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Meaning
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Gladys is such a quaint old name. I fell in love with it after watching a 1930s movie, this was the lead girl’s name and they called her Glad!
And it has the word Lady in it (a possible nickname?!?), so sweet!
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And it has the word Lady in it (a possible nickname?!?), so sweet!
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Gladys Bentley (1907 – 1960) was an American blues singer, pianist, and entertainer during the Harlem Renaissance.
Her career skyrocketed when she appeared at Harry Hansberry's Clam House, a well-known gay speakeasy in New York in the 1920s, as a black, lesbian, cross-dressing performer. She headlined in the early 1930s at Harlem's Ubangi Club, where she was backed up by a chorus line of drag queens. She dressed in men's clothes (including a signature tail coat and top hat), played piano, and sang her own raunchy lyrics to popular tunes of the day in a deep, growling voice while flirting with women in the audience.
On the decline of the Harlem speakeasies with the repeal of Prohibition, she relocated to southern California, where she was billed as "America's Greatest Sepia Piano Player" and the "Brown Bomber of Sophisticated Songs". She was frequently harassed for wearing men's clothing. She tried to continue her musical career but did not achieve as much success as she had had in the past. Bentley was openly lesbian early in her career, but during the McCarthy Era she started wearing dresses and married, claiming to have been "cured" by taking female hormones.
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Her career skyrocketed when she appeared at Harry Hansberry's Clam House, a well-known gay speakeasy in New York in the 1920s, as a black, lesbian, cross-dressing performer. She headlined in the early 1930s at Harlem's Ubangi Club, where she was backed up by a chorus line of drag queens. She dressed in men's clothes (including a signature tail coat and top hat), played piano, and sang her own raunchy lyrics to popular tunes of the day in a deep, growling voice while flirting with women in the audience.
On the decline of the Harlem speakeasies with the repeal of Prohibition, she relocated to southern California, where she was billed as "America's Greatest Sepia Piano Player" and the "Brown Bomber of Sophisticated Songs". She was frequently harassed for wearing men's clothing. She tried to continue her musical career but did not achieve as much success as she had had in the past. Bentley was openly lesbian early in her career, but during the McCarthy Era she started wearing dresses and married, claiming to have been "cured" by taking female hormones.
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I'm surprised that this once popular name is now rare. Maybe it'll come back someday. Anyway, I like this name. I wouldn't call it (or any other name) an "old lady name". Besides, all old ladies were babies once.
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Gladys, gladness.
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Gladys is also used in Brazil. It's less common here than it is in Spanish-speaking countries, but it's used here. I even know at least one Brazilian with the name.
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Personally, I love this name because it reminds me of a gladiolus flower and it sounds like happy :)
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I find this name really unattractive. It doesn’t sound good!
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My name is GLADYS and I am proud of my name, it's a very special and powerful name and I love it.
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Also used in French: https://www.meilleursprenoms.com/popularite-prenom/Gladys [noted -ed]
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I don't have a very strong opinion about the name. If I think of Gladys, I automatically picture a very nice, plump woman in her forties or fifties who works as a housekeeper or waitress. Don't ask me why, I don't know either. It may seem offensive, but I do not do it with that intention. It's not a bad name, but there are better ones.
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Pronounced GLAD-is.
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Old lady name! Can't imagine this on an infant.
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Kind of reminds me of GLAZE. Idk why, and also I have no opinion on this name, I don't dislike it, but I don't like it either.
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I really dislike this name...
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Lovely name.
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It's pretty!
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For some reason, it makes me think of maple syrup and pancakes.
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The name Gladys makes me think of a reptile for some reason. I really don't know why.
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This name is just fugly. It doesn't help that it sounds like the name of someone who is a hundred years old either.
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Too dated and it's kind of unattractive. Also, the ending looks strange. It looks like someone added an S to the end of "Glady".
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Gladys Sommereux (née Reyes), is a Filipina actress best known for her role as "Clara," the lead villainess from the 90s ABS-CBN hit series Mara Clara.
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Gladys Berejiklian is an Australian politician serving as the 45th and current Premier of New South Wales and the Leader of the New South Wales Liberal Party, offices which she assumed on 23 January 2017 following the resignation of Mike Baird. She has been a member of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly since 2003, representing the seat of Willoughby.
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I had zero idea this name was related to Claudia, and even though I know BTN is one of the most reliable places on the Internet for etymology, I can scarcely believe it. I was 100% sure "Gladys" was related to the gladiolus, aka sword-flower! At least that was what Wikipedia said when I first looked it up as a kid.
