boys' name ★ peaked 1925

Clifford

Gender Boy · 1% girls Rank 2025 #1,352 Trend → Stable

Clifford is both a toponymic surname of English origin and a given name deriving from it.

Rank 2025
#1,352
among boys · ↓10 vs 2024
Babies in 2025
139
named Clifford · -3% vs 2024
How common
1 in 12,288
boys born in 2025
Peak year
1925
3,473 babies
All-time total
190,268
#194 all-time among boys
First recorded
1880
in Social Security records

Clifford popularity over time

190,268 babies have been named Clifford 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
123418801900192019401960198020002020BoysGirls
BoysGirls

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 78 1,552 1,630 163 – #87
1890s 120 2,701 2,821 282 +73% #62
1900s 155 4,055 4,210 421 +49% #57
1910s 361 20,886 21,247 2,125 +405% #59
1920s 446 31,242 31,688 3,169 +49% #59
1930s 232 23,100 23,332 2,333 -26% #73
1940s 151 25,823 25,974 2,597 +11% #94
1950s 152 29,862 30,014 3,001 +16% #99
1960s 130 19,264 19,394 1,939 -35% #141
1970s 93 11,761 11,854 1,185 -39% #176
1980s 94 9,556 9,650 965 -19% #202
1990s 7 4,295 4,302 430 -55% #346
2000s – 1,895 1,895 190 -56% #731
2010s – 1,415 1,415 142 -25% #1,172
2020s (to 2025) – 842 842 140 -1% #1,269

Where Clifford is heading

A five-year projection from the recent trend in births per 1,000 boys (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 boys Implied rank
2026 139 0.08 outside top 500
2027 139 0.08 outside top 500
2028 139 0.08 outside top 500
2029 139 0.08 outside top 500
2030 138 0.08 outside top 500

Where Clifford is most popular

Boys named Clifford per 1,000 boys born in each state, 2021–2025. National average: 0.082 per 1,000. Strongest in Wisconsin, Minnesota, and South Carolina.

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

All 50 states and DC, sorted by rate. Counts are boys named Clifford 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 Boys 2021–2025 Per 1,000 vs national
Wisconsin 24 0.203 +147%
Minnesota 19 0.155 +89%
South Carolina 16 0.155 +89%
Georgia 25 0.099 +20%
Ohio 26 0.098 +20%
Missouri 12 0.087 +5%
Arkansas 5 0.079 ≈ national
Michigan 16 0.078 -5%
Florida 36 0.076 -7%
Illinois 19 0.074 -9%
Iowa 5 0.073 -12%
New York 31 0.072 -13%
Tennessee 12 0.066 -19%
California 52 0.057 -31%
Texas 42 0.048 -42%
Massachusetts 6 0.044 -47%
Colorado 5 0.039 -53%
Washington 6 0.037 -55%
Arizona 5 0.031 -63%
Pennsylvania 6 0.023 -72%
Alaska – – –
Alabama – – –
Connecticut – – –
District of Columbia – – –
Delaware – – –
Hawaii – – –
Idaho – – –
Indiana – – –
Kansas – – –
Kentucky – – –
Louisiana – – –
Maryland – – –
Maine – – –
Mississippi – – –
Montana – – –
North Carolina – – –
North Dakota – – –
Nebraska – – –
New Hampshire – – –
New Jersey – – –
New Mexico – – –
Nevada – – –
Oklahoma – – –
Oregon – – –
Rhode Island – – –
South Dakota – – –
Utah – – –
Virginia – – –
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 Clifford

Clifford is uncommon for boys in the United States, ranked #1,352 in 2025 with 139 babies given the name. It is currently holding steady compared with a decade ago.

Since 1880, 190,268 American babies have been named Clifford. Its peak came in 1925, when 3,473 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 Clifford stood among all boys' names in any year, or use the compare tool to plot it against other names.

How old are people named Clifford?

