Gloria is definitely a Catholic
Marian name, and I would argue that it originated specifically in Portugal and Brazil — at least, the cult of Our Lady of
Glory was particularly strong there.
You can even point out that the name seems to have become common after the birth of the Infanta
Maria da
Glória of Portugal (
Rio de Janeiro, 1819) who was specifically named after Our Lady of
Glory.
Maria da
Glória eventually succeeded to the Portuguese throne as
Queen Maria II. She surely helped to popularise the name both at home and abroad — she spent part of her youth in Austria and Britain.
Certainly Geneall.net (normally a very comprehensive source) does not seem to list many people named "
Gloria" or "
Maria da
Gloria", across nationalities, before 1819. (Though, to be fair,
Marian names did not seem to be widely used before the 19th century.)
This message was edited 3/28/2018, 5:53 AM