Glenston
Place name, derived from Scottish place names associated with valleys or meadows.
Name Census estimates that about 5 living Americans carry the first name Glenston. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Glenston today is around 43 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Glenston births was 1981 (5 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Glenston. 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
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Glenston. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
5
~ 1 in 68,550,868 Americans
Peak year
1981
5 babies that year
Average age
43
years old
1981 SSA rank
#6,635
Tracked since 1981
Popularity
Glenston: popularity over time
Babies born per year
Decades
Glenston 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 Glenston during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
| Decade | Male | Female | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1980s | 5 | 0 | 5 |
Geography
Where Glenstons live
Origin
Meaning and history of Glenston
The given name Glenston is believed to have originated in the late 17th century, derived from the Old English words "glenne" meaning a deep valley or glen, and "tun" meaning a town or village. This suggests that the name may have roots in the rugged landscapes of northern England or Scotland, where deep valleys and glens were a prominent feature.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Glenston can be found in the parish records of St. Mary's Church in Whitby, Yorkshire, England, where a Glenston Harwood was baptized in 1698. This suggests that the name may have been in use among the rural communities of northern England during this period.
In the 18th century, a Glenston Blackwood (1720-1789) was a noted Scottish landowner and philanthropist, known for his contributions to the development of the town of Dundee. His legacy lives on in the form of the Blackwood Memorial, a monument erected in his honor in the city.
Another notable bearer of the name was Glenston Whitworth (1842-1913), a British engineer and inventor best known for his contributions to the development of precision tools and measurement standards. His innovations played a crucial role in the advancement of modern manufacturing techniques.
In the realm of literature, the name Glenston appears in the works of the English novelist and poet, Thomas Hardy. In his novel "The Return of the Native" (1878), one of the characters is named Glenston Venn, a reddleman (a person who sold a red dye used for marking sheep) from the fictional region of Wessex.
During the 19th century, a Glenston Fairbairn (1855-1924) gained recognition as a respected civil engineer and architect, responsible for the design and construction of several notable bridges and public buildings in his native Scotland.
While the name Glenston may not be as widely used today as it was in centuries past, it remains a unique and evocative name with a rich historical legacy, particularly in the United Kingdom and areas with strong British cultural influences.
People
Glenston + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Glenston 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
Glenston: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Glenston?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 5 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Glenston 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 68,550,868 US residents.
Is Glenston a common name?
We classify Glenston as "Very Rare". It ranks above 18.2% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 5 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Glenston most popular?
The single biggest year for Glenston was 1981, when 5 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Glenston is about 43 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
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 Glenston in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Glenston a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Glenston 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 Glenston still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Glenston 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 Glenston 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.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only covers names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files do not have a published Census demographic snapshot. In those cases, the page still shows the SSA trend, gender history, and state data.
How many people share the name Glenston?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.