I've been in love with the name since I was eight years old and read the (highly-fictionalized) story of Saint Gladys, the swashbuckling Welsh princess whose father wouldn't consent to her marriage, so her beloved "kidnapped" her (supposedly with the help of King Arthur and two of his knights) and they lived happily swashbuckling lives until they converted and lived happily prayerful, peaceful lives. Textbook example of fiercely passionate sinners becoming fiercely passionate saints.
Having been introduced to the name *that* way, you can understand I hate that it's only associated with frail old ladies (not that there's anything wrong with being frail, old, and/or a lady).
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I've been in love with the name since I was eight years old and read the (highly-fictionalized) story of Saint Gladys, the swashbuckling Welsh princess whose father wouldn't consent to her marriage, so her beloved "kidnapped" her (supposedly with the help of King Arthur and two of his knights) and they lived happily swashbuckling lives until they converted and lived happily prayerful, peaceful lives. Textbook example of fiercely passionate sinners becoming fiercely passionate saints.
Having been introduced to the name *that* way, you can understand I hate that it's only associated with frail old ladies (not that there's anything wrong with being frail, old, and/or a lady).
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If your name is GLADYS, you have an awesome name! The name literally means "PRINCESS WITH SWORD"! WHAT A POWERFUL NAME! Wear it with pride. Your name is not Claudia so it does not mean lame. Claudia and Gladys are two different names.
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I grew up in Spain and then moved to Mexico. Both of those places I was never made fun of my name being Gladys and to be honest I always felt special since no one I knew had that name. Until I moved to the U.S. that’s when I received a lot of backlash for having the name Gladys, and I became very shameful of it to the point were I didn’t even want to introduce myself. I’m only 19 and when people see me they think I’m younger than that but as soon as they know my name they wouldn’t ever expect it to be Gladys. Mainly because there’s this stigma that it’s an old woman’s name. And it makes me very upset because there’s more to it than just that. One of the recent experiences that I had was for a job interview. The employer and I spoke on the phone to schedule an interview then we met and the first thing that she told me was “Oh wow, I was not expecting you to be this young and with that name and also you’re Hispanic, right?” At that point I just nodded and proceeded with the interview. But to be completely honest I would just like to meet someone and not have that whole stigma of the name Gladys overpower that first impression.
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The name "Gladys" is derived from Welsh & means "one who wields or handles a sword." Wikipedia says something else so... I never liked my name & people always expected an old lady until they saw me in person. It is distinctive but people always call me "Gloria" & almost nobody spells it correctly!
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Gladys is a middle aged lady who works in an office, she's over worked, her husband is about to leave her for a girl half his age, and she has a horrible drinking habit.
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Very old and dated, but looks nice with the word lady in the middle.
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Though Ouida's novel "Puck" probably had an influence on the name, there were 128 girls named Gladys in the 1870 United States census, almost all born in the 1860s and almost none having any obvious family connection with Wales. It therefore seems that two earlier novels "Gladys of Harlech" (1858) by Louisa M. Spooner and "Gladys the Reaper" (1860) by Anne Beale (both originally published anonymously as Victorian novels by women often were) had some impact before Ouida picked up the name. Both of those novels are actually set in Wales and written by English women who were living in Wales when they wrote their books.
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Gladys Love Smith Presley, mother of Elvis Presley.
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I don't think it's bad at all. It sounds similar to Alice and that's back in style -- why not Gladys? It also rhymes with the first 2 syllables of the mystifyingly popular Madison. It's so interesting that some names come back and others are lost forever. It's often so arbitrary-seeming to me, but there must be something else behind it that I just can't see.
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Gladys is an absolutely horrible name! I am allowed to say that because it was MY name! Growing up in the 60’s and 70's when my friends had flower power hippy names I was the object of ridicule. I actually had a boy I really liked tell me when I was fifteen that he really liked me but his friends would make fun of him for going out with a girl called Gladys. I started calling myself Gail with friends when I was eighteen though had to keep my own name for work. I was very glamorous and was constantly told that when people met me they had expected an old lady in twinset and pearls and they were shocked when they saw me. I took the plunge and changed it legally when I was 34. Best thing I ever did though my mother (also called Gladys) took it as a personal rejection and never called me Gail once in her life and cut me out of her will. I love being Gail. It changed everything about me. I know some old fashioned names are coming back but I think Gladys is too harsh for a wee girl.
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Lol that’s my name and I read all the comments and all I can do is laugh.
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Gladys sounds really nice, but the spelling is not. It just looks a bit too improper for me, to be more specific, the -dys letters don’t look good together. I feel if we want to make this sound a bit more modern and look good on a young child, Gladice might be a preferable spelling since it retains the pretty pronunciation while giving it a much more pretty spelling to look at that doesn’t look old lady-like. Just my 2 cents, you’re allowed to like anything you want and if you like the Gladys spelling or just the name in general, good for you.
