Around the world
Guides or Girl Scouts?
Why some countries say "Guides", others say "Girl Scouts", and why the world association uses both.
The first British girls in the movement called themselves Girl ScoutsWhat girls in early British patrols called themselves in 1908–09, before the Guide scheme. The American organisation, founded as Girl Guides in 1912, took the name Girl Scouts in 1913; several national organisations use it today.: at the Crystal Palace rally in 1909 they were “proclaiming to be Girl Scouts”. When a separate scheme was organised for them, it used the name “GuidesA member of the main Guiding section. In the UK today, Guides are aged 10–14. The name came from the Corps of Guides, a regiment on the North-West Frontier of British India, which Robert Baden-Powell praised for its "handiness and resourcefulness".”, and the Girl Guides were formally founded in 1910.[1]
Two names, one association
On 12 March 1912 Juliette Gordon Low registered the first American troop, as Girl Guides. In 1913 the American organisation took the name Girl Scouts, reportedly because the girls themselves wanted to be called Scouts.[2] When national organisations came together in 1928, the new body took both names: the World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts.[1]
Names in other languages
Many national organisations use words in their own languages that do not translate neatly into either English term. We will add these on country pages, with explanations from the organisations themselves.
Not the “female branch” of the Scouts
WAGGGS and the World Organization of the Scout Movement are separate bodies. Some joint Scout and Guide associations belong to both: their girls and women count as WAGGGS members and their boys and men as WOSM members.[3] See Organisations for how they relate.
Sources
- World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts, “Our history”, WAGGGS. Accessed 25 September 2026.
- Juliette Gordon Low Birthplace (Girl Scouts of the USA), “About Early Girl Scouting”, Girl Scouts of the USA. Accessed 25 September 2026.
- World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts, “Types of membership”, WAGGGS. Accessed 25 September 2026.