View Message

This is a reply within a larger thread: view the whole thread

[Opinions] Re: Top Ten for May
From your top 10 I like Beatrice, Frances, Gwendolyn (prefer Gwendolen or Gwendoline), Martha, Alastair, Arthur, Frederick, George and Henry.From your combos list I also like Ada, Anna, Evadne, Saskia, Iris, Vivien, Anthony and Samuel.
Archived Thread - replies disabled
vote up1

Replies

I'm really on the fence about Gwendolyn versus Gwendolen - I want to like the -en ending best, because I know that's the traditional female spelling, but Gwendolyn is the one that looks the most classic to me.
vote up1
Yeah, I would also assume that Gwendolyn is the most commonly used and thus the most classic spelling, but I was interested to see that on this unofficial list of 'most popular names in England and Wales in 1890', Gwendoline is ranked #112 and Gwendolen #198, whereas Gwendolyn doesn't appear on it at all: http://www.britishbabynames.com/blog/2012/09/top-200-most-popular-names-in-england-and-wales-in-1890.html Maybe the Gwendolyn spelling was/is more popular in the US?
vote up1