Comments for the name Gwendolen

She was also a great character in Oscar Wilde's play, "The Importance of Being Ernest."

The element "dolen" can mean "bow, circle" as well as "ring". This could have originally referred to the moon ("white circle"). A beautiful name.

Gwendolen is such a beautiful, Welsh name. I also like Gwendolyn.

I love this name and I prefer this spelling to Gwendolyn. I also like that "Gwen" could be used as a nickname.

Gwendolen Harleth is a character in George Eliot's novel Daniel Deronda.

The more I look at this spelling, the more I like it. I plan on naming my next daughter Gwendolen. It's such a beautiful and magical name.

Fun! Are you going to use Wendy as a nickname (I just think it's cute)

Gwendolen Chant is a character in Diana Wynne Jones' book Charmed Life, and she's horrible. There's also another horrible Gwendolen in Enid Blyton's Malory Towers series (actually Gwendoline Mary). Consequently, I don't like the name much.

I really like this spelling of the name. Gwendolyn is pretty, too, but I prefer Gwendolen. Also, Gwen is a pretty diminuitive.

This name stops sounding good to me after the first syllable, but of course girls with this name are going to be called Gwen anyway.

Gwendolyn is my name and I go by Gwen most of the time! I'm rarely called Gwendolyn unless I meet someone new. I really love my name and I feel quite special inheriting the name from my grandmother.

I really like this name, but after 'Gwen' the name starts to rush.

In Geoffrey of Monmouth's Historia Regum Britanniae, Gwendolen is a queen who goes to war with her husband after he betrays her for another woman. She wins, buries her dead husband, kills the other woman and the woman's daughter, and proceeds to rule with wisdom and kindness. Some Arthurian legends also give Merlin a wife named Gwendolen. I love this name, though I prefer it spelled -lyn rather than -len. I'm a sucker for Gwen names.

I think this name is very pretty! The nickname Gwen is nice too, but I just find the full name Gwendolen is so beautiful. But no one can really help nicknames from eventually appearing.

I used to hate it, but now I think it's absolutely beautiful.

I really like this name, whether it's spelled Gwendolen or Gwendolyn. It's beautiful and feminine and classic, and it makes me think of a beautiful character that you would find in a whimsical fairy tale. I hate the nickname Gwen, though. It makes my skin crawl!

I love this name and other "Gwen" names! And I think Gwen is a good nickname, but Wendy could be cute, too.

I certainly have a soft spot for Welsh names, "Gwendolen" being on the list. While, no, I do not believe it to be the most pleasing to the ear, it still possesses an odd classic, old-world, cosmopolitan charm that I respect. I would never choose it for my child (of course, if I were married my spouse would have some say in it)... there is something about the "-dolen" that throws me off horribly (as I said: lacks desirability to the ear).