Glendon: Meaning, Pronunciation and Origin
Glendon comes from an English place name meaning “clean hill,” and in Ireland it can also be a shortened form of the surname MacAlinden. Here’s how to say it, where it comes from, and names that go well with it.
Updated September 2026
- Gender
- Boy
- Also spelled
- Glendan
How do you pronounce Glendon?
Glendon is pronounced GLEN-don. It has two syllables, with the stress on the first. Other spellings: Glendan.
What does Glendon mean?
Glendon is often explained as Irish, from gleann “valley, glen” and dún “fort,” giving “fort in the glen,” but the recorded history of the surname points elsewhere. In England it is a place name: Glendon Hall in Northamptonshire stands near a deserted village recorded in the Domesday Book as Clenedone, from the Old English clǣne “clean” (cleared of weeds) and dūn “hill.”
For Irish families, the Dictionary of American Family Names (Oxford) explains the surname as a shortened, altered form of MacAlinden, from Mac Giolla Fhionntáin, “son of the devotee of St. Fintan.” As a first name, Glendon is a surname taken up as a given name.
Sources: Wikipedia, ancestry.com, Behind the Name.
How popular is Glendon in Ireland?
Glendon is rare in Ireland. Since 1964, fewer than three baby boys a year have been registered with the name, so it doesn't appear in the Central Statistics Office's baby name tables.
Source: Central Statistics Office, Irish Babies’ Names 2025 and its boys' names table.
Glendon in Ogham
Ogham is the oldest way of writing Irish. It was carved along the edges of standing stones, mostly between the 4th and 6th centuries, and read from the bottom up. In later tradition each letter was named after a tree or plant. Here’s Glendon, letter by letter.
- GGort, ivy
- LLuis, rowan
- EEadhadh, aspen
- NNion, ash
- DDair, oak
- OOnn, gorse
- NNion, ash
Write any name in Ogham with our Ogham translator
Names that go with Glendon
Questions about Glendon
- How do you pronounce Glendon?
- Glendon is pronounced GLEN-don. Two syllables, stress on the first.
- Is Glendon a girl's name or a boy's name?
- Glendon is a boy's name.
- Is Glendon a rare name?
- Yes. Fewer than three boys a year are registered as Glendon in Ireland, too few to appear in the Central Statistics Office's tables.