Gloria
A rare surname likely taken from the Latin word for “glory,” used as an honorific or devotional name.
The #6,888 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 63,293 Americans shares it.
Etymology
Gloria comes from Latin gloria, meaning “glory,” “renown,” or “praise.” As a surname, it is most naturally understood as a name adopted from a Christian or devotional term, rather than as an old hereditary occupational or place-name. In Romance-language settings it may also have functioned as a personal name before becoming hereditary.
History
Because it is uncommon as a family name, Gloria is less often documented in the old surname dictionaries than more established names. The form is well known across the Romance languages as a word and given name, which likely helped it pass into occasional hereditary use. In English-speaking countries it is usually found as a comparatively rare immigrant or adopted surname.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
The Latin phrase sic transit gloria mundi — “thus passes the glory of the world” — is famous in historical writing and helps show how central the word gloria was in learned and religious Latin.
From the historical record
“entry in the London Directory (a confectioner) preserves its memory, 'sic transit gloria mundi.' William Mauduith was chamberlain to William the Conqueror William de Mandnt, co. Salop, int. A.”
— A Dictionary of English and Welsh Surnames, with special American instances