Gladys
Gladys is a feminine given name .
Origin and meaning
The first name Gladys comes from the Welsh and goes back to the old Welsh first name Gwladus , which probably comes from gwlad "country". The name Gladys was used as the Welsh equivalent of the name Claudia .
Outside Wales, the name was made known through the novel Puck by Ouida .
Name bearers
- Gladys Afamado (* 1930), Uruguayan artist and writer
- Gladys Anderson Emerson (1903–1984), American biochemist and nutritionist
- Gladys Asmah (1939–2014), politician from Ghana
- Gladys Aylward (1902–1970), British missionary in China
- Gladys Bentley (1907–1960), American blues singer and entertainer
- Gladys Cooper (1888–1971), British actress
- Gladys Frazin (1901–1939), American film and stage actress
- Gladys George (1904–1954), American film and stage actress
- Gladys Heldman (1922–2003), American founder of World Tennis Magazine and the Virginia Slims Circuit
- Gladys Knight (* 1944), American singer and actress
- Gladys Kuchta (1915–1998), American opera singer (soprano)
- Gladys Lehman (1892-1993), American screenwriter
- Gladys Lengwe (* 1978), Zambian football referee
- Gladys Marín (1941–2005), Chilean politician, General Secretary of the Communist Party of Chile
- Gladys Nordenstrom-Krenek (1924–2016), American composer
- Gladys Palmer (* before 1935, † after 1946), American jazz and rhythm and blues singer, pianist and composer
- Gladys Werner (1933–2001), American ski racer
- Gladys Yang (1919–1999), British translator of Chinese literature