Gladys (given name)
Gladys is a female name from the Welsh name Gwladus or Gwladys, which bears the meaning of royalty ; conversely, it has been speculated to originally be from the Latin diminutive "gladiolus," meaning small sword hence the gladiolus flowering plant.
It may be used as a Welsh variant of Claudia, meaning lame.
People
- Gladys Adda, Tunisian communist and activist
- Gladys Aller, American painter
- Gladys Ambrose, English actress
- Gladys Anderson, New Zealand artist
- Gladys Anoma, Ivorian scientist and politician
- Gladys Anslow, American physicist
- Gladys Arnold
- Gladys Asmah, Ghanaian politician
- Gladys Aylward, English missionary to China
- Gladys Elizabeth Baker, American mycologist
- Gladys Baldwin, Peruvian sports shooter
- Gladys E. Banks, American politician
- Gladys Bentley, American blues singer, pianist and entertainer
- Gladys Berejiklian, Australian politician, Premier of New South Wales
- Gladys Bissonette
- Gladys Black
- Gladys Blake, American actress
- Gladys Block, American nutritionist
- Gladys Bokese, Congolese footballer
- Gladys Boot, British actress
- Gladys Kamakakuokalani Brandt, educator and civic leader in Hawaii
- Gladys Brandao, Panamanian actress
- Gladys Brockwell, American actress
- Gladys Bustamante, Jamaican activist
- Gladys Calthrop, British scenic designer
- Gladys Cardiff, American author
- Gladys Carmagnola, Paraguayan poet
- Gladys Carrion
- Gladys Hasty Carroll, American fiction writer
- Gladys Campbell, American writer
- Gladys Carson, British swimmer
- Gladys Casely-Hayford, Gold Coast-born Sierra Leonean writer
- Gladys Castelvecchi, Uruguayan poet
- Gladys Cherry, a survivor of the sinking of the RMS Titanic
- Gladys Colton, English schoolteacher and educationist
- Gladys J. Commons, American government official
- Gladys Cooper, English actress
- Gladys Davis, several people
- Gladys del Estal, killed Basque ecologist activist
- Gladys del Pilar, Swedish singer
- Gladys Dick, American microbiologist
- Gladys Doyle, Papua New Guinea international lawn bowler
- Gladys Egan, American child actress
- Gladys Ewart, Canadian pianist
- Gladys Elphick, Australian activist
- Gladys Anderson Emerson, American historian, biochemist and nutritionist
- Gladys Fairbanks, American silent film actress
- Gladys Foster, several people
- Gladys Gale, American singer
- Gladys George, American actress
- Gladys Gillem, American professional wrestler
- Gladys Esther Tormes González, Puerto Rican historian
- Gladys Goodall, New Zealand photographer
- Gladys Guevarra, Filipino actress and comedian
- Gladys Gunzer, American sculptor
- Gladys Hall, American journalist
- Gladys Hansen, American archivist
- Gladys Fries Harriman, American philanthropist, equestrian and big game hunter
- Gladys Heldman, American sports journalist
- Gladys Henson, Irish actress
- Gladys Hill, screenwriter
- Gladys Hooper, English supercentenarian
- Gladys Horton, American singer
- Gladys Hulette, American actress
- Gladys Jayawardene, Sri Lankan physician and academic
- Gladys Jennings, British actress
- Gladys Johnston, Canadian painter
- Gladys Kahaka, Namibian biochemist
- Gladys Kessler, American judge
- Gladys Kipkemoi, Kenyan runner
- Gladys Kipsoi, Kenyan long-distance runner
- Gladys Knight, American singer and actress
- Gladys Landaverde, Salvadoran runner
- Gladys Leslie, American actress
- Gladys Li, Hong Kong politician and lawyer
- Gladys Liu, Australian politician
- Gladys Lundwe, Zambian politician
- Gladys Maccabe, British artist
- Gladys Malvern, American actress and writer
- Gladys Marín, Chilean activist and political figure
