Glady
Feminine · “a short form of Gladys”
Glady is overwhelmingly a girls’ name — 538 girls against 5 boys since 1880.
Glady is Gladys with its final s let go, a short, bright name that also sounds like the word glad. It belongs to an earlier America and has been given almost entirely to girls.
How old is the name Glady?
Glady first appears in US birth records in 1901 — 124 years ago. The typical Glady alive today was born around 1930, making them about 95 years old. About 200 people named Glady are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Glady most popular?
Glady peaked in 1906, reaching #1321 nationally. See the whole 1906 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From Gwladus to Glady
The story of Glady
Gladys came into American use from Welsh and became a favorite name, and families cut it down in everyday speech. Glady keeps the first syllable and a soft y, so that the name sounds like the word glad with a pet ending. No record says which families meant Gladys and which simply liked the cheerful sound.
Meaningscholars disagree
a short form of Gladys
Glady is most likely a short form of Gladys, the Welsh Gwladus, whose meaning is argued. It may also be a pet name built on the English word glad; the record does not say which.
How the name formed
- Gwladus
- Gladys
- Glady
Related forms: Gwladys
Pronouncing Glady
GLAD-ee
Two syllables, stressed on the first.
Nicknames for Glady
Limited
What the data says
146 years of official birth records
The long climb, and where it stands now
The same years in position rather than babies
- First recorded
- 1901
- Most girls named
- 191718 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #1321reached in 1906
- Change vs 1979
- −44.4%5 in 1981, from 9
Rank is a position, a count is a headcount, and they move independently — a name can hold its rank while the number of babies behind it falls. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration.
Glady in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Gwladys in Welsh — related form
Gladys among us
people named Glady are estimated to be alive in the US today
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Is it right for you
Questions parents actually ask
Fashion outlook
Glady sits outside the current charts, and that is its own kind of answer: naming cycles can only date the names they carried up. A name this rare has no decade stamped on it — it cannot go out of fashion, because it was never in.
Based on 146 years of naming cycles. How we read them
The trade-off
- It is bright and cheerful.
- It is almost never given now, so it is distinctive.
- People will assume it is short for Gladys.
- A very few boys have been given it; for them it will read as a girl's name.
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What they receive
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Glady
Feminine
Frequently asked
- How many Gladys are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 200 people named Glady are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Glady in 2025?
- Glady is rarely given in the US today — it does not rank in the top 2000 girl names.
- Will my child share the name Glady with classmates?
- Glady will almost certainly be the only one in school.
More G names
The most-given names starting with G, all years combined.
Grace#38 · Gloria#654 · Gladys#3211 · Geraldine#2438 · Gail#8362 · Gertrude#6546 · Georgia#99 · Gina#2076
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Glady? See the current top 100.
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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