Glynda
A feminine name of Welsh origin meaning "from the fair ring".
Name Census estimates that about 1,429 living Americans carry the first name Glynda. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Glynda today is around 70 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Glynda births was 1947 (121 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Glynda. 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 Glynda is about 70 years old today, placing it firmly among the names of earlier generations. Most living Glyndas were born before 1966.
People living today
1.4K
~ 1 in 239,856 Americans
Peak year
1947
121 babies that year
Average age
70
years old
1985 SSA rank
#8,649
Tracked since 1925
Census
Glynda in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 1,799 people with the first name Glynda, which placed it at #8,133 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
#8,133
National first-name rank
People counted
1.8K
1,799 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.6
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
82.0% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Glynda
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Glynda is White at 82.0%. The next largest groups are Black (10.7%) and Two or More Races (3.3%). 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 Glynda 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 Glynda at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White82.0% · 1,475
- Black or African American10.7% · 192
- Two or more races3.3% · 59
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.7% · 30
- Hispanic or Latino1.6% · 29
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.8% · 14
Popularity
Glynda: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Glynda from the 1920s through to the 1980s, spanning 7 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1940s, with 937 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1940s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Glynda 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 Glynda during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Glyndas live
The SSA's state-level files cover 13 states and territories. Texas, Tennessee, Georgia recorded the most babies named Glynda, while Missouri, North Carolina, Kentucky recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 96 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Glynda
The name Glynda is believed to have originated in the Welsh language and culture. It is thought to be a feminine form of the Welsh name Glyn, which means "valley" or "glen." The name has been in use since at least the 16th century in Wales and neighboring regions of Britain.
While the exact origin of the name Glynda is uncertain, some linguists suggest it may be derived from the Old Welsh words "glyn" meaning valley and the suffix "-da" which was often used to create feminine names. Alternatively, it could be a combination of the elements "glyn" (valley) and a variation of the Welsh name "Anda" or "Ande."
There are no known historical references to the name Glynda in ancient texts or religious scriptures. However, it is possible that the name was in use among the Welsh people before written records were kept.
One of the earliest recorded examples of the name Glynda is from the late 16th century, when it appears in parish records from Flintshire, Wales. In 1589, a Glynda Griffith was born in the village of Gwaenysgor.
Throughout history, there have been several notable people with the first name Glynda:
1. Glynda Curry (1936-1994), an American actress best known for her roles in television shows and films in the 1960s and 1970s.
2. Glynda Hines (born 1955), an American jazz vocalist and songwriter who has performed with various jazz ensembles and released several albums.
3. Glynda Kaye (1908-1976), an American film and television actress who appeared in numerous movies and TV shows during the 1930s, 1940s, and 1950s.
4. Glynda Carr (born 1974), an American political strategist and co-founder of Higher Heights, a national organization dedicated to electing more Black women to office.
5. Glynda Valleyhill (born 1952), an American author and motivational speaker who has written several books on personal growth and spiritual development.
People
Glynda + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Glynda 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
Glynda: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Glynda?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 1,429 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Glynda 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 239,856 US residents.
Is Glynda a common name?
We classify Glynda as "Rare". It ranks above 92.2% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 2,425 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Glynda most popular?
The single biggest year for Glynda was 1947, when 121 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Glynda is about 70 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Glynda in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 1,799 people with the name Glynda, or 0.60 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #8,133 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 Glynda 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 Glynda?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Glynda appears almost entirely female. Of the 1,802 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 Glynda?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Glynda is White at 82.0%. The next largest groups are Black (10.7%) and Two or More Races (3.3%). 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 Glynda most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Glynda in the 2020 Census, accounting for 82.0% (1,475 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 Glynda in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Glynda a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Glynda 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 Glynda still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Glynda 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 Glynda 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 Glynda?
For a quick modern take, check how many people have the name Glynda on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org.