The Gwinn surname

In the 2010 U.S. Census, 4,852 people carried this name — #6,915 among all U.S. surnames, about 1 in every 61,000 people counted. That is up 5% from 4,625 in 2000.

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What the name means

The meaning of the Gwinn surname

As an English and Welsh surname

Bardsley classes it as a nickname: ‘the white’.

His entry covers Gwinn, Gwyn, Gwynn and Gwynne.

From Charles W. Bardsley, A Dictionary of English and Welsh Surnames, with Special American Instances (London: Henry Frowde, 1901), p. 345 · public domain.

In print

Gwinn in American newspapers,
1896–1922.

Newspaper page from Decorah-posten carrying the name Gwinn
Decorah-posten 1896-12-18
Newspaper page from Decorah-posten carrying the name Gwinn
Decorah-posten 1896-12-25
Newspaper page from The Columbia Evening Missourian carrying the name Gwinn
The Columbia Evening Missourian 1922-11-11

Chronicling America, Library of Congress — digitised newspapers in the public domain · 27,312 pages in all carry the name.

In print

Gwinn in Australian newspapers,
1860s–1950s.

121 articles name a Mr, Mrs or Miss Gwinn. The most, 31, date from the 1900s. New South Wales has the most articles, but weighed against how much of each state’s press from the same decades has been digitised, the name stands out most in South Australia, at 2.1 times its expected share.

Articles, by state

New South Wales 44
South Australia 30
Victoria 29
Queensland 12
Western Australia 3
Tasmania 2
ACT (Canberra) 1

Trove, National Library of Australia (trove.nla.gov.au) · articles in its digitised newspapers that name a Mr, Mrs or Miss Gwinn.

Who carried it

People named Gwinn,
with a public archive behind them.

  • Mary Mackall Gwinn
    Mary Mackall Gwinn 1860–1940 · university teacher
  • Ralph W. Gwinn
    Ralph W. Gwinn 1884–1962 · writer
  • Donald Gwinn
    Donald Gwinn 1902–1961 · hammer thrower
  • Hugh Gwyn 1590– · tradesperson
  • Matilda Elizabeth Bowie Johnson Gwinn 1829–1911
  • D. Howard Gwinn 1857–1938 · writer

Wikidata (CC0) · portraits via Wikimedia Commons, shown cropped, in the public domain or CC0 · 10 lives in all are documented under this name.

In the public record

People named Gwinn,
in the records of 5 countries.

Soldiers, farmers, migrants and neighbours who carried the name and left a trace in public archives. Everyone shown here died long ago or was born more than a century ago.

United States298 records

298 records of the Gwinn name in the United States
  • U.S. Army enlistment records, World War II 176
  • U.S. veterans' cemetery records, burials to 2001 52
  • New York City birth, marriage and death certificates 20
  • U.S. alien registration index, 1940–1955 15
  • Passenger arrivals in the United States, 1820–1912 11
  • New York State death index (outside NYC), 1957–2001 11
  • Sacramento County historic burials 8
  • Irish Famine arrivals at New York, 1846–1851 2
  • U.S. service members who died in the Vietnam War 2
  • U.S. service members who died in the Korean War 1
  1. Names engraved on the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, Washington, D.C.
    Example: U.S. war memorial
    War record Vance W. Gwinn

    Born 1927; from Gaines County, Texas. U.S. Army, heavy weapons infantryman; killed in action 1950 in South Korea. Buried at Fort Sam Houston National Cemetery, Texas.

    U.S. National Archives, Defense Casualty Analysis System (public domain); U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, Gravesite Locator (CC0)
  2. A United States Selective Service registration card, 1942
    Example: U.S. registration card, 1942
    Military record Jewel Gwinn

    Born 1919 in Tennessee. Enlisted 1942 at Camp Forrest, from Shelby County. U.S. Army veteran of World War II; died 1984, buried at Memphis National Cemetery, Tennessee.

    U.S. National Archives, WWII Army Enlistment Records (public domain); U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, Gravesite Locator (CC0)
  3. A passenger manifest of the S.S. St. Paul, arriving at New York in 1903
    Example: passenger manifest, 1903
    Passenger record Jane Gwinn

    Arrived at Boston in 1850 aboard the Caroline from Westport, aged 60; servant. From Ireland.

    U.S. National Archives, Castle Garden Immigration Center Collection, Ship Passenger Records (unrestricted)

Showing 3 of 298 records for Gwinn in the United States.

Counts: U.S. National Archives, WWII Army Enlistment Records (public domain) · U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, Gravesite Locator (CC0) · NYC Department of Records & Information Services, Historical Vital Records (NYC Open Data) · U.S. National Archives, Flexoline Index Data File (public domain) · U.S. National Archives, Castle Garden Immigration Center Collection, Ship Passenger Records (unrestricted) · New York State Department of Health, Genealogical Research Death Index · Sacramento County, Historic Burials (CC BY 4.0) · U.S. National Archives, Famine Irish Passenger Records (public domain) · U.S. National Archives, Defense Casualty Analysis System (public domain). Example pages, not the records of the people shown: Vietnam Veterans Memorial, photo by U.S. Army Sgt. 1st Class Michael J. Carden, 2009 (public domain); U.S. Selective Service registration card, 1942 (public domain); Passenger manifest of the S.S. St. Paul, New York, 1903 (public domain).

