Galadriel
A female Sindarin name meaning "maiden crowned with a radiant garland".
Name Census estimates that about 208 living Americans carry the first name Galadriel. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Galadriel today is around 32 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Galadriel births was 2003 (15 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Galadriel. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
People living today
208
~ 1 in 1,647,857 Americans
Peak year
2003
15 babies that year
Average age
32
years old
2024 SSA rank
#7,697
Tracked since 1969
Popularity
Galadriel: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Galadriel from the 1960s through to the 2020s, spanning 7 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1970s, with 81 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 1970s peak, Galadriel remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Galadriel by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Galadriel during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Galadriels live
Origin
Meaning and history of Galadriel
The name Galadriel is a fictional name created by J.R.R. Tolkien for the character of the same name in his novels set in the world of Middle-earth. It is derived from the Sindarin Elvish language invented by Tolkien, with elements from the words "galad" meaning "radiant" and "riel" meaning "garlanded maiden".
Tolkien's works, particularly The Lord of the Rings and The Silmarillion, introduced the name Galadriel to the world and popularized it as a feminine name. Within the lore of Middle-earth, Galadriel was a powerful Elf-queen who ruled over the Elven realm of Lothlórien and possessed one of the three Elven rings of power.
Although Galadriel is a fictional name, it has gained recognition and usage as a given name in the real world, particularly among fans of Tolkien's works and those drawn to its unique and melodic sound. However, since it is a constructed name, it does not have any recorded historical usage or references prior to Tolkien's writings in the 20th century.
While the name Galadriel itself does not have a long historical lineage, it has been adopted by a number of individuals since the popularity of The Lord of the Rings books and films. Some notable individuals named Galadriel include Galadriel Stineman, an American singer-songwriter born in 1985, and Galadriel Cashman, a Canadian actress born in 2004.
As a constructed name, Galadriel does not have any direct historical references or appearances in ancient texts, religious scriptures, or historical records prior to Tolkien's works. Its popularity and usage as a given name can be attributed solely to the influence and cultural impact of Tolkien's literary creations in the 20th century.
People
Galadriel + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Galadriel as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with G
Other first names starting with G with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Galadriel: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Galadriel?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 208 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Galadriel going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 1,647,857 US residents.
Is Galadriel a common name?
We classify Galadriel as "Very Rare". It ranks above 74.7% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 219 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Galadriel most popular?
The single biggest year for Galadriel was 2003, when 15 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Galadriel is about 32 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Galadriel a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Galadriel in the SSA data are female. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.