Goodwin

Boys' name

Good + friend

Goodwin has been given to 256 babies in the U.S. since 1911. It was used fewer than 5 times in 2025, so it doesn't appear in the latest year's list — today it's a genuinely uncommon pick. Its peak year was 1918, with 18 recorded.

Babies named Goodwin, 2006

1 in 659,000

Goodwin over time, 1880–2025

Boys

Based on births in the U.S. Babies given the name each year. Hover the chart — or focus it and use the arrow keys — for any year. Gaps mean the name was given fewer than 5 times that year; these counts are unpublished.

Goodwin: meaning, origin, and history

Good + friend

Old English

What Goodwin means

Goodwin means “good + friend”, associated with gōd and wine.

Dictionary etymologyReferences, data & attribution

From Old English gōd (“good”) + wine (“friend”).

Excerpt from Wiktionary: Goodwin (English) · CC BY-SA 4.0

Wiktionary material is available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

Origin, language, and formation

Goodwin is used in English. Its origins include Old English.

Goodwin comes through Old English gōd.

Pronunciation and spelling

In English, Goodwin is pronounced /ˈɡʊdwɪn/.

American usage and historical context

In the United States, 256 boys were recorded with the name Goodwin between 1911 and 2006. Its highest annual count was 18 in 1918; its best national rank was #1,847 in 1911.

How common is Goodwin?

Goodwin had fewer than 5 recorded uses in 2025, so these figures use 2006, the last year it was published.

Among all babies, 2006: 1 in 659,000; 6 of 3,956,166 births
Among boys only: 1 in 343,000; <0.01% of boys
Rank, 2006: Unranked; Fewer than 5 uses
Coin-flip room size: 457,035 kids; Even odds of a second one

Where Goodwin sits on the popularity scale

Rarest published (5 a year)#1 — Liam (20,818)

Chance at least one other child shares the name

If the other children were drawn at random from the 2006 national name distribution. Real classrooms cluster by region and community, so treat these as a floor, not a ceiling.

Class of 20Under 1%

Class of 30Under 1%

Grade of 100Under 1%

School of 500Under 1%

Put another way: gather 457,035 children born in 2006 and it's an even bet that one of them is another Goodwin. In a class of 30 the chance is Under 1%.

When Goodwins were born

Half of everyone ever recorded as Goodwin was born before 1922 — so the typical Goodwin is around 103 today.

Median birth year: 1922; About 103 years old
Biggest decade: 1920s; 42.6% of all use
Born in the last 25 years: 2.3%; Mostly a past generation
Recorded since 1950: 24; People you could plausibly meet

Choose a decade

1920s — 42.6% of all recorded uses (109).

Is Goodwin rising or falling?

Rank movement and count movement can disagree — the number of distinct names in use keeps growing, so a name holding a steady count still slides down the list. Both are shown.

Rank vs 1 year ago: —; Not ranked then
Rank vs 5 years ago: New entry; Not ranked then
Rank vs 10 years ago: —; Not ranked then
Births vs 10 years ago: —; Not published both years
Share of its own peak: 0%; Peak was 1918 (18)
Years since peak: 107; Years
Year-to-year steadiness: Shifting; 21.0% average annual change
Best rank ever: #1,847; 1911

Spellings of Goodwin

Goodwin is not the most common spelling — Godwin is, with 69.3% against Goodwin's 30.7%.

Godwin69.3%578
Goodwin30.7%256

Grouped by closeness of spelling (up to two letter changes), same sex, with a floor on all-time use. It catches Sophia/Sofia and Aiden/Ayden, and misses spellings that sound alike but look different, like Sean and Shawn.

Goodwin around the world

Where Goodwin ranks in official birth records elsewhere in the world. Rankings only — the number of births isn’t comparable between places, so it isn’t shown.

South Australia
1972–1972
#479
in 1972

Popularity data from Consumer and Business Services (South Australia). CBS SA data under CC BY 4.0.

Goodwin by the numbers

The raw record for each sex the name is used for.

As a boy's name

Rank in 2025: Unranked
Trend vs 5 yrs ago: —
Best rank ever: #1,847; 1911
Peak year: 1918; 18 that year
First recorded: 1911
Last recorded: 2006
All-time count: 256
Count in 2025: Under 5

Names similar to Goodwin

Matched on shared beginnings and endings, similar length, and comparable popularity.

Chadwin Ludwin Arwin Rowin Godwin Lewin Yashwin Oswin Baldwin Audwin Marwin Owin Goodman Dorwin Aldwin Sherwin Kelwin Alwin Durwin Ashwin Kerwin Gladwin Eldwin Norwin

Sibling names for Goodwin

Names from the same era and popularity tier — the two things that make a sibling set feel deliberate — skipping lookalike spellings and shared initials.

For a sister

Winnifred Johnie Ray Lida Maybelle Floy Mathilda Verda

For a brother

Valentine Ellsworth Orval Buster Sol Omer Ferdinand Regis

Explore around Goodwin

Top names of 1918, Goodwin's peak year The 1910s in full Other names that peaked in 1911 Boys' names starting with G Old English Boy Names