Gwendolyn

Meaning: (Fair, Blessed, White Browed, Fair Brow, White Circle, White Ring, Blessed Ring, White Bow, English variant of the Welsh Gwendolen (Fair-Browed), a compound name composed of the elements Gwen, Gwyn (Fair, White, Blessed) and Dolen (Brows, Eyebrows), In some legends, Merlin the magician has a wife named Gwendolyn. The variant Wendy is much more common. The name Gwendolyn is a modification of the name Guendoloena, a fictional queen in the Historia Regum Britanniae written by Geoffrey of Monmouth in 1135. Geoffrey also used the name in his Vita Merlini to refer to a different character, Merlin's wife; the metre shows that he pronounced the name as a pentasyllable, Guĕndŏlŏēnă, with the "gu" pronounced "gw". Spelled Gwendoloena, the name appears as that of Arthur's queen Guinevere in the Latin romance De Ortu Waluuanii. Arthur Hutson has suggested that Geoffrey misread the masculine Old Welsh name Guendoleu as Guendolen, and then chose to Latinize it. The first records of a real person being named Gwendolen appear in the 19th century. Gwendoline was in use in England in the 1860s, and Gwendolen appeared in Daniel Deronda, written by George Eliot and published in serialized form 1874-6.)

Origin: (Welsh, Irish)

Pronunciation: (GWEHN-də-lin, GWYN-doh-lin, GWEN-duh-luhn)

Gender: Female

I was reading or watching something the other day and it had this name. I have seen it before. I have names similar on my blog. The name is pretty and has good beautiful meanings. A short nickname for such a long name can be Gwen, Dolyn, Dol, and Gwenny. The name is old fashioned but a good alternative to the more popular Guinevere.