Clearance
One who clears or removes obstacles or obstructions.
Name Census estimates that about 181 living Americans carry the first name Clearance. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Clearance today is around 77 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Clearance births was 1925 (28 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Clearance. 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
- • The typical person named Clearance is about 77 years old today, placing it firmly among the names of earlier generations. Most living Clearances were born before 1959.
People living today
181
~ 1 in 1,893,670 Americans
Peak year
1925
28 babies that year
Average age
77
years old
1972 SSA rank
#3,680
Tracked since 1903
Census
Clearance in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 272 people with the first name Clearance, which placed it at #31,478 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
#31,478
National first-name rank
People counted
272
272 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
58.5% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Clearance
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Clearance is Black at 58.5%. The next largest groups are White (34.6%) and Two or More Races (3.7%). 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 Clearance 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 Clearance at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American58.5% · 159
- White34.6% · 94
- Two or more races3.7% · 10
- Hispanic or Latino1.8% · 5
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.7% · 2
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.7% · 2
Popularity
Clearance: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Clearance from the 1900s through to the 1970s, spanning 8 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1920s, with 204 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1920s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Clearance 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 Clearance during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Clearances live
The SSA's state-level files cover 4 states and territories. Tennessee, Georgia, North Carolina recorded the most babies named Clearance, while Texas, North Carolina, Georgia recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 5 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Clearance
The name Clearance is a relatively modern invention, originating in the English language around the late 19th century. It is not derived from any ancient words or languages, but rather appears to be a whimsical creation inspired by the word "clearance," which means the act of clearing something or the state of being clear.
One of the earliest recorded uses of the name Clearance can be found in the 1891 census records of the United States, where a child named Clearance Johnson was listed as residing in the state of Mississippi. It is possible that this was a reference to the clearance of land or the clearing of a path, as the American South was undergoing rapid development and expansion during this time period.
While the name Clearance did not gain widespread popularity, there are a few notable individuals who have borne this unique moniker throughout history. One such figure was Clearance Everett, an American businessman and philanthropist who lived from 1863 to 1937. He made his fortune in the mining industry and later established the Everett Trust, which funded various educational and charitable initiatives.
Another individual named Clearance was Clearance Whitmore, a British soldier who served in the Crimean War of the 1850s. His name appears in several military records from that conflict, though little is known about his personal life or accomplishments beyond his service.
In the realm of literature, there was a character named Clearance Barlow in the 1897 novel "The Damnation of Theron Ware" by Harold Frederic. While a minor character, Clearance's name was likely chosen to reflect the author's playful and inventive approach to naming characters.
Finally, one of the more recent individuals named Clearance was Clearance Dutton, an American artist and sculptor who lived from 1912 to 2001. His abstract works were exhibited in various galleries across the United States, and he was known for his experimental use of materials and techniques.
While not a name with deep historical roots or cultural significance, Clearance remains a unique and intriguing choice for those seeking an unconventional and perhaps even whimsical name for their child.
People
Clearance + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Clearance 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
Clearance: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Clearance?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 181 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Clearance 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 1,893,670 US residents.
Is Clearance a common name?
We classify Clearance as "Very Rare". It ranks above 72.8% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 652 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Clearance most popular?
The single biggest year for Clearance was 1925, when 28 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Clearance is about 77 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Clearance in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 272 people with the name Clearance, or 0.09 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #31,478 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 Clearance 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 Clearance?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Clearance appears almost entirely male. Of the 270 people counted with this name, 99.6% were male and only a very small share were female. 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 Clearance?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Clearance is Black at 58.5%. The next largest groups are White (34.6%) and Two or More Races (3.7%). 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 Clearance most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Clearance in the 2020 Census, accounting for 58.5% (159 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 Clearance in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Clearance a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Clearance 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 Clearance still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Clearance 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 Clearance 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 people share the name Clearance?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.