Glennie
Valley dweller or dweller in the glen, of Scottish origin.
Name Census estimates that about 427 living Americans carry the first name Glennie. It appears on both sides of the gender split, with 86.8% of registrations being female. The average person named Glennie today is around 77 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Glennie births was 1916 (63 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Glennie. 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 Glennie is about 77 years old today, placing it firmly among the names of earlier generations. Most living Glennies were born before 1959.
People living today
427
~ 1 in 802,703 Americans
Peak year
1916
63 babies that year
Average age
77
years old
1973 SSA rank
#5,371
Tracked since 1881
Census
Glennie in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 577 people with the first name Glennie, which placed it at #18,616 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
#18,616
National first-name rank
People counted
577
577 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
46.1% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Glennie
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Glennie is Black at 46.1%. The next largest groups are White (44.9%) and Hispanic (2.9%). 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 Glennie 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 Glennie at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American46.1% · 266
- White44.9% · 259
- Hispanic or Latino2.9% · 17
- Asian and Pacific Islander2.6% · 15
- Two or more races2.6% · 15
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.9% · 5
Gender
Gender distribution for Glennie
Glennie leans heavily female at 86.8% of total registrations, but 294 boys have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Glennie as a male name
- Ranked #5,371 in 1973
- 5 male births in 1973
- Peak: 1927 (13 births)
Glennie as a female name
- Ranked #6,149 in 1972
- 8 female births in 1972
- Peak: 1916 (55 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Glennie leans strongly female. 487 people counted with this name were female (82.8%), compared with 101 male bearers (17.2%).
Popularity
Glennie: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Glennie from the 1880s through to the 1970s, spanning 10 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1920s, with 470 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
Glennie 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 Glennie during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Glennies live
The SSA's state-level files cover 9 states and territories. North Carolina, Alabama, Mississippi recorded the most babies named Glennie, while Louisiana, Arkansas, Tennessee recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 59 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Glennie
The name Glennie is derived from the Scottish Gaelic word "gleann," which means "valley." It is a name that originated in the Scottish Highlands and was commonly used as a diminutive form of the name Glenn or Glendon.
In ancient times, the name Glennie was likely used to refer to someone who lived in or near a valley. It may have been a descriptive name given to individuals based on their geographic location or occupation, such as a farmer or shepherd who worked in the valleys of the Scottish Highlands.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Glennie can be found in the Scottish Clan histories, where it is mentioned as a variant of the surname Glenn or Glendinning. These surnames were associated with prominent Scottish families and clans, suggesting that the name Glennie may have been used by members of these clans or their associates.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the first name Glennie. One example is Glennie Kinnear (1888-1958), a Scottish actress who appeared in numerous films during the early 20th century. Another is Glennie Bowman (1914-2005), an American artist and educator known for her work in ceramics and textile design.
Glennie Janzen (born 1933) is a Canadian author and poet who has published several collections of poetry and memoirs. Glennie Grimes (born 1942) is an American politician who served as the Mayor of Shreveport, Louisiana, from 1998 to 2006.
Additionally, Glennie Pickering (1944-2021) was a British actress and author, best known for her roles in television series such as "Coronation Street" and "Emmerdale Farm."
While the name Glennie may have originated in the Scottish Highlands, it has been used across various cultures and regions throughout history. Its connection to the natural landscape and the concept of a valley has likely contributed to its enduring appeal and usage over the centuries.
People
Glennie + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Glennie 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
Glennie: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Glennie?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 427 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Glennie 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 802,703 US residents.
Is Glennie a common name?
We classify Glennie as "Very Rare". It ranks above 83% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 2,225 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Glennie most popular?
The single biggest year for Glennie was 1916, when 63 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Glennie is about 77 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Glennie in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 577 people with the name Glennie, or 0.19 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #18,616 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 Glennie 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 Glennie?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Glennie leans strongly female. 487 people counted with this name were female (82.8%), compared with 101 male bearers (17.2%). 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 Glennie?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Glennie is Black at 46.1%. The next largest groups are White (44.9%) and Hispanic (2.9%). 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 Glennie most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Glennie in the 2020 Census, accounting for 46.1% (266 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 Glennie in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Glennie a female name?
Yes, 86.8% of people registered as Glennie 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 Glennie still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Glennie 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 Glennie 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 have the name Glennie?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.