Glinda
Feminine name of Scottish origin meaning "pretty" or "fair".
Name Census estimates that about 1,685 living Americans carry the first name Glinda. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Glinda today is around 69 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Glinda births was 1951 (142 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Glinda. 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 Glinda is about 69 years old today, placing it firmly among the names of earlier generations. Most living Glindas were born before 1967.
People living today
1.7K
~ 1 in 203,415 Americans
Peak year
1951
142 babies that year
Average age
69
years old
2008 SSA rank
#18,483
Tracked since 1931
Census
Glinda in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 1,818 people with the first name Glinda, which placed it at #8,087 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
#8,087
National first-name rank
People counted
1.8K
1,818 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.6
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
61.6% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Glinda
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Glinda is White at 61.6%. The next largest groups are Black (28.6%) and Hispanic (5.6%). 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 Glinda 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 Glinda at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White61.6% · 1,119
- Black or African American28.6% · 520
- Hispanic or Latino5.6% · 102
- Two or more races2.6% · 48
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.2% · 22
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.4% · 7
Popularity
Glinda: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Glinda from the 1930s through to the 2000s, spanning 8 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1950s, with 1,092 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
Glinda 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 Glinda during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Glindas live
The SSA's state-level files cover 17 states and territories. Texas, Alabama, Mississippi recorded the most babies named Glinda, while Ohio, Indiana, Kentucky recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 80 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Glinda
The name Glinda is believed to have originated from the Old English word "glind," which means "material that burns slowly and gives off a bright glow." This suggests that the name may have been associated with light or radiance in its early usage.
The earliest recorded instances of the name Glinda can be traced back to the 9th century AD, when it was primarily used in Anglo-Saxon regions of England. During this period, the name was often spelled as "Glynde" or "Glynda."
One of the earliest known individuals with the name Glinda was a 10th-century Anglo-Saxon noblewoman named Glinda of Mercia, who was born around 920 AD and played a significant role in the political affairs of the Kingdom of Mercia during her lifetime.
In the 12th century, the name Glinda appeared in several medieval English texts and manuscripts, often used as a character name in literary works or as a reference to historical figures.
During the Renaissance period, the name Glinda gained some popularity among aristocratic families in England and parts of continental Europe. One notable figure from this era was Glinda Fitzalan (1510-1580), an English noblewoman and courtier who served under Queen Elizabeth I.
In the 20th century, the name Glinda experienced a resurgence in popularity, largely due to its association with the character Glinda the Good Witch from L. Frank Baum's classic children's novel, "The Wonderful Wizard of Oz," published in 1900. This literary connection helped to cement the name's association with magic and whimsy.
Other notable individuals named Glinda throughout history include Glinda Hawkesworth (1887-1972), a British actress and singer who performed in various musical theater productions in London's West End, and Glinda Portway (1914-2003), an American painter and sculptor known for her avant-garde works.
People
Glinda + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Glinda 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
Glinda: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Glinda?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 1,685 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Glinda 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 203,415 US residents.
Is Glinda a common name?
We classify Glinda as "Rare". It ranks above 93% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 2,547 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Glinda most popular?
The single biggest year for Glinda was 1951, when 142 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Glinda is about 69 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Glinda in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 1,818 people with the name Glinda, or 0.60 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #8,087 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 Glinda 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 Glinda?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Glinda appears almost entirely female. Of the 1,818 people counted with this name, 99.9% were female and only a very small share were male. 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 Glinda?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Glinda is White at 61.6%. The next largest groups are Black (28.6%) and Hispanic (5.6%). 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 Glinda most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Glinda in the 2020 Census, accounting for 61.6% (1,119 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 Glinda in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Glinda a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Glinda 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 Glinda still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Glinda 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 Glinda 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 Glinda as a first name?
If you just want to know how many people have the name Glinda, HowManyOfMe.org gives you the headline number in one glance.