Glenys
A Welsh feminine name derived from the Welsh word "glyn" meaning valley.
Name Census estimates that about 192 living Americans carry the first name Glenys. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Glenys today is around 65 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Glenys births was 1925 (23 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Glenys. 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 Glenys is about 65 years old today, placing it firmly among the names of earlier generations. Most living Glenys' were born before 1971.
People living today
192
~ 1 in 1,785,179 Americans
Peak year
1925
23 babies that year
Average age
65
years old
2009 SSA rank
#11,809
Tracked since 1911
Popularity
Glenys: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Glenys from the 1910s through to the 2000s, spanning 9 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1920s, with 129 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
Glenys 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 Glenys during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Glenys' live
Origin
Meaning and history of Glenys
The name Glenys is a Welsh given name with origins dating back to medieval times. Its earliest roots can be traced to the Welsh words "glyn," meaning "valley," and "glynn," meaning "stream." This suggests that the name may have been originally associated with people who lived near valleys or streams in Wales.
One of the earliest known recorded instances of the name Glenys can be found in the Red Book of Hergest, a 14th-century manuscript containing Welsh prose and poetry. In this text, the name appears as "Glenys ferch Tewdwr," referring to a woman named Glenys, daughter of Tewdwr.
During the Middle Ages, the name Glenys was primarily used in Wales and other parts of Britain with strong Welsh influences. It was a relatively uncommon name, but it did gain some prominence in certain regions.
One notable historical figure who bore the name Glenys was Glenys Kinnock, a Welsh politician and educator born in 1944. She served as a member of the European Parliament and was also involved in various educational initiatives in Wales.
Another historical figure with the name Glenys was Glenys Thornton, a Welsh actress born in 1940. She had a successful career in television and theater, appearing in various British productions throughout the 20th century.
In the literary world, Glenys Roberts, a Welsh author born in 1944, is known for her novels and short stories that often explored themes of Welsh culture and identity.
Glenys Kinnock, a Welsh harpist and composer, was born in 1911 and made significant contributions to the preservation and promotion of Welsh harp music during her lifetime.
Lastly, Glenys Cilman, a Welsh artist born in 1917, gained recognition for her landscape paintings that captured the natural beauty of Wales and its valleys.
These examples demonstrate that while the name Glenys was not extremely common throughout history, it did hold significance in Welsh culture and was borne by notable individuals from various fields, including politics, arts, and literature.
People
Glenys + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Glenys 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
Glenys: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Glenys?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 192 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Glenys 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 1,785,179 US residents.
Is Glenys a common name?
We classify Glenys as "Very Rare". It ranks above 73.7% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 570 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Glenys most popular?
The single biggest year for Glenys was 1925, when 23 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Glenys is about 65 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Glenys a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Glenys 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.