How Many People Are Named Gladys?
An estimated 39,645 people in the United States have the first name Gladys. It is almost exclusively a female name. The average bearer is 68 years old, and Gladys peaked in popularity in 1921 with 8,837 births that year.
Below you will find a full statistical profile of Gladys as a first name in the United States, including gender data, a year-by-year popularity timeline going back to 1880, a decade breakdown, and state-by-state birth registrations. You can also check how many people share the full name Gladys paired with any surname.
Key Insights
- While Gladys is overwhelmingly female, 1,023 male births have been registered with this name since 1880.
- With an average bearer age of 68, Gladys is a vintage name most associated with earlier generations. Most living bearers were born before 1968.
- Gladys has fallen dramatically from its peak in the 1920s. Recent registrations are less than 5% of what they were at the name's height.
Estimated Living Americans
39,645
About 1 in 8,646 people in the U.S.
Rarity
Uncommon
Predicted Gender
Female
99.6% confidence
Average Age
68
years old
Peak Year
1921
8,837 births
Total Registered
267,689
since 1880
Gender Distribution for Gladys
Gladys is almost exclusively a female name. Out of 267,689 total births registered, 99.6% were female.
Gladys as a male name
Ranked #8,665 in 1991
5 male births in 1991
Peak: 1927 (38 births)
Gladys as a female name
Ranked #3,453 in 2024
45 female births in 2024
Peak: 1920 (8,819 births)
Gladys: Popularity Over Time
SSA records for Gladys span from the 1880s to the 2020s, covering 15 decades of naming data. The most popular decade for this name was the 1920s, when 72,812 babies were registered. Gladys has declined significantly from its peak in the 1920s. Recent registrations are a fraction of what they were at the name's height.
Gladys by Decade
How has Gladys tracked across different eras? The table below groups all SSA birth registrations into 10-year periods, with separate male and female counts. The colored bar shows each decade's share relative to the peak.
| Decade | Total | Male | Female | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1880s | 1,420 | 0 | 1,420 | |
| 1890s | 13,659 | 37 | 13,622 | |
| 1900s | 30,417 | 132 | 30,285 | |
| 1910s | 66,058 | 246 | 65,812 | |
| 1920s | 72,812 | 251 | 72,561 | |
| 1930s | 34,977 | 216 | 34,761 | |
| 1940s | 19,125 | 62 | 19,063 | |
| 1950s | 12,222 | 41 | 12,181 | |
| 1960s | 5,951 | 6 | 5,945 | |
| 1970s | 2,776 | 10 | 2,766 | |
| 1980s | 2,527 | 17 | 2,510 | |
| 1990s | 2,923 | 5 | 2,918 | |
| 2000s | 1,767 | 0 | 1,767 | |
| 2010s | 745 | 0 | 745 | |
| 2020s | 310 | 0 | 310 | |
Gladys by State
Birth registrations for Gladys span all 51 states and territories in the SSA database. The highest counts are in New York, Pennsylvania, Texas. The lowest are in Nevada, Alaska, Wyoming. On average, about 4,271 Gladyss were registered per state.
Gladys + Last Name Combinations
How many people share a full name with Gladys as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Names Similar to Gladys
Other first names starting with G with a similar number of bearers.
Gladys: Questions and Answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Gladys?
We estimate approximately 39,645 people named Gladys are alive in the United States today. This is based on SSA birth records from 1880 to 2024, adjusted for mortality using CDC life tables. About 1 in 8,646 Americans share this first name.
Is Gladys a common name?
Gladys is classified as "Uncommon" and is more popular than 99% of all first names in the SSA database. A total of 267,689 births have been registered with this name since 1880.
When was Gladys most popular?
Gladys reached peak popularity in 1921, when 8,837 babies were given this name. The average age of a living person named Gladys is approximately 68 years old, reflecting when the name was most commonly given.
Is Gladys a female name?
Gladys is predominantly female. 99.6% of people with this name are female. See the gender breakdown above for full details.
How many Gladys Smiths are there?
To find how many people share a specific full name, we combine first name and surname frequencies. Try: Gladys Smith, Gladys Johnson, Gladys Williams. You can also search any combination on our homepage.
Where does this data come from?
Our estimates use Social Security Administration birth records (1880 to 2024), adjusted for survival using CDC 2023 life tables broken down by sex. The U.S. population figure (342,754,338) is from the Census Bureau's July 2025 estimate. Full methodology.
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