Gildea is a surname.

Although spelled "Gildea", the name is pronounced "gill-day", rhyming with the Irish surname "O'Shea".

Notable people with the surname include:

Damien Gildea (born 1969), Australian mountaineer and Antarctic explorer, for whom the Gildea Glacier Harry Gildea (1890–1917), Scottish footballer James Gildea (1838–1920), British Army officer and philanthropist James H. Gildea (1890–1988), American newspaperman and Democratic member of the US House of Representatives John Gildea, Irish Gaelic footballer Johnny Gildea (1910–79), American football player Lorie Skjerven Gildea, (born 1961), attorney and former Chief Justice of the Minnesota Supreme Court Peter Gildea (1883–1940), Scottish footballer Robert Gildea (born 1952), professor of Modern History at Oxford University Tom Gildea (born 1939), Irish independent politician Willie Gildea (born 1888), Scottish footballer

See also Gilday Kildee