Unisex name ★ peaked 1920

Cleo

Meaning Shortened from Cleopatra or a variant of Clio Gender Unisex · 74% girls Rank 2025 #577 Trend ↑ Rising 95%

Shortened from Cleopatra or a variant of Clio.

Rank 2025
#577
among girls · ↑30 vs 2024
Babies in 2025
534
named Cleo · +3% vs 2024
How common
1 in 3,115
girls born in 2025
Peak year
1920
1,399 babies
All-time total
45,092
#778 all-time among girls
First recorded
1880
in Social Security records

Cleo popularity over time

45,092 babies have been named Cleo since 1880, according to official Social Security records. Switch measure to see births per year or the yearly rank.

Measure
Births per 1,000 babies of that sex, comparable across eras
0.380.751.131.518801900192019401960198020002020GirlsBoys
GirlsBoys

By decade. Change compares yearly averages, so the current partial decade is on equal footing. Best rank is the name's best yearly rank within the decade.

Decade Girls Boys Total Per year Change Best rank
1880s 358 52 410 41 – #283
1890s 1,153 166 1,319 132 +222% #237
1900s 2,441 437 2,878 288 +118% #171
1910s 7,368 2,348 9,716 972 +238% #180
1920s 8,218 2,970 11,188 1,119 +15% #191
1930s 4,183 1,876 6,059 606 -46% #284
1940s 2,239 1,270 3,509 351 -42% #384
1950s 1,321 875 2,196 220 -37% #686
1960s 578 452 1,030 103 -53% #1,237
1970s 331 331 662 66 -36% #2,025
1980s 309 235 544 54 -18% #2,493
1990s 471 170 641 64 +18% #2,259
2000s 610 94 704 70 +10% #2,199
2010s 1,380 135 1,515 152 +115% #969
2020s (to 2025) 2,605 116 2,721 454 +199% #577

Where Cleo is heading

A five-year projection from the recent trend in births per 1,000 girls (damped so it flattens over time), converted to babies at today's birth totals. The implied rank places that projection in the 2025 field. A projection, not a promise: real trends bend.

Year Projected babies Per 1,000 girls Implied rank
2026 578 0.36 outside top 500
2027 636 0.40 #481
2028 691 0.43 #449
2029 740 0.46 #423
2030 785 0.49 #396

Where Cleo is most popular

Girls named Cleo per 1,000 girls born in each state, 2021–2025. National average: 0.284 per 1,000. Strongest in Utah, Oregon, and Alaska.

Vs national average
well below below near national above well above no data

All 50 states and DC, sorted by rate. Counts are girls named Cleo born 2021–2025; the per-1,000 rate makes states of different sizes comparable, and the last column shows each state against the national average.

State Girls 2021–2025 Per 1,000 vs national
Utah 68 0.817 +188%
Oregon 49 0.753 +165%
Alaska 5 0.581 +105%
Colorado 63 0.564 +99%
Minnesota 58 0.537 +89%
Oklahoma 38 0.516 +82%
Washington 70 0.485 +71%
California 388 0.462 +63%
Kansas 26 0.451 +59%
District of Columbia 5 0.422 +49%
Rhode Island 5 0.399 +41%
Arizona 56 0.399 +41%
New York 151 0.381 +34%
Pennsylvania 89 0.376 +33%
Kentucky 32 0.374 +32%
Tennessee 59 0.372 +31%
Montana 5 0.369 +30%
Missouri 44 0.365 +29%
Indiana 51 0.363 +28%
Wisconsin 37 0.359 +27%
Massachusetts 42 0.347 +22%
Illinois 79 0.345 +22%
Ohio 71 0.299 +5%
Michigan 53 0.291 ≈ national
New Jersey 48 0.266 -6%
Virginia 44 0.258 -9%
Nevada 11 0.237 -17%
Maryland 24 0.226 -20%
Texas 173 0.215 -24%
Iowa 12 0.205 -28%
Georgia 46 0.202 -29%
North Carolina 45 0.198 -30%
Nebraska 7 0.195 -31%
South Carolina 16 0.178 -37%
Florida 74 0.173 -39%
Idaho 5 0.149 -47%
Connecticut 7 0.120 -58%
Alabama 11 0.117 -59%
Louisiana 5 0.057 -80%
Arkansas – – –
Delaware – – –
Hawaii – – –
Maine – – –
Mississippi – – –
North Dakota – – –
New Hampshire – – –
New Mexico – – –
South Dakota – – –
Vermont – – –
West Virginia – – –
Wyoming – – –

State counts come from the Social Security Administration's state files, which omit any state-year with fewer than five babies of a name, so small states can undercount slightly.

The story of Cleo

Cleo is uncommon for girls in the United States, ranked #577 in 2025 with 516 babies given the name. It is currently rising compared with a decade ago.

