Gladys (given name)


Gladys is a female name from the Welsh name Gwladus or Gwladys, which is of uncertain meaning. It was the name of Gwladys, a Welsh queen who lived in the late 5th century and early 6th century and became a Christian saint. The name was also used for other Welsh noblewomen, but declined in use in Wales after 1500.
The name was used mainly by Welsh nationalists in the mid-1800s. It was popularized in the late 1800s in the Anglosphere after it was used for the heroine of the historical romance novel Gladys of Harlech by Louisa M. Spooner in 1858, for the heroine of the romance novel Gladys the Reaper by Anne Beale in 1860, and a decade later for the idealized romantic heroine Gladys Gerant in the 1870 novel Puck by Ouida. The name was considered pretty, exotic, and unlike other names in use at the time. It has sometimes been regarded as the Welsh form of the name Claudia, though that association has been debated. The name was at the height of its popularity in English-speaking countries at the end of the 19th century and the early years of the 20th century, but then declined in usage in some countries. An increase in usage after 1990 is associated with the popularity of Argentinean singer Gladys Nelly del Carmen Jiménez, who performs under the stage name. The name was also well-used in African and South American countries and elsewhere in the middle and late 20th century.
Other feminine names ending in the letter s were also in vogue in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Some sources have also noted the similarity in sound between Gladys and the etymologically unrelated words glad and gladiolus flower. The name has also often been associated with the gladiolus.

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Fictional characters