Meaning and history
Gladys comes from the Old Welsh name Gwladus, probably from gwlad meaning “country,” though it may also have been adopted as a Welsh form of Claudia. Saint Gwladus, or Gwladys, was the mother of Saint Cadoc and one of the daughters of Brychan Brycheiniog. The name spread beyond Wales after its use in Ouida’s novel Puck (1870).
20062006: 207 births, rank #1,173
2007: 160 births, rank #1,459
2008: 135 births, rank #1,657
2009: 120 births, rank #1,792
2010: 103 births, rank #1,942
20112011: 81 births, rank #2,298
2012: 81 births, rank #2,315
2013: 69 births, rank #2,568
2014: 74 births, rank #2,442
2015: 83 births, rank #2,259
20162016: 72 births, rank #2,502
2017: 73 births, rank #2,464
2018: 45 births, rank #3,438
2019: 64 births, rank #2,681
2020: 78 births, rank #2,277
20212021: 62 births, rank #2,751
2022: 64 births, rank #2,689
2023: 61 births, rank #2,789
2024: 45 births, rank #3,459
20252025: 49 births, rank #3,211
Gladys moved from #830 to #967 for girls between 1997 and 1999. Its highest annual birth count came in 1920, with 8,819 births.