Glynn
A masculine name of Welsh origin meaning "valley" or "glen".
Name Census estimates that about 2,930 living Americans carry the first name Glynn. It is a predominantly male name (92.2% of registrations). The average person named Glynn today is around 64 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Glynn births was 1950 (141 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Glynn. 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.
For a British comparison, Name Census UK has a UK baby-name profile for Glynn with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
2.9K
~ 1 in 116,981 Americans
Peak year
1950
141 babies that year
Average age
64
years old
2019 SSA rank
#10,958
Tracked since 1902
Census
Glynn in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 2,892 people with the first name Glynn, which placed it at #5,762 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
#5,762
National first-name rank
People counted
2.9K
2,892 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
1.0
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
76.9% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Glynn
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Glynn is White at 76.9%. The next largest groups are Black (17.1%) and Two or More Races (2.8%). 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 Glynn 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 Glynn at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White76.9% · 2,225
- Black or African American17.1% · 494
- Two or more races2.8% · 80
- Hispanic or Latino1.5% · 42
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.0% · 30
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.7% · 21
Gender
Gender distribution for Glynn
Glynn leans heavily male at 92.2% of total registrations, but 417 girls have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Glynn as a male name
- Ranked #12,797 in 2019
- 5 male births in 2019
- Peak: 1950 (131 births)
Glynn as a female name
- Ranked #10,958 in 1994
- 7 female births in 1994
- Peak: 1954 (16 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Glynn leans strongly male. 2,566 people counted with this name were male (88.9%), compared with 321 female bearers (11.1%).
Popularity
Glynn: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Glynn from the 1900s through to the 2010s, spanning 12 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1950s, with 1,117 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1950s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Glynn 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 Glynn during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Glynns live
The SSA's state-level files cover 17 states and territories. Texas, Louisiana, Georgia recorded the most babies named Glynn, while Ohio, New York, North Carolina recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 153 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Glynn
The name Glynn originates from the Welsh language and culture, tracing its roots back to the medieval period. It is derived from the Welsh word "glyn," which means a deep valley or a glen. The name was initially used as a topographic surname, referring to someone who lived near or in a valley.
During the Middle Ages, the name Glynn gained popularity among the Welsh people, particularly in the regions of Glamorgan and Monmouthshire. It was not uncommon for families to adopt surnames based on their geographic locations or notable features of the landscape.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Glynn can be found in the "Welsh Genealogies," a collection of pedigrees and lineages dating back to the 13th century. The name is mentioned in association with several prominent Welsh families, indicating its use and acceptance within the culture.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Glynn. One such figure was Glynn Vivian (1842-1932), a Welsh industrialist and philanthropist who established the Glynn Vivian Art Gallery in Swansea, Wales. Another prominent bearer of the name was Glynn Jones (1927-2005), a Welsh rugby union player who represented Wales and the British Lions in the 1950s.
In the literary realm, Glynn Hughes (1920-1994) was a Welsh poet and author known for his works exploring the Welsh experience and identity. His poetry collections, such as "Scenes from a Provincial Life" and "Collected Poems," garnered critical acclaim.
In the field of science, Glynn Lunney (1936-2021) was an American aerospace engineer and NASA flight director who played a crucial role in the Apollo program, overseeing numerous manned space missions, including the historic Apollo 11 lunar landing.
Glynn Turman (born 1946) is an American actor best known for his roles in films like "Cooley High," "A Soldier's Story," and the TV series "The Wire." He has had a prolific career spanning over five decades and has been recognized with several awards and nominations for his performances.
The name Glynn has maintained a distinctive Welsh heritage and has been carried by individuals across various fields, from industry and sports to literature and science. While its usage may have been more prevalent in certain regions of Wales, the name has also found its way into other cultures and languages, serving as a reminder of its rich historical roots.
People
Glynn + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Glynn 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
Glynn: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Glynn?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 2,930 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Glynn 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 116,981 US residents.
Is Glynn a common name?
We classify Glynn as "Rare". It ranks above 95.1% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 5,361 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Glynn most popular?
The single biggest year for Glynn was 1950, when 141 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Glynn is about 64 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Glynn in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 2,892 people with the name Glynn, or 0.96 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #5,762 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 Glynn 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 Glynn?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Glynn leans strongly male. 2,566 people counted with this name were male (88.9%), compared with 321 female bearers (11.1%). 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 Glynn?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Glynn is White at 76.9%. The next largest groups are Black (17.1%) and Two or More Races (2.8%). 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 Glynn most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Glynn in the 2020 Census, accounting for 76.9% (2,225 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 Glynn in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Glynn a male name?
Yes, 92.2% of people registered as Glynn 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 Glynn still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Glynn 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 Glynn 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 share the name Glynn?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.