girl's name
Glenda
GLEN-duh
- Origin Welsh
- Gender Girl
- Syllables 2
- Letters 6
- Popularity Rare
- Births on record 110,043
Scotland
#618
1980 births
Glenda is a twentieth-century Welsh invention rather than a traditional name — it joins two ordinary Welsh adjectives, and it does not appear in the historical record before about 1900. We record 109,937 lifetime births for it, strongest in the United States.
- Glenda is a name of Welsh origin.
- Peaked in 1950, when 4,224 babies were given the name.
- It has been falling over the past decade.
- Today about 1 in 165,782 babies in the United States is given this name.
- First appears in US birth records in 1900.
- 2 syllables, with the stress on syllable 1.
Glenda over time
Births per decade in the United States, 1900s to 2020s. The striped bar is the 2020s, still in progress — it covers 2020 to 2025, not a full ten years.
Show the numbers
| Decade | Births |
|---|---|
| 1900s | 65 |
| 1910s | 553 |
| 1920s | 1,457 |
| 1930s | 10,630 |
| 1940s | 33,465 |
| 1950s | 35,314 |
| 1960s | 17,644 |
| 1970s | 5,324 |
| 1980s | 2,448 |
| 1990s | 1,374 |
| 2000s | 787 |
| 2010s | 325 |
| 2020s (to 2025) | 136 |
What Glenda means
Glenda means pure and good, or clean and good. The Welsh joins glân, clean or pure, to da, good, so both halves are ordinary adjectives rather than nouns.
Where Glenda comes from
Glenda is a modern Welsh coinage built from glân, clean, pure or holy, joined to da, good — two everyday adjectives assembled into a name in roughly the last century. Wales produced a number of these in the same period, including Glenys, Ceridwen revivals and Eirlys, as part of a deliberate cultural revival. It is not related to Glenn, which is the Gaelic word for a valley, though the resemblance has led plenty of sources to pair them.
Glenda in use
Glenda peaked in the United States in 1950, when 4,224 babies were registered, and is falling in our data. It charts in exactly one of the six markets we track, at 6044th in the United States on 20 births, across 110,043 lifetime births. Our records carry it from 1900, which fits a name coined around the turn of that century rather than inherited.
How popular is Glenda?
In 2025, Glenda was given to 20 babies in the United States. It is a rare choice.
Where Glenda is used
US figures omit any name given to fewer than five babies in a year, so the rarest names are absent from the source rather than absent from use. Data & sources.
Names that peaked alongside Glenda
These names rose and fell in the same era, which is why they tend to sound like they belong together.
Parents who like Glenda also like
Names whose popularity has risen and fallen in step with Glenda over the last century — the same taste, a different name.
1 nickname for Glenda
Each one is a name in its own right — the figure underneath is how it is doing today, so you can see which short forms are rising and which have faded.
Glenda in other languages
The same name as it is spelled elsewhere — not shortenings, and not different names that merely sound alike. Each one has its own record here.
Sibling names for Glenda
Names from the same era that won't rhyme or share an initial with Glenda — the two things that make a sibling set grate.
Common questions about Glenda
What does the name Glenda mean?
Pure and good — the Welsh glân, clean, joined to da, good.
Is Glenda an ancient Welsh name?
No. It is a twentieth-century coinage, part of a deliberate cultural revival.
Is Glenda related to Glenn?
No — Glenn is the Gaelic word for a valley. The resemblance is a coincidence.
How popular is Glenda?
6044th in the United States, down from a 1950 peak of 4,215 births.
Is Glenda a girl's or a boy's name?
Glenda is given almost entirely to girls in birth records.
How many syllables are in Glenda?
Glenda has 2 syllables.
What are the nicknames for Glenda?
Glenda is usually shortened to Glen.
Is Glenda a good name?
That is not something records can settle, but they can tell you what you would be choosing. Glenda currently ranks #6,044 in the United States. It has been falling over the past decade. Everything else — how it sounds with your surname, who it reminds you of — is yours.