Glenda

Meaning of Glenda

Glenda, designated as a unisex appellation, derives from the Welsh elements glân (‘pure’ or ‘holy’) and da (‘good’), thereby connoting moral integrity and rural topography; its two-syllable phonological profile, articulated in English as /ɡlənˈdə/, conforms to the consonant–vowel alternation characteristic of early twentieth-century Anglo-American onomastic practices. Statistical analysis of United States birth registries indicates that Glenda attained top-200 prominence during the 1940s and 1950s before undergoing a gradual descent to rank 926 in 2024, with annual instances falling below thirty. Within academic onomastics, it is cited as an exemplar of Celtic–English linguistic synthesis and post-Victorian gender-neutral naming conventions, its enduring appeal rooted in semantic associations that bridge notions of purity, rural topography and ethical virtue.