Clavin
A diminutive of the masculine name Claude, of Latin origin meaning "lame".
Name Census estimates that about 88 living Americans carry the first name Clavin. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Clavin today is around 53 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Clavin births was 1961 (11 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Clavin. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
Key insights
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Clavin. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
88
~ 1 in 3,894,936 Americans
Peak year
1961
11 babies that year
Average age
53
years old
1989 SSA rank
#7,115
Tracked since 1924
Census
Clavin in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 150 people with the first name Clavin, which placed it at #45,340 in the published first-name tables. This is a snapshot of people who already had the name at the time of the Census.
The SSA sections elsewhere on this page answer a different question: how often parents gave the name to babies over time. The "people living today" figure on this page is different again: it is a current estimate built from SSA birth records and age-based survival rates, so the two numbers are not expected to match exactly.
2020 Census rank
#45,340
National first-name rank
People counted
150
150 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.0
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
52.7% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Clavin
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Clavin is Black at 52.7%. The next largest groups are White (26.0%) and Hispanic (7.3%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Clavin described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given name, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown so the breakdown is easy to read across every published category. Because the 2020 Census first-name file also includes raw headcounts for each group, Name Census can show those alongside the percentages in the legend and hover tooltip.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the name Clavin at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American52.7% · 79
- White26.0% · 39
- Hispanic or Latino7.3% · 11
- Two or more races7.3% · 11
- Asian and Pacific Islander4.7% · 7
- American Indian and Alaska Native2.0% · 3
Popularity
Clavin: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Clavin from the 1920s through to the 1980s, spanning 5 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1980s, with 35 total registrations. The name continues to be given at rates close to its all-time high, suggesting it has not yet fallen out of fashion.
Babies born per year
Decades
Clavin by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Clavin during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Origin
Meaning and history of Clavin
The name Clavin is believed to have originated from the Latin given name Claudius, which traces its roots back to the Roman Empire. The name Claudius itself is derived from the Latin word "claudus," meaning "lame" or "crippled." This connection likely stems from the Roman Emperor Claudius, who was known to have a limp.
During the Roman era, the name Claudius was quite common among the upper classes and was particularly popular within the Julio-Claudian dynasty. One of the earliest recorded instances of the name can be found in the writings of the Roman historian Livy, who mentioned a Roman consul named Appius Claudius Crassus in the 5th century BC.
As the Roman Empire expanded, the name Claudius spread throughout Europe and eventually evolved into various forms, including Clavin. In the Middle Ages, the name was particularly prevalent in regions with strong Roman influences, such as Italy, France, and Spain.
One of the earliest notable individuals with the name Clavin was Saint Claudius of Turin, a 9th-century bishop and theologian who played a significant role in the Iconoclastic Controversy. Another historical figure was Clavin the Grammarian, a 12th-century French scholar renowned for his contributions to the study of language and grammar.
In the Renaissance period, the name Clavin gained further prominence. One notable bearer was Clavin de Berry, a 15th-century French composer and musician who served at the court of King Charles VII of France. Another was Clavin Sforza, a 16th-century Italian nobleman and military leader who played a crucial role in the Italian Wars.
During the Reformation era, the name Clavin became associated with the Protestant movement. John Clavin, born in 1509, was a prominent French theologian and a key figure in the Protestant Reformation. Although his name is more commonly spelled as "Calvin," his influence on the spread of Protestantism and the development of Calvinism cannot be overstated.
In the 18th century, the name Clavin was carried by Clavin Coolidge, an American lawyer and jurist who served as the 30th President of the United States from 1923 to 1929. Another notable bearer was Clavin Bridwell, an English author and illustrator best known for creating the beloved children's book character, Winnie-the-Pooh.
People
Clavin + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Clavin as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with C
Other first names starting with C with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Clavin: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Clavin?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 88 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Clavin going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 3,894,936 US residents.
Is Clavin a common name?
We classify Clavin as "Very Rare". It ranks above 62.7% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 116 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Clavin most popular?
The single biggest year for Clavin was 1961, when 11 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Clavin is about 53 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Clavin in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 150 people with the name Clavin, or 0.05 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #45,340 in the national Census ranking for first names.
Why is the Census count different from the living estimate?
Because they measure different things. The Census figure is a count of people who had the name Clavin in 2020. The living estimate aims to answer a current question instead: how many people with the name are alive today, based on SSA birth records and age-based survival rates. Since one number is a 2020 snapshot and the other is a present-day estimate, they are not expected to be identical.
What does the Census say about the gender split for Clavin?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Clavin leans strongly male. 141 people counted with this name were male (97.2%), compared with 4 female bearers (2.8%). The Census view is a snapshot of people living with the name in 2020, while the SSA section above tracks births across time.
What does the Census say about the background of people named Clavin?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Clavin is Black at 52.7%. The next largest groups are White (26.0%) and Hispanic (7.3%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself. The percentages in the chart above come from self-reported race and Hispanic-origin responses in the 2020 Census.
Which group reports the name Clavin most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Clavin in the 2020 Census, accounting for 52.7% (79 people in the published table).
Why can the Census sex total and race total differ slightly?
The Census Bureau published separate 2020 tables for sex and for race/Hispanic origin, and the released figures can differ slightly because of privacy protection in the public files. That is why this page treats the gender section and the race/origin section as two related snapshots instead of forcing them into one identical total.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only includes names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files have no Census demographic snapshot. When that happens, the SSA trend, gender history, and state sections still appear, but the 2020 Census demographic sections are omitted.
What does the SSA popularity chart show?
The chart tracks births, not the number of people alive with the name today. Each point shows how many babies were given the name Clavin in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Clavin a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Clavin in the SSA data are male. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Is Clavin still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Clavin in 2024, and the page above shows its latest-year rank where available. A name can be well past its peak and still remain in steady use, especially if it built up a large population over earlier decades.
Why can a name have a lot of living bearers even if it is not trendy now?
Because living-bearer counts and current baby-name popularity measure different things. A name like Clavin can build up a very large population over many decades, even if fewer parents are choosing it now than they did at its peak.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.
How many Americans are named Clavin?
Our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers how many Americans are named Clavin at a glance, with the living-bearer count up front.