The median living Clifford is about 64 years old; half are between 49 and 74. An estimated 84 thousand people named Clifford are alive in the United States today.

median 64 020406080100

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

Clifford 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 – – 139 #1,352
2024 – – 143 #1,342
2023 – – 125 #1,451
2022 – – 152 #1,270
2021 – – 150 #1,269
2020 – – 133 #1,344
2019 – – 153 #1,235
2018 – – 144 #1,276
2017 – – 160 #1,172
2016 – – 138 #1,310
2015 – – 147 #1,240
2014 – – 119 #1,415
2013 – – 138 #1,263
2012 – – 138 #1,275
2011 – – 135 #1,271
2010 – – 143 #1,233
2009 – – 144 #1,242
2008 – – 163 #1,119
2007 – – 181 #1,040
2006 – – 168 #1,067
2005 – – 190 #925
2004 – – 215 #827
2003 – – 175 #938
2002 – – 197 #844
2001 – – 238 #731
2000 – – 224 #753
1995 – – 357 #534
1990 – – 700 #346
1985 9 #7,065 894 #253
1980 14 #5,028 1,214 #202
1975 8 #6,610 1,123 #199
1970 10 #5,116 1,582 #176
1965 9 #4,553 1,821 #163
1960 20 #2,750 2,464 #141
1955 10 #3,826 2,995 #118
1950 10 #3,467 2,940 #100
1945 10 #2,949 2,384 #99
1940 11 #2,596 2,185 #94
1935 18 #1,858 2,265 #88
1930 35 #1,277 2,696 #73
1925 49 #1,093 3,424 #59
1920 56 #981 3,291 #59
1915 30 #1,292 2,741 #61
1910 20 #977 551 #66
1905 7 #1,569 420 #61
1900 15 #980 409 #66
1895 18 #747 272 #72
1890 12 #796 207 #83
1885 5 #1,076 139 #104
1880 6 #764 127 #107

Famous people named Clifford

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

  1. 1 Clifford Brown Clifford Brown American jazz trumpeter, pianist, and composer (1930–1956) Contemporary
  2. 2 Clifford Odets Clifford Odets American writer and actor (1906–1963) Contemporary
  3. 3 Clifford Geertz Clifford Geertz American anthropologist (1926–2006) Contemporary
  4. 4 Clifford D. Simak Clifford D. Simak American science fiction writer (1904–1988) Contemporary
  5. 5 Clifford Jordan Clifford Jordan American jazz saxophonist (1931–1993) Contemporary
  6. 6 Clifford Curzon Clifford Curzon English classical pianist (1907–1982) Contemporary
  7. 7 Clifford Shull Clifford Shull American physicist (1915–2001) Contemporary
  8. 8 Clifford Husbands Clifford Husbands Barbadian judge 1926–2017 · Contemporary

Portraits from Wikipedia (Wikimedia Commons).

Frequently asked questions

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

How old is the average Clifford?

The median living Clifford is about 64 years old. Half of all living Cliffords are between 49 and 74 years old.

How many people named Clifford are alive today?

An estimated 84 thousand people named Clifford are alive in the United States, based on 190,268 recorded births and Social Security life tables.

What does the name Clifford mean?

Clifford is both a toponymic surname of English origin and a given name deriving from it.

How popular is the name Clifford in 2025?

Clifford ranked #1,352 among boys' names in the United States in 2025, with 139 babies given the name, according to Social Security Administration data.

How many people are named Clifford?

190,268 babies have been named Clifford in the United States since 1880, based on Social Security card applications.

When was the name Clifford most popular?

Clifford peaked in 1925, when 3,473 newborns received the name.

Is Clifford a boy or girl name?

Clifford is overwhelmingly a boy's name: 99% of babies with the name.

Is the name Clifford rising or falling?

Clifford has been roughly stable over the past decade.

Will Clifford become more popular?

Clifford looks stable. If the recent trend holds, we project roughly 138 boys named Clifford in 2030, ranking outside the top 500. Forecasts assume the current trend continues and become less certain further out.

Who are famous people named Clifford?

Well-known people named Clifford include Clifford Brown (musician), Clifford Odets (film director), Clifford Geertz (anthropologist).

Names like Clifford

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

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