Gleb

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Boy · Old Norse (probably)

Gleb

Say it: GLYEP

Try it with your surname

Meaning

Probably from Old Norse Guðleifr 'heir of God', though the derivation is debated.

Uncertainseveral explanations, none settled.

From the martyred brothers Boris and Gleb, killed in 1015; revived in Russia recently.

Its wave through time

Rare in the records

In the United States

05101518801900192019401960198020002020Peak 2013per million babies of that sex
  • 157 babies given this name since 2003
  • At its height in 2013, about 1 in 94,500 boys
  • 10 babies in 2020

Through the ages

  1. The Early Middle Ages400 to 800
  2. The High and Late Middle Ages1100 to 1450
  3. Victorian and Belle Époque1837 to 1914
  4. The Modern Age1880 to today

Used by

RussianUkrainian

The family of the name

Other spellings: Глеб

UkrainianHlib
Old NorseGuðleifr

Famous bearers

  • Saint Gleb, martyred prince of Rus

Names worth a look

Where this comes from

  • Lives of the saints and early Christian martyrologies
  • Medieval Slavic chronicles and charters
  • United States Social Security birth records, 1880 to today source

Meanings and histories are compiled from the study of names and their languages and checked by a second review.

Meanings and histories are drawn from the study of names and their languages, each with a confidence rating; popularity figures come from official birth records. Name histories are a living field: if you know of a correction, we would be glad to hear it.