Glee
A joyous feeling of lively delight or exhilaration.
Name Census estimates that about 241 living Americans carry the first name Glee. It is a predominantly female name (97.5% of registrations). The average person named Glee today is around 74 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Glee births was 1918 (26 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Glee. 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 Glee is about 74 years old today, placing it firmly among the names of earlier generations. Most living Glees were born before 1962.
People living today
241
~ 1 in 1,422,217 Americans
Peak year
1918
26 babies that year
Average age
74
years old
1922 SSA rank
#4,562
Tracked since 1893
Census
Glee in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 437 people with the first name Glee, which placed it at #22,679 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
#22,679
National first-name rank
People counted
437
437 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
85.6% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Glee
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Glee is White at 85.6%. The next largest groups are Asian/Pacific Islander (5.0%) and Black (4.1%). 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 Glee 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 Glee at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White85.6% · 374
- Asian and Pacific Islander5.0% · 22
- Black or African American4.1% · 18
- Hispanic or Latino2.7% · 12
- Two or more races2.3% · 10
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.2% · 1
Gender
Gender distribution for Glee
Glee leans heavily female at 97.5% of total registrations, but 20 boys have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Glee as a male name
- Ranked #4,562 in 1922
- 5 male births in 1922
- Peak: 1913 (5 births)
Glee as a female name
- Ranked #8,755 in 1971
- 5 female births in 1971
- Peak: 1947 (23 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Glee leans strongly female. 392 people counted with this name were female (92.0%), compared with 34 male bearers (8.0%).
Popularity
Glee: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Glee from the 1890s through to the 1970s, spanning 9 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1940s, with 156 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1940s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Glee 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 Glee during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Glees live
Origin
Meaning and history of Glee
The name Glee originates from the Old English word "gligu," which means "joy" or "merriment." It first appeared in written records during the Anglo-Saxon period, which lasted from the 5th to the 11th century AD. The name was commonly used in England and other parts of the British Isles during this time.
One of the earliest recorded individuals with the name Glee was Glee of Malmesbury, a Benedictine monk and historian who lived in the late 11th century. He is best known for his work "Gesta Regum Anglorum" (Deeds of the English Kings), which chronicled the history of England from the arrival of the Anglo-Saxons until the reign of King William II.
In the 12th century, there was a notable figure named Glee the Jester, who served as a court entertainer for King Henry II of England. He was renowned for his wit and ability to bring joy and laughter to the royal court.
During the Middle Ages, the name Glee was also associated with the annual celebrations and festivities that took place in medieval England. These events, known as "gleemen," involved music, dance, and various forms of entertainment, reflecting the joyous spirit of the name.
In the 16th century, Glee Merryweather, a renowned English comedian and actor, gained popularity for his performances in Shakespearean plays and other theatrical productions. He was praised for his ability to bring joy and laughter to audiences through his comedic performances.
Another notable individual with the name Glee was Glee Brightwell, a 17th-century English poet and author. She was known for her collection of joyful and uplifting poems that celebrated the simple pleasures of life and the beauty of nature.
While the name Glee has fallen out of widespread use in modern times, it remains a unique and charming name that evokes feelings of happiness, joy, and merriment, reflecting its rich historical roots.
People
Glee + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Glee 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
Glee: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Glee?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 241 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Glee 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 1,422,217 US residents.
Is Glee a common name?
We classify Glee as "Very Rare". It ranks above 76.6% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 801 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Glee most popular?
The single biggest year for Glee was 1918, when 26 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Glee 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 Glee in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 437 people with the name Glee, or 0.14 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #22,679 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 Glee 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 Glee?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Glee leans strongly female. 392 people counted with this name were female (92.0%), compared with 34 male bearers (8.0%). 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 Glee?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Glee is White at 85.6%. The next largest groups are Asian/Pacific Islander (5.0%) and Black (4.1%). 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 Glee most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Glee in the 2020 Census, accounting for 85.6% (374 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 Glee in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Glee a female name?
Yes, 97.5% of people registered as Glee 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.
Is Glee still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Glee 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 Glee 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 common is the name Glee?
Our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers how many people have the name Glee at a glance, with the living-bearer count up front.