Glenn
Feminine · “a narrow valley”
Glenn is given to boys far more often — 248,642 boys against 2,136 girls since 1880. See Glenn as a boy name
One n or two divides the word from the surname. Glen with a single n is the ordinary English noun for a narrow valley, borrowed from Gaelic. Glenn with two is the family name, and families spelled it that way long before anyone used either as a first name. The doubling is a claim about ancestry.
How old is the name Glenn?
Glenn was already in use when US birth records began in 1880 — it is at least 145 years old. The typical Glenn alive today was born around 1941, making them about 84 years old. About 1,000 people named Glenn are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Glenn most popular?
Glenn peaked in 1895, reaching #638 nationally. See the whole 1895 chart.
Where it comes from
From gleann to Glenn
The story of Glenn
The most famous bearer did something no astronaut had done and then did it again in a way nobody expected. He was the first American to go round the earth rather than merely up and down, in a capsule so cramped he could not fully straighten his arms, with a heat shield that ground control believed might have come loose. He then left the program, went into politics, served in the Senate for four terms, and at seventy-seven talked his way onto a shuttle flight as a research subject on the effects of spaceflight on the elderly. Thirty-six years separated the two flights, which remains the longest gap between any person's trips to orbit.
Meaning
a narrow valley
From the Gaelic word for a steep-sided valley, usually with water in it. English borrowed the noun and also borrowed the surname of families who lived in one, and the two arrived separately.
How the name formed
- gleann
- Glen
- Glenn
Pronouncing Glenn
GLEN
One syllable. The doubled n changes nothing audible; it is there to mark the name as a surname rather than the plain word.
Nicknames for Glenn
Moderate
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
- 1880
- Most girls named
- 192939 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #638reached in 1895
- Change vs 1997
- −54.5%5 in 2001, from 11
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.
Glenns among us
people named Glenn 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
Glenn 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
- One syllable, entirely unambiguous, and never spelled out twice.
- The meaning is concrete and transparent to anyone.
- It has stayed in steady use for well over a century without a fashion behind it.
- Glen with one n is equally standard and the spelling gets queried.
- Its peak generation is now far enough back to date the name.
- The record holds girls as well, and the girl is much the smaller side.
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What they receive
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Glenn
Feminine
Frequently asked
- How many Glenns are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 1,000 people named Glenn are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Glenn in 2025?
- Glenn is rarely given in the US today — it does not rank in the top 2000 girl names.
- Will my child share the name Glenn with classmates?
- Glenn 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 Glenn? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Glenn and another name?
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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