- Gladys Olebile Masire, Botswana teacher and political figure
- Gladys McCoy , American politician
- Gladys Mgudlandlu, South African artist and educator
- Gladys Midgley, British singer
- Gladys Milligan, American painter
- Gladys Mitchell, British writer
- Gladys Moncrieff, Australian singer
- Gladys Morcom, British swimmer
- Gladys Morrell
- Gladys Nasikanda, Kenyan volleyball player
- Gladys Nederlander, American theatre producer
- Gladys Nilsson, American artist
- Gladys Nordenstrom, American composer
- Gladys O'Connor, British-Canadian actress
- Gladys Oyenbot, Ugandan actress
- Gladys Milton Palmer, Sarawak princess
- Gladys Parker, American cartoonist
- Gladys Lomafu Pato, Swazi short story writer, teacher and lecturer
- Gladys Mills Phipps, American racehorse owner
- Gladys Pidgeon, New Zealand swimmer
- Gladys Pizarro, American music executive
- Gladys Portugues, American professional bodybuilder and actress
- Gladys Powers, British centenarian
- Gladys Pyle, American politician
- Gladys Presley, mother of Elvis Presley
- Gladys Ravenscroft, golfer
- Gladys Reeves, photographer
- Gladys Reichard, American anthropologist and linguist
- Gladys Reyes, Filipina actress
- Gladys Reynell
- Gladys H. Reynolds
- Gladys Ripley, British opera singer
- Gladys A. Robinson, American politician
- Gladys Root, American criminal defense attorney
- Gladys Rodríguez, Puerto Rican actress, comedian, and television host
- Gladys W. Royal, chemist
- Gladys Savary, relief worker
- Gladys Schmitt, American writer
- Gladys Shelley, American composer
- Gladys Skillett, British nurse in World War II
- Gladys Smuckler Moskowitz, singer and composer
- Gladys Spellman, U.S. Congresswoman
- Gladys Spencer-Churchill, Duchess of Marlborough, French-American aristocrat and socialite
- Gladys Staines, Christian missionary in India
- Gladys Bronwyn Stern, British writer
- Gladys Eleanor Guggenheim Straus, nutritionist
- Gladys Strum, Canadian politician
- Gladys Swain, French psychiatrist
- Gladys Swarthout, American singer
- Gladys Vanderbilt Széchenyi, American heiress and wife of Count László Széchenyi
- Gladys Taber, American writer
- Gladys Tantaquidgeon, Native American anthropologist
- Gladys Tantoh, Cameroonian movie entrepreneur and executive
- Gladys Taylor, several people
- Gladys Tejeda, Peruvian distance runner
- Gladys Thayer, American painter
- Gladys Triana, Cuban-American artist
- Gladys Triveño, Peruvian lawyer
- Gladys Turquet-Milnes, British linguist
- Gladys Buchanan Unger, American writer
- Gladys Vergara, Uruguayan astronomer
- Gladys Chai von der Laage, German sports photographer
- Gladys Waddingham, American writer
- Gladys Walton, actress
- Gladys Wamuyu, Kenyan athlete
- Gladys West, mathematician
- Gladys Widdiss, Native American leader
- Gladys Willems, Belgian archer
- Gladys Wynne, Irish painter
- Gladys Yang, Sino-British translator
- Gladys Yelvington, American composer
- Gladys Zender, Peruvian model
Fictional characters
- Gladys, a character in the HBO drama The Leftovers
- Gladys Adams, character in the soap opera Home and Away
- Gladys the Cow, a character on Sesame Street
- Gladys Emmanuel, a character in the BBC comedy Open All Hours
- Gladys Hotchkiss, a character in the musical The Pajama Game
- Gladys Gutzman, a character in the children's book series Junie B. Jones
- Gladys Kravitz, a character in the TV show Bewitched
- Gladys Pugh, Chief Yellowcoat, a character in the BBC comedy Hi-de-Hi!
- Gladys Porter, a character in the TV sitcom Pete and Gladys
- Gladys Jones, Jughead and Jellybean's mother on the hit TV show, Riverdale