Gladstone
Meaning "valley town" and derived from Old English elements.
Name Census estimates that about 33 living Americans carry the first name Gladstone. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Gladstone today is around 74 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Gladstone births was 1917 (13 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Gladstone. 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.
Key insights
- • The typical person named Gladstone is about 74 years old today, placing it firmly among the names of earlier generations. Most living Gladstones were born before 1962.
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Gladstone. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
33
~ 1 in 10,386,495 Americans
Peak year
1917
13 babies that year
Average age
74
years old
1993 SSA rank
#9,227
Tracked since 1898
Census
Gladstone in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 599 people with the first name Gladstone, which placed it at #18,098 in the published first-name tables. This is a snapshot of people who already had the name at the time of the Census.
The SSA sections elsewhere on this page answer a different question: how often parents gave the name to babies over time. The "people living today" figure on this page is different again: it is a current estimate built from SSA birth records and age-based survival rates, so the two numbers are not expected to match exactly.
2020 Census rank
#18,098
National first-name rank
People counted
599
599 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
82.5% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Gladstone
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Gladstone is Black at 82.5%. The next largest groups are White (7.3%) and Hispanic (4.3%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Gladstone described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given name, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown so the breakdown is easy to read across every published category. Because the 2020 Census first-name file also includes raw headcounts for each group, Name Census can show those alongside the percentages in the legend and hover tooltip.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the name Gladstone at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American82.5% · 494
- White7.3% · 44
- Hispanic or Latino4.3% · 26
- Two or more races3.3% · 20
- Asian and Pacific Islander2.5% · 15
Popularity
Gladstone: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Gladstone from the 1890s through to the 1990s, spanning 8 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1920s, with 78 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1920s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Gladstone 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 Gladstone during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Gladstones live
Origin
Meaning and history of Gladstone
The name Gladstone is an English surname that originated as a place name. It is derived from the Old English words "glæd," meaning "bright" or "shining," and "stān," meaning "stone." The combination of these words suggests that the name may have referred to a bright or shiny stone, perhaps a distinctive landmark in the area where the name originated.
The earliest recorded use of the name Gladstone dates back to the 12th century, when it appeared in the Domesday Book of 1086 as "Gledestanes." This was a reference to a place in Lancashire, England, which was likely the birthplace of the surname. Over time, the name evolved into its modern spelling, Gladstone.
One of the most famous historical figures to bear the name Gladstone was William Ewart Gladstone (1809-1898), a British statesman who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom on four separate occasions during the Victorian era. He was a prominent liberal politician and is remembered for his extensive reforms in areas such as education, voting rights, and trade policies.
Another notable bearer of the name was Sir John Gladstone (1764-1851), a Scottish merchant and politician who was the father of William Ewart Gladstone. He amassed a considerable fortune through his involvement in the West Indian sugar trade and later became a Member of Parliament.
In the literary world, William Gladstone (1809-1891), a British poet and theologian, is remembered for his religious works, including his translation of the Bible and other theological writings. He was a contemporary of the Prime Minister William Ewart Gladstone, but the two were not related.
The name Gladstone also appears in religious texts, although its usage is relatively rare. In the King James Version of the Bible, the name is mentioned once in the Book of Joshua, where it refers to a place called "the stone of divisions" (Joshua 15:6).
Another historical figure who bore the name Gladstone was John Gladstone (1764-1851), a Scottish merchant and plantation owner who amassed a considerable fortune through his involvement in the West Indian sugar trade. He was the father of the British Prime Minister William Ewart Gladstone.
While the name Gladstone is not as common as it once was, it has left a lasting legacy, particularly in political and literary circles. Its origins as a place name and its association with prominent historical figures have contributed to its enduring significance.
People
Gladstone + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Gladstone 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
Gladstone: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Gladstone?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 33 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Gladstone 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 10,386,495 US residents.
Is Gladstone a common name?
We classify Gladstone as "Very Rare". It ranks above 48% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 200 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Gladstone most popular?
The single biggest year for Gladstone was 1917, when 13 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Gladstone is about 74 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Gladstone in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 599 people with the name Gladstone, or 0.20 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #18,098 in the national Census ranking for first names.
Why is the Census count different from the living estimate?
Because they measure different things. The Census figure is a count of people who had the name Gladstone in 2020. The living estimate aims to answer a current question instead: how many people with the name are alive today, based on SSA birth records and age-based survival rates. Since one number is a 2020 snapshot and the other is a present-day estimate, they are not expected to be identical.
What does the Census say about the gender split for Gladstone?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Gladstone appears almost entirely male. Of the 598 people counted with this name, 99.5% were male and only a very small share were female. The Census view is a snapshot of people living with the name in 2020, while the SSA section above tracks births across time.
What does the Census say about the background of people named Gladstone?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Gladstone is Black at 82.5%. The next largest groups are White (7.3%) and Hispanic (4.3%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself. The percentages in the chart above come from self-reported race and Hispanic-origin responses in the 2020 Census.
Which group reports the name Gladstone most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Gladstone in the 2020 Census, accounting for 82.5% (494 people in the published table).
Why can the Census sex total and race total differ slightly?
The Census Bureau published separate 2020 tables for sex and for race/Hispanic origin, and the released figures can differ slightly because of privacy protection in the public files. That is why this page treats the gender section and the race/origin section as two related snapshots instead of forcing them into one identical total.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only includes names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files have no Census demographic snapshot. When that happens, the SSA trend, gender history, and state sections still appear, but the 2020 Census demographic sections are omitted.
What does the SSA popularity chart show?
The chart tracks births, not the number of people alive with the name today. Each point shows how many babies were given the name Gladstone in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Gladstone a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Gladstone in the SSA data are male. 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.
Is Gladstone still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Gladstone in 2024, and the page above shows its latest-year rank where available. A name can be well past its peak and still remain in steady use, especially if it built up a large population over earlier decades.
Why can a name have a lot of living bearers even if it is not trendy now?
Because living-bearer counts and current baby-name popularity measure different things. A name like Gladstone can build up a very large population over many decades, even if fewer parents are choosing it now than they did at its peak.
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.
How many people have Gladstone as a first name?
For a quick modern take, check how many people share the name Gladstone on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org.