Gladys

Spellings & scripts●

Spellings marked ● are how people bearing the name write it in our records; ○ marks a model's transliteration. Click a spelling to open its page.

Meaning & origin●

Attested across 13 languages in the etymology graph.

Languages●

Language is read off each record's context, not declared by the bearer; a share is of all records for this spelling.

Other names spelled this way◐

Gladys is also recorded as 7 other names, grouped separately because the records behind them do not connect to the one described above.

• English given name1.6M records spelled Gladys20 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in United States, Venezuela, United Kingdom, Ecuador

  Languages: English, German, Dutch

  Also written Glady'S, Ģladys, Glädys, Gľádýş, Ğlädýş

• Swahili given name199K records spelled Gladys4 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in Kenya, United States, Nigeria, South Africa

  Languages: Swahili, Southern Sotho

  Also written Glady'S

• French given name91K records spelled Gladys9 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in France, United States, Spain, Guadeloupe

  Languages: French, Catalan

  Also written Glady'S, Glãdys, Glàdÿs, Glãdÿs, Glâdys

• a separate given name41K records spelled Gladys3 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in United States, United Kingdom, Canada, Bolivia

  Also written Glądys, Gladyš

• Indonesian given name10K records spelled Gladys3 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in Indonesia, Philippines, United States, Peru

  Languages: Indonesian, Malay

  Also written 'Gladys

• Hungarian given name4.0K records spelled Gladys5 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in Hungary, United States, Finland, Peru

  Languages: Hungarian, Finnish, Estonian

  Also written Glädÿs, Gládys

• Vietnamese given name3.3K records spelled Gladys3 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in United States, Vietnam, Peru, Spain

  Languages: Vietnamese, Khmer

  Also written Glädys

67 further groups record this spelling and are not listed here.

Grouping is the name graph's, not a register's: two spellings join a group when the evidence links them, so a group is a claim about the records rather than about the people.

Other recorded senses●

Gladys is also recorded in 3 other lexicons, as a different name or as an ordinary word. These are senses of the spelling, not of the name above.

• Americanized spelling of Polish Gtadysz (see Gladysz).

  as a name·Dictionary of American Family Names

• In Spanish, Gales, quizá del latín Claudia; usado desde el s. VII; identificado tradicionalmente con Gwladys.

  as a name·Diccionario etimológico de nombres propios

• Welsh and English: from the Welsh name Gwladus , which is of uncertain derivation. It has been quite widely used outside Wales in the 20th century.

  as a word

Ordered by how much of this spelling's record each language holds, so a sense from a language the name is barely used in sits last rather than first.

Over time●

US SSA — National Baby Names (1880–present) — 146 years between 1880–2025. One register's own figures, never a sum across registers: two registers counting the same people would double them.

Notable people with this name●

• Gladys Cooperb. 1888GBBritish actress (1888-1971)
• Mary Pickfordb. 1892CAnot in their usual nameCanadian actress and producer (1892–1979)
• Beatrice Lillieb. 1894CAnot in their usual nameCanadian-born British actress (1894–1989)
• Dodie Smithb. 1896GBnot in their usual nameEnglish children's novelist and playwright (1896–1990)
• Jean Arthurb. 1900USnot in their usual nameAmerican actress
• Gladys Monroeb. 1902USMother of Marilyn Monroe (1902–1984)
• Gladys Georgeb. 1904USAmerican actress (1904–1954)
• Gladys Westb. 1930USAmerican mathematician (1930–2026)
• Gladys Knightb. 1944USAmerican singer (born 1944)
• Gladys Berejiklianb. 1970AUAustralian politician

The ten people covered by the most Wikipedia language editions — a proxy for cross-cultural notability, which favours historical and Western figures over equally prominent contemporary ones — shown by birth year. Source: Wikidata (CC0).

Evidence●

Register rows as of the 2026-09-12 data build · 1,164 rows in the corpus for this spelling.

Frequently asked questions

How common is the name Gladys?

We estimate roughly 156 thousand people bear Gladys (counting its spellings and scripts) across 9 countries in our records.

In which country does Gladys have the most bearers?

Gladys is most frequently recorded in Argentina, where it is most often spelled gladys.

How common is Gladys compared with other names?

In Argentina, Gladys is the 152nd most common given name of 517,176 given names recorded there.

Is Gladys a male or female name?

Gladys is a female name in our records. Opposite-gender entries fall within the cross-gender noise we measure in the source data, so we don't report them as usage.

What does the name Gladys mean?

Recorded meaning: From the Welsh name Gwladus, which is of uncertain derivation.