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Really old-fashioned nowadays, however this name is still poplar among Chinese girls these days, probably influenced by Gladys Aylward, a English missionary that went to China during the Japanese Invasion during WWII.
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It's an okay name, like many other "old lady" names, I don't think it deserves as much hatefulness as it gets.
It's a name that will age well (I don't mean that as into the nursing home) and sounds quite nice.
Gladys Johnson, Gladys Smith, Gladys Cook... It's not that bad, people.
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It's a name that will age well (I don't mean that as into the nursing home) and sounds quite nice.
Gladys Johnson, Gladys Smith, Gladys Cook... It's not that bad, people.
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This is the name of my grandparent's kitten, they got the name from a friend Gladys Kikuchi that runs a Japanese market by their house. I think it's an okay name on a cat... but I think my grandparents made a nice choice by naming the kitten after a good friend.
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This name is ancient. It would sound putrid on a little girl.
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The name Gladys was given to 83 girls born in the US in 2015.
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I love the name Gladys! It's a really cute name! :D.
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I could definitely see this becoming a retro, hipster name.
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Hello, please don't assume that because you see an old fashion name that the person behind it is hideous. Gladys might not be exotic or trendy but I grew to like it, I was ridiculed and before meeting me was judged by my name. I'm a bartender who is smart, petite, and many say I'm pretty, (beauty is in the eye of the beholder). I love people, many think a certain way until they meet you. Stereotyping is awful, after all, a name is just a name... Thank you!
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Am I the only one that doesn't think this name sounds that old-fashioned?
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I'm quite fond of the name Gladys. It is the name of my great grandmother. I think it would make a nice alternative to the often overused 'Joy'. A nice nickname would be Lady. It conjures images of a bygone era every time I hear it. I may well use this as a middle name if ever I have a daughter.
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I've always held a soft spot for underdog names like Gladys, Alma, Agnes - names that have gone out of fashion, are generally hated, and won't be making a comeback any time soon. It makes them special in my eyes.
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For the comment above, I see what you mean with out of fashion names (although I love Agnes pronounced Ann-yes) but Gladys is just not quite a right name. It reminds me too much of a chicken. Please, let this name go, everyone.
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The name Gladys hasn't completely died out. It was given to 80 baby girls born in the US in 2012.
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Famous soul singer, Gladys Knight.
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A modern version of Gwladus/Gwladys from the welsh 'gwlad' meaning country/countryside (from old Welsh 'gulat'). These names are all pronounced the same and are just spelling variants.
The spelling with the W is still common in Wales and the names are considered the same. (similar to Jessica and Jessika)
It might have been used as the welsh form of Claudia, but I doubt it ever meant 'lame' or 'cripple' to the Welsh seeing as how that (cloff/efrydd) has zero in common with the word Gladys.
In summary - this is a Welsh name with a meaning derived from its Welsh root. Not 'Claudia'.
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The spelling with the W is still common in Wales and the names are considered the same. (similar to Jessica and Jessika)
It might have been used as the welsh form of Claudia, but I doubt it ever meant 'lame' or 'cripple' to the Welsh seeing as how that (cloff/efrydd) has zero in common with the word Gladys.
In summary - this is a Welsh name with a meaning derived from its Welsh root. Not 'Claudia'.
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It is a nice name, but Gladys is not similar to the name Claudia.
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I don't like it, but there are worse names. I prefer "Claudia."
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It sounds happy. I like it a little, but at the same time I definitely won't use it.
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This name will always remind me of Gladys the cow from "Sesame Street", performed by Richard Hunt. She was known for her theatrical voice and pride in her bovine heritage (she was "proud, proud, proud to be a cow...!")
I guess that I've associated this name with cows ever since.
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I guess that I've associated this name with cows ever since.
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It's a shame that there are so many comments about Gladys being "old" and "dated." Gladys really is lovely. The first syllable is *glad*--like the child is happy, like the parents are happy to have her. And it's really not a harsh name to say, despite the fact that there's a 'd' in the middle of it. I love Gladys, and think it should make a comeback. Like another poster said, look at Hazel.
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I can see those Emma's and Isabella's naming their daughters Gladys in 20 years. Look at the comeback of Hazel.
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A fine, trim, upbeat name.
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I like this name. I think it rolls off the tongue, and because of the "glad", it seems like a bright, happy name.
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Gladys Aylward was a Christian Missionary in China.
