Gwladys
A feminine given name of Welsh origin meaning "ruler".
Name Census estimates that about 0 living Americans carry the first name Gwladys. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Gwladys today is around 0 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Gwladys births was 1895 (5 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Gwladys. 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 Gwladys. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
0
~ - Americans
Peak year
1895
5 babies that year
Average age
-
1895 SSA rank
#1,697
Tracked since 1895
Popularity
Gwladys: popularity over time
Babies born per year
Decades
Gwladys 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 Gwladys during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
| Decade | Male | Female | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1890s | 0 | 5 | 5 |
Origin
Meaning and history of Gwladys
Gwladys is a Welsh feminine given name derived from the Welsh word "gwlad," meaning "country" or "land." It is believed to have originated in the 5th or 6th century, during the era of the ancient Britons who inhabited parts of modern-day Wales and England.
The name Gwladys was particularly popular among the Welsh nobility and royalty. One of the earliest recorded individuals with this name was Gwladys ferch Rhiwallon, who lived in the 7th century and was the daughter of Rhiwallon ap Murigen, a king of Morgannwg (now Glamorgan) in southeastern Wales.
In the medieval period, the name Gwladys gained prominence through its association with Saint Gwladys, a 5th-century Welsh princess and abbess. According to legend, she refused to marry and instead dedicated her life to religious service, founding a church and convent in Anglesey.
Another notable figure with this name was Gwladys Ddu (circa 1510-1557), a Welsh noblewoman and heiress who inherited vast estates in Glamorgan. She was known for her fortitude and resistance against English encroachment on Welsh lands during the tumultuous period of the Tudor conquest of Wales.
In the 19th century, the name Gwladys was revived and popularized by the English writer and artist Gwladys Eugenia Hughes (1817-1870), who was born in Wales but spent most of her life in London. Her artistic works and writings helped to renew interest in Welsh culture and traditions.
One of the most famous individuals named Gwladys was Gwladys Rhys (1859-1949), a Welsh activist and promoter of Welsh language and culture. She played a pivotal role in the establishment of the National Eisteddfod, an annual cultural festival celebrating Welsh literature, music, and performance.
People
Gwladys + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Gwladys 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
Gwladys: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Gwladys?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 0 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Gwladys 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 - US residents.
Is Gwladys a common name?
We classify Gwladys as "Very Rare". It ranks above 2.9% 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 Gwladys most popular?
The single biggest year for Gwladys was 1895, when 5 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Gwladys is about 0 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 Gwladys in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Gwladys a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Gwladys 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 Gwladys still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Gwladys 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 Gwladys 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 Americans are named Gwladys?
See how many people have the name Gwladys on HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site built around that single question.