3,486 | 44 | 0.0027% |
| 2024 | #2,976 | 55 | 0.0034% |
| 2023 | #4,223 | 34 | 0.0021% |
| 2022 | #4,314 | 33 | 0.0020% |
| 2021 | #4,548 | 30 | 0.0018% |
| 2020 | #4,594 | 29 | 0.0018% |
| 2019 | #4,698 | 29 | 0.0017% |
| 2018 | #6,625 | 18 | 0.0011% |
| 2017 | #5,423 | 24 | 0.0014% |
| 2016 | #7,375 | 16 | 0.0009% |
| 2015 | #6,546 | 19 | 0.0011% |
| 2014 | #8,208 | 14 | 0.0008% |
| 2013 | #7,161 | 17 | 0.0010% |
| 2012 | #10,702 | 10 | 0.0006% |
| 2011 | #10,657 | 10 | 0.0006% |
| 2010 | #15,634 | 6 | 0.0003% |
| 2009 | #18,290 | 5 | 0.0003% |
| 2007 | #16,181 | 6 | 0.0003% |
| 2005 | #15,158 | 6 | 0.0003% |
| 2003 | #12,887 | 7 | 0.0004% |
| 2002 | #16,350 | 5 | 0.0003% |
| 1999 | #11,803 | 7 | 0.0004% |
Name popularity over more than a century, based on Social Security Administration data. Gaps in the chart indicate years when the name does not appear in the published records.
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How the Name Gwynevere Shapes Your Personality and Life?
You are introspective, prophetic, philosophical, and soul searching, but also can be analytical, critical and opinionated. You think deeply and clearly, have an air of mystery, can be solitary and secretive. You are inventive, intuitive and extremely methodical. Since your will is so strong, you are hard to convince. You also dislike advice. You love beauty and philosophy, and you desire achievement. You have a strong need for freedom - physical, mental and spiritual.
You are very intuitive. You have a reservoir of inspired wisdom combined with inherited analytical ability, which could reward you through expressions of spiritual leadership, business analysis, marketing, artistic visions, and scientific research. Operating on spiritual side of your individuality can bring you to the great heights, and drop you off if you neglect your spiritual identity. You are always looking for an opportunity to investigate the unknown, to use and show your mental abilities, to find the purpose and meaning of life. You want to grow wise and to understand people and things. You need privacy to replenish your energy. You have a unique way of thinking, intuitive, reflective, absorbing.
✦ Gwynevere's Deeper Meaning & Tips for Parents Discover Gwynevere's symbolic numbers and practical tips for choosing a name that complements your child's birth date.