Since 1880, 45,092 American babies have been named Cleo, about 74% girls and 26% boys, making it a genuinely unisex name. Its peak came in 1920, when 1,399 newborns received the name, the signature sound of the 1920s.

The chart above shows the full history: the popularity view (births per 1,000 babies) is the honest comparison across generations, since total US births have changed enormously since 1880. Switch to the rank view to see where Cleo stood among all girls' names in any year, or use the compare tool to plot it against other names.

How old are people named Cleo?

The median living Cleo is about 53 years old; half are between 8 and 78. An estimated 13 thousand people named Cleo are alive in the United States today.

median 53 020406080100

Estimated from births per year and Social Security period life tables; an approximation of the living age distribution, by age in years.

Cleo year by year

Every year since 2001, and five-year steps back to 1880. Rank is within each sex.

Year Girls Girls rank Boys Boys rank
2025 516 #577 18 #5,245
2024 495 #607 21 #4,731
2023 490 #608 25 #4,246
2022 445 #664 17 #5,478
2021 356 #794 19 #4,962
2020 303 #882 16 #5,500
2019 270 #969 12 #6,851
2018 222 #1,109 26 #4,010
2017 153 #1,468 18 #5,142
2016 145 #1,546 19 #4,982
2015 120 #1,744 16 #5,557
2014 100 #1,986 7 #9,833
2013 81 #2,288 7 #9,844
2012 124 #1,691 16 #5,518
2011 87 #2,176 7 #9,815
2010 78 #2,408 7 #9,883
2009 72 #2,574 5 #12,834
2008 48 #3,439 13 #6,461
2007 63 #2,866 12 #6,696
2006 58 #2,945 6 #10,919
2005 51 #3,091 13 #5,925
2004 51 #3,039 6 #10,191
2003 58 #2,714 7 #8,824
2002 69 #2,334 11 #6,155
2001 74 #2,199 5 #10,872
2000 66 #2,343 16 #4,617
1995 39 #2,987 13 #4,555
1990 39 #2,915 27 #2,500
1985 39 #2,493 20 #2,520
1980 29 #3,013 26 #2,068
1975 28 #2,694 44 #1,307
1970 31 #2,404 35 #1,422
1965 60 #1,425 47 #1,082
1960 71 #1,302 51 #1,084
1955 147 #796 96 #747
1950 156 #686 100 #682
1945 182 #542 107 #584
1940 301 #384 139 #495
1935 426 #291 167 #436
1930 515 #290 208 #403
1925 812 #229 298 #334
1920 1,049 #191 350 #305
1915 914 #184 349 #258
1910 357 #190 72 #289
1905 248 #193 49 #281
1900 198 #226 31 #404
1895 125 #252 19 #457
1890 81 #279 12 #571
1885 32 #356 8 #713
1880 17 #406 5 #939

Famous people named Cleo

The most globally famous bearers of the name, ranked by fame across Wikipedia editions (Pantheon project, MIT).

  1. 1 Cleo Laine Cleo Laine British jazz singer (1927–2025) Contemporary
  2. 2 Cleo Cleo Polish singer b. 1983 · Contemporary

Portraits from Wikipedia (Wikimedia Commons).

Frequently asked questions

Quick answers about Cleo, drawn from the same Social Security data as the charts above.

How old is the average Cleo?

The median living Cleo is about 53 years old. Half of all living Cleos are between 8 and 78 years old.

How many people named Cleo are alive today?

An estimated 13 thousand people named Cleo are alive in the United States, based on 45,092 recorded births and Social Security life tables.

What does the name Cleo mean?

Shortened from Cleopatra or a variant of Clio.

How popular is the name Cleo in 2025?

Cleo ranked #577 among girls' names in the United States in 2025, with 516 babies given the name, according to Social Security Administration data.

How many people are named Cleo?

45,092 babies have been named Cleo in the United States since 1880, based on Social Security card applications.

When was the name Cleo most popular?

Cleo peaked in 1920, when 1,399 newborns received the name.

Is Cleo a boy or girl name?

Cleo is used for both: about 74% of babies named Cleo have been girls and 26% boys.

Is the name Cleo rising or falling?

Cleo is on the rise, noticeably more popular now than a decade ago.

Will Cleo become more popular?

Cleo is trending upward. If the recent trend holds, we project roughly 785 girls named Cleo in 2030, which would rank around #396. Forecasts assume the current trend continues and become less certain further out.

Who are famous people named Cleo?

Well-known people named Cleo include Cleo Laine (singer), Cleo (singer).

Names like Cleo

Names that sound and feel close to Cleo: shared sounds, similar era, similar popularity. Each links to its full history.

Compare Cleo with similar names → More names starting with C →