How rare is the name Gladys?

81,883 people in the United States have the first name Gladys, about 1 in 3,689. It ranks #644 of 53,615 first names in the 2020 Census.

first name

GLADYS

#644

of 53,615 first names recorded in the 2020 Census

People
81,883
About
1 in 3,689
This common or more
63%
Who bears it

Of the 81,883 people named Gladys, 43.3% reported their origin as Hispanic or Latino, 33.3% as White and 19.4% as Black. Virtually all are female (99.8%). These count how people described themselves on the 2020 Census, not where the name comes from.

Gladys peaked in 1921, when 8,837 babies got the name.

Births per year, SSA records 1880–2025
18802025
Peak year
1921
Births that year
8,837
In 2025*
49 ▼99%
Recorded as
almost entirely female

At least 267,741 babies have been given the name since 1880. Years SSA withheld, because fewer than 5 were born, are skipped rather than drawn as zero. * 2025 is the newest year published and it undercounts: a card application is filed some time after a birth.

Gladys by decade

Among all names given to American babies, its best decade was the 1900s, when it ranked #21. The largest share of babies named Gladys, 58%, were born between 1901 and 1927, the Greatest Generation's birth years.

1880s#2531,420
1890s#6213,659
1900s#2130,417
1910s#4066,058
1920s#5772,812
1930s#12734,978
1940s#27619,125
1950s#43812,222
1960s#6975,954
1970s#1,0852,776
1980s#1,2452,526
1990s#1,3372,923
2000s#2,2311,767
2010s#4,295745
2020s#4,955359
Before 19016.7%
Greatest Generation 1901–2758%
Silent Generation 1928–4521.9%
Baby boom 1946–648.5%
Generation X 1965–802%
Millennials 1981–961.7%
Generation Z 1997–121%
2013 and later0.3%

Rank counts both sexes together, among every name SSA recorded that decade; the number under it is births. The 2020s run only to 2025. Generation years follow Pew Research Center, which has not named a generation after 2012.

Where Gladys is most common

Compared with all babies born in each state since 1910, Gladys has been most common in North Dakota (2.6×), South Dakota (2.3×), and West Virginia (2.2×), and least common in Nevada (0.04×).

217,860 births recorded by state, 1910–2025. 2× means twice as common as nationally. States with fewer than 30 such births are left blank, and SSA withholds any year with fewer than 5 in a state, so small states read low.

Either side of Gladys

#642 Ashton · 82,425#643 Madelyn · 82,365#645 Jan · 81,839#646 Penny · 81,497

Spelled almost the same

2 first names in the 2020 Census spelled within a letter or two of Gladys, most common first.

#2,890 Gladis · 7,911#47,514 Glades · 137

Also a last name

As a last name, Gladys ranks #62,792 of 156,621, with 344 people. See Gladys as a last name

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