Show ContentsGloria Surname History

Etymology of Gloria

What does the name Gloria mean?

The surname Gloria was sometimes anglicized as Glory, as in the four householders of County Kilkenny who appear in Griffith's Valuation in the 19th century. These families, however, are not related to the MacGlory families found in Ulster and County Meath.

Early Origins of the Gloria family

The surname Gloria was first found in County Kilkenny (Irish: Cill Chainnigh), the former Kingdom of Osraige (Ossory), located in Southeastern Ireland in the province of Leinster, where it appears in medieval records such as the Justiciary Rolls and the Ormond Deeds. However, one William O'Gloerne was convicted as a "felon" in County Tipperary in 1292. In 1300, several O'Gloernes ambushed an Englishman at Callan in County Kilkenny. The name is also mentioned in the topographical poems of O'Dugan and O'Heerin.

Early History of the Gloria family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Gloria research. Another 22 words (2 lines of text) covering the year 1699 is included under the topic Early Gloria History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Gloria Spelling Variations

Spelling variations of this family name include: Glorney, O'Glorney, O'Gloerne, O'Gloiarin, Gloryn and many more.

Early Notables of the Gloria family

More information is included under the topic Early Gloria Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Gloria Ranking

In the United States, the name Gloria is the 9,332nd most popular surname with an estimated 2,487 people with that name. 1


Gloria migration to the United States +

Some of the first settlers of this family name were:

Gloria Settlers in United States in the 17th Century
  • Tho Gloria, who arrived in Virginia in 1635 2
Gloria Settlers in United States in the 19th Century
  • Miss Maria da Gloria, aged 25, Portuguese servant who arrived in New York aboard the ship "Vega" in 1892
Gloria Settlers in United States in the 20th Century
  • T F Gloria, who landed in Mississippi in 1902 2

Contemporary Notables of the name Gloria (post 1700) +

  • Jesús Gloria Molina (1948-2023), American politician who served as a member of the Los Angeles City Council, the California State Assembly, the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors and the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority
  • Ruth Gloria Blasco Ibáñez (1910-2003), known by her stage name of Ruth Hall, an American film actress
  • Gloria Eileen McEniry (1923-2021), birth name of Gloria Henry, an American actress, best known for her role as Alice Mitchell, Dennis’s mother, from 1959 to 1963 on the CBS family sitcom Dennis the Menace
  • Gloria Hermolene Petway (1922-1991), née Carr, American technician in the 6888th Central Postal Directory Battalion, first all-female, all-African-American battalion to server overseas
  • Gloria Anne Borrego Galla (1933-2025), known professionally as Gloria Romero, American-born Filipino actress
  • Gloria J. Romero (b. 1955), American politician in the state of California 3
  • Gloria Cordes Elliott (1931-2018), American starting pitcher who played from 1950-1954 in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League
  • Gloria Anne Borger (b. 1952), American Emmy Award nominated, Peabody Award and Primetime Emmy Award winning political pundit, journalist, columnist, former senior political analyst for CNN for more than 17 years
  • Gloria Lavera Fox (1942-2024), American politician for the state of Massachusetts
  • Gloria Rubio y Alatorre (1912-1980), birth name of Gloria Guinness, Mexican socialite and a contributing editor to Harper's Bazaar from 1963 to 1971


  1. "What are the 5,000 Most Common Last Names in the U.S.?". NameCensus.com, https://namecensus.com/last-names/
  2. Filby, P. William, Meyer, Mary K., Passenger and immigration lists index : a guide to published arrival records of about 500,000 passengers who came to the United States and Canada in the seventeenth, eighteenth, and nineteenth centuries. 1982-1985 Cumulated Supplements in Four Volumes Detroit, Mich. : Gale Research Co., 1985, Print (ISBN 0-8103-1795-8)
  3. The Political Graveyard: Alphabetical Name Index. (Retrieved 2015, October 20) . Retrieved from http://politicalgraveyard.com/alpha/index.html


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