But then the girl began to hear the name every day at work. A co-worker, it seemed, bore the name and everybody knew her. They would say, “[name]Gwen[/name] did this.” “That was [name]Gwen[/name].” “[name]Gwen[/name] is good at this.” “[name]Gwen[/name] helped with that.” [name]Every[/name] day, for weeks and weeks. Then one day the girl thought about the names she liked because even though there is one in particular that she loves, her family does not feel the same, so she went over her list yet again. The girl came to the names [name]Guinevere[/name], and [name]Gwendolyn[/name]. Two gorgeous names, and reverted back to their adorable nick name… [name]Gwen[/name]. The girl cringed. Why? [name]Gwen[/name] was a nice name. A happy name. A name that was both spunky and girly… and then it occurs to the girl… [name]Gwen[/name] is a name that when said silently in the heart and mind, sounds fairy tale like, but to the ears… sounds like a troll. The girl realized that the name [name]Gwen[/name], though never used in a negative way, sounded negative every time it was said. [name]Gwen[/name], the girl realized, sounds like it belongs to a mean person. The girl realized there is a moral to this story… Before you attach yourself to a name, try and get a real life sense of the name. The girl now knows she would have regretted giving a future daughter the name [name]Gwen[/name] and it would have been a nightmare.
The end.
I think most of us have a name that we loved in childhood that we would never use now. I always named my dolls [name]Emily[/name] [name]Madison[/name] and thought it was the greatest name in the world as a child/young teen, but now I kind of hate it.
lol no, this is a story about me recently. lol I really liked the name [name]Gwen[/name] a lot for the last few years, but i’ve never known anyone named [name]Gwen[/name]. I don’t really even know this girl, I’ve never even seen her face, i just hear her name a lot, and the way it sounds out loud said by several different people is just rough. Weird, but totally 100% true!
I love [name]Gwen[/name] names! Especially [name]Gwendolyn[/name]. If you still like the [name]Gwen[/name] names you could still use them, with a different nn, maybe? [name]Neve[/name] or [name]Vera[/name] for [name]Guinevere[/name], or [name]Winnie[/name] or [name]Leni[/name] or [name]Wendy[/name] (or even [name]Dylan[/name]) for [name]Gwendolyn[/name]? Or [name]Nora[/name] for [name]Gwenore[/name]? Honestly, [name]Gwendolyn[/name] has been a favorite of mine since middle school, and the troll thing/negativity thing doesn’t factor in for me at all. I think [name]Gwendolyn[/name] is lovely! I would probably use [name]Winnie[/name] and [name]Leni[/name] with more frequency than [name]Gwen[/name], I just like them more–but I do love [name]Gwen[/name] and would probably use it still. 
If my husband didn’t like my actual short list, I’d offer up [name]Gwendolyn[/name] in a heartbeat–I can easily see me with a [name]Gwendolyn[/name], just not to the extent I can see me with an [name]Isabelle[/name].
I feel just the opposite about [name]Gwen[/name], although I prefer [name]Gwendolen[/name] sp and Guin for [name]Guinevere[/name]. I was best friends with a [name]Gwen[/name] in middle school and everyone was jealous of her name. She looked exactly like you’d picture a young Welsh princess in medieval times. So maybe I’m biased. Also, [name]Gwen[/name] in my area is prn. a lot like [name]Jen[/name], if that makes any difference.
[name]Gwenith[/name] is beautiful and sounds like it would be in a fairytale. Another name that I thought sounded like [name]Gwen[/name] was [name]Quinn[/name], but [name]Quinn[/name] isn’t as magical sounding as [name]Gwenith[/name].
My niece’s name is Gw€nd0lyn, nicknamed Gw€n (sorry, i worry about the fact that everyone can see my posts and all my info without even having to be a nameberry member themselves).
Anyway, pretty much everywhere we go people hear her name and gush about how beautiful it is. She’s past toddler-age and we still get those comments.
Sounds like you may have name fatigue from hearing it so often!
I don’t know! I thought it the first time I heard them say it. It really doesn’t have anything magical for me. But it could just be a personal thing. Plus i am in the Mid-west, and it could be an accent thing. I don’t know. But It goes to show that you really need to hear a name out loud before you decide. LOL I am just as shocked as all of you that I feel this way! 
What about [name]Gwyn[/name]? it is pronounced the same way
Oh hey that’s my name.
I feel almost totally opposite about it. I really like [name]Gwen[/name]-- it feels uncomplicated but unique, feminine and grounded, ancient but not stodgy, and totally me. I’m definitely biased, but I can’t imagine a mean [name]Gwen[/name] (I’ve only met one other one and she was a bit…sad, but not at all mean-spirited.) [name]Gwendolyn[/name], on the other hand, feels kind of aloof and posh and very un-me.
I get interesting reactions to my name. A Hispanic cashier who I’m guessing had never heard it before took one look at my ID and burst out laughing (I get it. It doesn’t translate into Spanish well at all and it’s an odd collection of letters.) Another cashier told me it was gorgeous and she’d almost used it for her daughter. [name]One[/name] of my friends wants to name his future daughter [name]Gwen[/name] because he loves the name so much.
Maybe it’s the pronunciation that bothers you? If you’re in the midwest it probably sounds like ‘[name]Gwin[/name]’ (incidentally, I can’t stand it when people pronounce my name that way.)
Oh and just to be clear, this wasn’t really about bashing the name [name]Gwen[/name], but rather to talk about hearing names used in real life, versus just in your head. LOL In my head [name]Gwen[/name] is awesome. Out loud, for some reason, it doesn’t work. Same thing happens with lots of names for me, but I was really surprised about [name]Gwen[/name].