Canada77 records

77 records of the Gwinn name in Canada
  • Nova Scotia Archives name indexes 74
  • Canadian Virtual War Memorial 1
  • Mountain View Cemetery, Vancouver 1
  • War Office casualty lists, 1917–1919, among the dead 1
  1. A page of the Berlin civil register, 1880
    Example: civil register, 1880
    Death record Archibald Howard Gwinn

    Died 1959 in St Peters, Richmond, Nova Scotia.

    Nova Scotia Archives. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence - Nova Scotia.
  2. Fairview Lawn Cemetery in Halifax, Nova Scotia
    Example: Canadian cemetery
    Burial record Cecil Douglas Gwinn

    Died 1947; buried at Mountain View Cemetery, Vancouver, British Columbia.

    City of Vancouver. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence – Vancouver.
  3. A Canadian First World War grave register card for a soldier who died of wounds in 1917
    Example: Canadian war grave register, 1917
    War record James Matthew Gwinn

    Died in service in 1918.

    Veterans Affairs Canada. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence - Canada.

Showing 3 of 77 records for Gwinn in Canada.

Counts: Nova Scotia Archives. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence - Nova Scotia. · Veterans Affairs Canada. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence - Canada. · City of Vancouver. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence – Vancouver. · National Library of Scotland, War Office Weekly Casualty Lists (public domain). Example pages, not the records of the people shown: Civil register, Berlin, 1880, Landesarchiv Berlin (CC0); Fairview Lawn Cemetery, Halifax, photo by Edgar El (CC BY 3.0); Canadian First World War circumstances-of-death register (scan by Scottgraham87 via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0).

Australia3 records

3 records of the Gwinn name in Australia
  • NSW convict, estate and railway indexes 1
  • Tasmanian Names Index 1
  • Victoria passenger lists, 1839–1923 1
  1. An 1829 etching of convicts being rowed out to the prison ship York in Portsmouth Harbour
    Pictured: convicts going on board a prison ship, 1829
    Transportation record Samuel Gwinn

    Transported to New South Wales aboard the Bangalore, arriving 1850.

    Museums of History NSW – State Archives Collection (CC BY)
  2. A page of the Berlin civil register, 1880
    Example: civil register, 1880
    Death record John Gwinn

    Died 1885 in Hobart, Tasmania, aged 60.

    Libraries Tasmania, Tasmanian Names Index (CC BY 4.0)

Showing 2 of 3 records for Gwinn in Australia.

Counts: Museums of History NSW – State Archives Collection (CC BY) · Libraries Tasmania, Tasmanian Names Index (CC BY 4.0) · Public Record Office Victoria (CC BY 4.0). Example pages, not the records of the people shown: Prison-ship in Portsmouth Harbour, with the convicts going on board, etching by Edward William Cooke, 1829, Royal Museums Greenwich (public domain); Civil register, Berlin, 1880, Landesarchiv Berlin (CC0).

France1 record

1 record of the Gwinn name in France France's national death register, 1970–2001
  1. A page of the death register of Nice, 1930
    Example: French death register, 1930
    Death record Anne Chesley Gwinn

    Born 1911 in the United States; died 1991 in Chambéry (Savoie).

    Insee, Fichier des personnes décédées (Licence Ouverte)

Counts: Insee, Fichier des personnes décédées (Licence Ouverte). Example pages, not the records of the people shown: Death register of Nice, 1930, Archives départementales des Alpes-Maritimes (public domain).

Germany1 record

1 record of the Gwinn name in Germany Germany's First World War casualty lists, 1914–1919
  1. A page of the German First World War casualty lists, 18 April 1918
    Example: German casualty list, 1918
    Casualty list Franz Gwinn

    From Vesperbild, Schwaben. Reported wounded in the Bavarian casualty list of 5 June 1918.

    Verein für Computergenealogie e.V. (2026). Deutsche Verlustlisten des Ersten Weltkriegs – Datensammlung (Version 1.0), DOI 10.5281/zenodo.18330751 (CC0)

Counts: Verein für Computergenealogie e.V. (2026). Deutsche Verlustlisten des Ersten Weltkriegs – Datensammlung (Version 1.0), DOI 10.5281/zenodo.18330751 (CC0). Example pages, not the records of the people shown: Deutsche Verlustlisten, Prussian list 1116, 18 April 1918 (scan via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 3.0).

Nearby in the index

Surnames next to Gwinn.

When the index is not enough

This page says where Gwinn is.
A volume says what happened to it.

Every page in the index is free and stays free. The Heritage Volume is the long form: the full paper trail, the arms, the crossing — bound, and yours.

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