Glynnis
A feminine name of Welsh origin meaning "pure, blessed".
Name Census estimates that about 484 living Americans carry the first name Glynnis. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Glynnis today is around 51 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Glynnis births was 1964 (40 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Glynnis. 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.
People living today
484
~ 1 in 708,170 Americans
Peak year
1964
40 babies that year
Average age
51
years old
2008 SSA rank
#18,488
Tracked since 1951
Census
Glynnis in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 585 people with the first name Glynnis, which placed it at #18,434 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
#18,434
National first-name rank
People counted
585
585 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
57.4% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Glynnis
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Glynnis is White at 57.4%. The next largest groups are Black (27.4%) and Hispanic (5.5%). 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 Glynnis 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 Glynnis at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White57.4% · 336
- Black or African American27.4% · 160
- Hispanic or Latino5.5% · 32
- Asian and Pacific Islander5.0% · 29
- Two or more races3.6% · 21
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.2% · 7
Popularity
Glynnis: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Glynnis from the 1950s through to the 2000s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1960s, with 197 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1960s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Glynnis 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 Glynnis during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Glynnis' live
Origin
Meaning and history of Glynnis
The name Glynnis is a Welsh feminine name derived from the Welsh word "glyn," meaning "valley." It is believed to have originated in the early medieval period, around the 6th or 7th century AD, when the Welsh language and culture were flourishing in the region that is now known as Wales.
While the name Glynnis does not appear to have been recorded in ancient texts or religious scriptures, it is a variation of the more common Welsh name Glyn, which has been used for both men and women throughout history. The earliest recorded use of the name Glynnis is believed to be in the late 19th century, although it may have been in use informally before then.
One of the earliest notable people with the name Glynnis was Glynnis Johns (1923-2003), a British actress who appeared in numerous films and television shows throughout her career. She is perhaps best known for her roles in the films "The Sundowners" (1960) and "Mary Poppins" (1964).
Another famous Glynnis is Glynnis O'Connor (born 1956), an American actress and director who has appeared in films and television shows such as "Erin Brockovich" (2000), "The Crucible" (1996), and "Law & Order" (1990-2010). She has also directed several episodes of popular TV shows like "ER" and "Judging Amy."
In the field of literature, Glynnis Hart (born 1953) is a Canadian author best known for her novel "Eccentric Entries: The Curious and Bizarre Adventures of the Real-Life Madame Tussaud" (2004), which explores the life of the famous wax sculptor Marie Tussaud.
Glynnis Whitwer (born 1958) is an American author and speaker known for her work in the Christian inspirational genre. She has written several books, including "I Used to Be So Organized" (2003) and "Doing Busy Better" (2017), which offer advice on time management and productivity.
Finally, Glynnis Breytenbach (born 1946) is a South African poet and writer whose works often explore themes of identity, language, and the struggles of apartheid. Her collections include "Woordwerk" (1983) and "Skreeu" (2004), and she has received numerous awards for her contributions to Afrikaans literature.
People
Glynnis + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Glynnis 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
Glynnis: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Glynnis?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 484 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Glynnis 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 708,170 US residents.
Is Glynnis a common name?
We classify Glynnis as "Very Rare". It ranks above 84.3% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 559 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Glynnis most popular?
The single biggest year for Glynnis was 1964, when 40 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Glynnis is about 51 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Glynnis in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 585 people with the name Glynnis, or 0.19 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #18,434 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 Glynnis 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 Glynnis?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Glynnis leans strongly female. 558 people counted with this name were female (95.7%), compared with 25 male bearers (4.3%). 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 Glynnis?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Glynnis is White at 57.4%. The next largest groups are Black (27.4%) and Hispanic (5.5%). 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 Glynnis most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Glynnis in the 2020 Census, accounting for 57.4% (336 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 Glynnis in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Glynnis a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Glynnis 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 Glynnis still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Glynnis 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 Glynnis 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 Glynnis as a first name?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.