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I like it. It sounds happy and kind of hip.
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I happen to find this a very pretty name. It has a darker feel to it, which is more to do with my only semi-association to this name then just how it sounds. This is a bit of a stretch, but it is pronounced basically how I say GLaDOS' name from Portal. Just my impression. But having that connection makes it impossible for me to think of old ladies as some of you are reminded of. I think of black humor and someone who is very deep. So that's just what I think of when I hear this name. Sorry for being a geek and connecting something most of you think of as an old fashioned game to a computer.
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No offense but this sounds like a name for an old lady with a million cats. Ugly and dated.
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Although I'd not name a child Gladys because it's too dated, I kinda like Glad is. Glad definitely exists so let's all be happy.
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When I first saw this name spelled out on paper, I thought it was pronounced GLAD-eez or glad-EES, and I thought it was pretty. But when I noticed it was actually GLAD-is, it was a MAJOR turn-off. I always think of vikings when I hear this name. And it sounds really old. I don't like this name at all! (sorry to all the Gladyses out there!)
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No one recognizes the fullness, the sweetness, the glow, the wholesomeness of Gladys any more?
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The sound of the entire name is ugly: the 'gl' sound, the 'gl' sound combined with the 'a', and the 'dys' sound following it. Plus, the name sounds like the name of a very old woman.
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Gladys Knight is a popular old school R&B singer.
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My mom named me after the gladioulus, the sword glower. So I think Gladys would derive its meaning from the sword.
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Whilst this name was the 14th most popular girl's name in the United States in 1900, it also briefly featured in the boys' top 1,000 there in position no.672 in the same year. However, the majority only know this name as a once-popular girl's name and nowadays a granny name.
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Gladys came out of nowhere right around 1900 and took the baby naming world by storm, very quickly becoming highly popular. It stayed popular for about twenty years and then started to sink. I had a great-aunt named Gladys who was born in 1902. Because it was so trendy eighty to one hundred years ago, it is thought of as a typical old lady name. But hard as it is to believe eighty to one hundred years from now, Jennifer, Emily, Ashley, and Madison will be considered ugly old lady names!
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If someone says to me "Gladys", I always associate it with clumsy houskeepers and cleaners from Miss Marple-stories. They are almost always named so, I don't know why. If they are clever, they have names like Mary or Lucy.
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I don't really like this name. It's just hideous, very much like Bertha, Ethel, Gertrude, and Mildred. I think Claudia is much nicer than Gladys, in spite of Claudia's own similarity to the name Claude, its masculine counterpart.
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It does seem like an old name, but it's pretty. Much better than popular names like Christine, Laura, Linsday, Amanda and Jacqueline. Plus it could be like gladiolus. Like the flowers. Very pretty ones. And although gladiolus is pronounced gladiola. Maybe that could be how it's spelt. And a nickname could be ola, I think this is a nice name.
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Oh you guys are mean! I really like this name, but it reminds me of Gladys Kravitz form the show Bewitched.
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I think this is the most horrible name on earth.
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Gladys Smith was Mary Pickford's real name.
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It means God's Princess from the bible, 1 Peter 2:9. An alternative meaning would be the sword used by a gladiator in Roman times.
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This is the King James version of 1 Peter 2:9, and if anyone can find God's Princess Gladys in it, then good luck:
But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light.
By the way, the gladiolus flower is named after its leaves, shaped like little swords; in Latin, gladius = sword, gladiolus = little sword. I suppose you could take gladiolus, make it look girly by changing the -us to -a, and use it as a name, but it still wouldn't have anything to do with Gladys.
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But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light.
By the way, the gladiolus flower is named after its leaves, shaped like little swords; in Latin, gladius = sword, gladiolus = little sword. I suppose you could take gladiolus, make it look girly by changing the -us to -a, and use it as a name, but it still wouldn't have anything to do with Gladys.
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Sounds like a pre-historic aunt to me, not a very nice name for a child!
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Gladys Brockwell was an American actress.
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In a baby name book I saw, it says Gladys is Anglo-Saxon for a sword. And somewhere else I read it meant lame.
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Why would Gladys mean lame when its origins can be likened to the word gladiator?
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To the person who asked how Gladys could mean "lame"--that is if Gladys is taken to be the Welsh form of Claudia, which is derived from the Latin word for "lame/crippled."
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Comments are left by users of this website. They are not checked for accuracy.
America’s Sweetheart, Mary Pickford, was born Gladys Marie Smith (1892-1979). Considered one of the most recognizable women in history, Pickford was one of the most, and at one point THE most, popular film actresses of her era. She was also a producer, screenwriter and film studio founder.