This could be a winning pick for a boy – in more ways than one.

Thanks to Chanara for suggesting one from her own family tree. Our Name of the Day is Wynn.

Wynn is best known as a supporting player. He has two possible derivations:

  • The Welsh gwyn means fair and has led to the use of the elements gwyn and wyn in many a name. While the “y” skews feminine in the US, in Wales it is reserved for the boys – think Rhys or Bryn. He shows up at the end of names like Delwyn and Alwyn;
  • The Old English wine means friend. Think of Edwin or Alvin.

Spelling variants include Wyn and Wynne. It looks decidedly feminine with the “e” ending, but in fact all versions of this name are more common in the last spot than the first. Some Wynns are probably wearing a family surname.

This single-syllable name boasts two other possible meanings:

  • My knowledge of runes is slight, but I can’t resist mentioning wynn. While it looked like our modern P, wynn was the forerunner of the letter W. The rune denoted joy.
  • The word win derives from the Old English winnan – to strive or work for. It didn’t take on our modern meaning of triumph until the fourteenth century. While the word is not related to the name, if you can name your son Victor, why not Wynn?

Speaking of luck, fortune chose the right surname for Steve Wynn. During the 1990s, he was at the forefront of Las Vegas’ rebirth, building the Mirage, Treasure Island and the famous-for-fountains Bellagio. In the 2000s, he put his name on the Wynn Las Vegas Resort and Country Club, an ambitious five-star casino where you can buy a Ferrari or see Spamalot.

While Wynn has never appeared in the US Top 1000, the Toronto Star recently reported that a local couple recently named their daughter Wynn Victoria. Ryan and Sonja Taylor had originally planned to use the name for a son. You might wonder if they’ve heard of the casino. As it happens, they’ve been to Vegas, baby – that’s what inspired their choice.

While Wynn appears in the US census records, there haven’t been many notable bearers of the name. It was the surname of an aristocratic Welsh family. Their title died out in the eighteenth century when Sir John Wynn, 5th Baronet, died childless.

Spergon Wynn III is a former NFL quarterback. While his career fizzled, some remember him because he was one of several QBs drafted ahead of Tom Brady. Arthur Wynn invented the crossword puzzle back in 1913. And Angus Wynne Jr. founded the Six Flags amusement parks in the 1960s after a visit to Disneyland.

While Finn (#387) and Quinn (#265) gaining in popularity, it isn’t a stretch to imagine some parents considering the winning Wynn. Only trouble is, all three names could just as easily be worn by girls.

About Abby Sandel

Whether you're naming a baby, or just all about names, you've come to the right place! Appellation Mountain is a haven for lovers of obscure gems and enduring classics alike.

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8 Comments

  1. Steve Wynn of Las Vegas was not a Wynn. He changed his name. I contacted him relative to genetic interest of retinitis pigmentosa which my son has, and he has also. My mother was a Wynn. He replied that Wynn was not his birth name, that he had changed his name. I have the correspondence buried in paperwork, but just wanted to add this.

  2. There was a country singer in the 1960’s named Wynn Stewart. I like his music and the name just has a certain zing to it.

  3. Wow, I went out of town, and completely forgot my favorite name was NOtD! Anyway, Wynn has been my favorite name since I was 4. I have three reasons for this.
    1. There is a series out by a writer named Janette Oke (she wrote the famous Love Comes Softly series, which were made into Hallmark movies). Well this series is about a woman named Elizabeth and how she meets her future husband, Wynn, and he is a royal Canadian mountie and they go live in the northern canadian wilderness together, bringing help to destitute Indian tribes. Wynn in this book was the epitome of everything a man should be. He was kind and caring, charitable, sensitive, loving, just really the perfect man. He made me love his name, and hope that my son would have the same qualities of him.

    2. My great-great grandfather’s name was Wynn Charles, his son (my great-grandfather) was Arthur Wynn. It’s a family name to me, and I always really looked up to Wynn Charles and Arthur Wynn, as my dad has fond memories of them both, and always told me how brave, heroic, selfless, and kind people they were. He was disappointed that Wynn was not part of his name (he is Arthur though), and always wished that his son or grandson could have been named Wynn.

    3. About 5 year ago, I was working at the Wynn Hotel in Vegas (front desk), and I met a guy that was also working there, someone I thought was so handsome and sweet and romantic. That was my Erik. We actually had our first date in the ballroom at the Wynn hotel (it was all decorated for a wedding, very lush colors and decorations, very romantic), and during our date, we had our first kiss in the ballroom, and we shared our first dance (to my favorite song-Blackbird by the Beatles). So they Wynn Hotel is highly sentimental to me. We go there every year, and we are going to get married there one day in the same ballroom we shared our first kiss in. How’s that for romantic?

    So in conclusion, there has never been any doubt in my mind that my son would be called Wynn, and Erik is totally in love with the name too (he says it will be great if our son becomes a football player “Win, Wynn!” *eyeroll*). It’s probably one of the best names out there. It’s sensitive, sweet, and sentimental. It lends itself to the most adorable nicknames too. I can’t wait for my own little “wynnie the pooh” to get here!

  4. Wynn leans male to me, but I can see it as gender-neutral, not my cup o’ tea, but I can see it on a girl – (Wynnie as a diminutive, maybe?). Wynn makes me think of the Vegas hotel, but not so much that it dominates the name. In all, it’d not one for me, but it’s fine on someone else’s kid.

    1. I actually worked with a female Wynne, and I live across the street from a female Gwynne. So maybe that’s why this one seems gender neutral to me. How cool that you knew a Wynn, Ysa!

      Lola, isn’t that interesting! Funny how these things lodge in our heads. And JNE, I agree – I do think of the hotel, but not so much that it dominates the name.

      Let’s just hope we don’t meet any babies called Bellagio. 😉

  5. Wynn is cool with me. It’s light, breezy and fun. It does sound a bit feminine, but that may be why I like it, Give me a boys name that has a girly nickname or girly sound and I’m smitten.

    I too would hate to see Wynn on a girl, it may feel girly but it doesn’t sound girly! My mother always said, “just because you’re a girl doesn’t mean you can’t win, but don’t gloat, *that’s* not very ladylike” And Wynn on a girl feels like gloating to me (I know, I keep telling people I think funny sometimes) so I could never like this on a female. But on a guy, it’s quite charming indeed.

  6. I had a Wynn in my kindergarten class, and at the time I always thought it was odd that his parents had named him “Win!” It’s interesting to look back on how I thought of names as a little girl, but the ‘win’ issue doesn’t seem pretentious, or even an issue at all. Like you said, there are Victors out there, why not Wynns? Wynn is a cute [boys’] name! I’d hate for him to go the way of Quinn, it’s so hard to find boys’ names these days which haven’t transferred over to the opposite sex. Wynn is mellow brownish yellow, like honey. He’s not quite my style anymore, but I would’ve liked him a few years ago. I’d love to see him on a boy/teen/man! (Provided he’s male. I don’t think I can stress this enough.)