Gwendolyn is a Welsh name, usually explained as "white ring" or "blessed ring", from gwen, white or fair, and dolen, ring or bow. It appears in medieval legend as the name of Merlin's wife, and the poet Gwendolyn Brooks, the first Black writer to win a Pulitzer Prize, is its most notable American bearer. Gwendolyn has been in the US top 1000 throughout this century and reached number 360 in 2025, its best rank in that time.