This study proposes a new five-parameter distribution called the gamma-exponentiated Weibull–Poisson (GEWP) distribution. As an extension of the exponentiated Weibull–Poisson family, the GEWP distribution offers a more flexible tool for analyzing a wider variety of data due to its theoretically and practically advantageous properties. It encompasses established distributions like the exponential, Weibull, and exponentiated Weibull. The development of the GEWP distribution proposed in this paper is obtained by combining the gamma–exponentiated Weibull (GEW) and the exponentiated Weibull–Poisson (EWP) distributions. Therefore, it serves as an extension of both the GEW and EWP distributions. This makes the GEWP a viable alternative for describing the variability of occurrences, enabling analysis in situations where GEW and EWP may be limited. This paper analyzes the probability distribution functions and provides the survival and hazard rate functions, the sub-models, the moments, the quantiles, and the maximum likelihood estimation of the GEWP distribution. Then, the numerical experiments for the parameter estimation of GEWP distribution for some finite sample sizes are presented. Finally, the comparative study of GEWP distribution and its sub-models is investigated via the goodness of fit test with real datasets to illustrate its potentiality.