Winifred is the English form of the Welsh Gwenfrewi, made of gwen, "white" or "blessed", and frewi, "peace", so it is usually read as "blessed peace"; the spelling was later shaped by the Old English Winfrith, "friend of peace". Saint Winifred was a seventh-century Welsh maiden whose shrine at Holywell is still a place of pilgrimage. Winifred, a top 100 name a century ago, climbed from number 1447 in 2015 to number 1033 in 2024 and re-entered the top 1000 in 2025 at number 923.