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Prefer Gwendolen

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To me, the spelling Gwendolen looks neater. I still like that it's both a name with a lot of history, but with a ton of personality and not out of place in the modern world.

I love Gwendolyn. It is one of my favorites, and I agree that the nick names Gwen and Wendy are charming.

I too have really fallen for Gwendolen (though I prefer the E spelling.) It's beautiful and uncommon. I'm not as keen on the nicknames, though.

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I think Gwendolyn and Josephine make a nice sibset. They're both three syllables but distinct enough to make their own impressions.

I don't like Gwendolyn, and I'm not sure why. I adore Gwen. It's simple, no-nonsense and earthy. I love the name Guinevere, though, partially due to my love of Authrian tales. Gwendolyn is fast preferable to Gwyneth, though.

I love this name but would spell it Gwendolen if I used it, because I believe that's more authentically Welsh. All versions are beautiful, though. I knew a lovely lady called Violet Gwendoline and thought how pretty the combo is.

I love Gwendolyn, but I have a STRONG dislike of -lyn ending names, so I prefer the spelling Gwendolen. I think it has a soft, femininity with a hidden strength. I like Gwendolen & Josephine as sisters.

Looking at your poll results Josephine and Gwendolyn wasn't that ill received, it was just skewed downward since there was only one 5. Basically what you got were 22 people saying yes to the set and 14 saying no or that they just weren't feeling it. Having people rate a name or set with numbers is pretty vague and you didn't give clear meanings to the numbers. Everyone rates differently. It's why I use a clearly worded scoring system instead of numbers that I "developed" over the course of about five years. I used to be a somewhat regular poster here but needed a break and then decided to start anew. lol But I digress...

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I am not a huge fan of the sister set Josephine and Gwendolyn. The nicknames Posy and Gwen does strike my fancy though. It would be the one reason I'd be excited about the set. I just don't put Josephine and Gwendolyn in the same category of names. Also, Gwendolyn is not an attractive name to me. I don't like it's shape. Gwendolen appeals more.

I like Gwendolyn. I like Gwendolen even more, because the -lyn part seems dated to me, and makes me think of -lyn endings on names like Jerilyn and Gracelyn. I don't think of it as classical, but it's heroic-ish and that's as good. Gwendolen seems crisp and friendly and, yeah, pretty but pretty like green leaves or shiny agates, rather than pretty like phlox or lace. I like Gwen more than Wendy - Wendy is childish to me. Gwen is youthful but not childish.

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I don't think Josephine goes with Gwendolyn at all. That might be part of why the sister set didn't poll well - it's a clash. Gwendolen is an originally feminine hero-name and slightly "exotic" due to the Welsh Gw-. Josephine is just a really common male Biblical name with a feminizing ending qualifying it, super conservative and somewhat prissy IMHO.

I'm confused as to why you don't like that the set of Gwendolyn and Josephine did well on your polls??

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I love Gwendolyn, though I slightly prefer the spelling Gwendolen. It's witchy and smart and sexy in a no-nonsense way.