Wenna

Church of St Wenn, Cornwall

Lately I'm sweet on this wee old Cornish form of Gwen. Evocative of tender, fey Wendy and hearty Edwardian Winifred, it conjures up visions of sunny pastoral frolick'ry and generally slower, simpler times.

Wenna is a vernacular form of the Cymric classic Gwen, which means "white, fair, blessed". It comes to us from the Cornish—those same Celts who famously reinterpreted the related Welsh name Gwenhwyfar as Jennifer.