Gladys
Meaning and origin
Wiktionary describes it as a female given name from Welsh. Anglicized from Welsh Gwladus, of uncertain origin, perhaps connected with gwlad (“country”).
Source: Wiktionary, English entry for Gladys (CC BY-SA 4.0). This is the origin of the name in English; families in Sweden may have taken it from another language.
Popularity in Sweden
Few babies have been given the name since 1998; it belongs mostly to older generations. The figures are for this exact spelling; other spellings of the name are counted on their own.
Years with fewer than two babies (fewer than ten before 2004) show as zero in the chart and as – in the table.
Show the figures
| Year | Girls |
|---|---|
| 1998 | – |
| 1999 | – |
| 2000 | – |
| 2001 | – |
| 2002 | – |
| 2003 | – |
| 2004 | – |
| 2005 | – |
| 2006 | – |
| 2007 | – |
| 2008 | – |
| 2009 | – |
| 2010 | – |
| 2011 | – |
| 2012 | – |
| 2013 | – |
| 2014 | 2 |
| 2015 | – |
| 2016 | – |
| 2017 | – |
| 2018 | – |
| 2019 | – |
| 2020 | – |
| 2021 | – |
| 2022 | – |
Everyone registered in Sweden on 31 December with this as the first name they use.
Show the figures
| Year | Women and girls |
|---|---|
| 1999 | 319 |
| 2000 | 316 |
| 2001 | 320 |
| 2002 | 318 |
| 2003 | 323 |
| 2004 | 320 |
| 2005 | 311 |
| 2006 | 307 |
| 2007 | 308 |
| 2008 | 312 |
| 2009 | 313 |
| 2010 | 317 |
| 2011 | 316 |
| 2012 | 316 |
| 2013 | 311 |
| 2014 | 316 |
| 2015 | 319 |
| 2016 | 316 |
| 2017 | 317 |
| 2018 | 317 |
| 2019 | 315 |
| 2020 | 315 |
Gladys in a sentence
- Hej! Jag heter Gladys.Hi! My name is Gladys.
- Gladys ringde och sa att hon blir lite sen.Gladys called and said she'll be a bit late.
- Gladys har bott i Uppsala i tre år.Gladys has lived in Uppsala for three years.
- Gladys mamma är lärare.Gladys's mum is a teacher.
Swedish shows possession with a plain -s and no apostrophe: Gladys mamma is Gladys's mum. Because Gladys already ends in s, nothing is added.
More names
Questions about Gladys
How do you pronounce Gladys in Swedish?
Press Listen at the top of the page to hear Gladys in your device's Swedish voice.
What does the name Gladys mean?
Wiktionary describes it as a female given name from Welsh. Anglicized from Welsh Gwladus, of uncertain origin, perhaps connected with gwlad (“country”).
How popular is Gladys in Sweden?
Fewer than two babies of either sex were named Gladys in 2022. In 2020, 315 people in Sweden had Gladys as the first name they go by.
Popularity figures: Statistics Sweden (SCB), name statistics (BE0001) from the Statistical Database, released as open data under CC0. Each spelling is counted as its own name, as SCB does. SCB's open name statistics end with babies named in 2022 and the population on 31 December 2020; SCB stopped producing name statistics in 2024 and now points to the Swedish Tax Agency (Skatteverket) for newer figures.
Origins, IPA and recordings: Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0), via kaikki.org; recordings from Lingua Libre on Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA). Lingolib is not affiliated with SCB or Wiktionary. Sources last checked 7 October 2026.