Cleave
To adhere firmly or cling faithfully.
Name Census estimates that about 85 living Americans carry the first name Cleave. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Cleave today is around 77 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Cleave births was 1920 (18 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Cleave. 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 Cleave is about 77 years old today, placing it firmly among the names of earlier generations. Most living Cleaves were born before 1959.
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Cleave. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
85
~ 1 in 4,032,404 Americans
Peak year
1920
18 babies that year
Average age
77
years old
1972 SSA rank
#5,107
Tracked since 1885
Census
Cleave in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 152 people with the first name Cleave, which placed it at #44,992 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
#44,992
National first-name rank
People counted
152
152 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
51.3% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Cleave
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Cleave is Black at 51.3%. The next largest groups are White (34.2%) and Two or More Races (5.9%). 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 Cleave 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 Cleave at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American51.3% · 78
- White34.2% · 52
- Two or more races5.9% · 9
- Asian and Pacific Islander4.6% · 7
- Hispanic or Latino2.0% · 3
- American Indian and Alaska Native2.0% · 3
Popularity
Cleave: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Cleave from the 1880s through to the 1970s, spanning 10 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1920s, with 107 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
Cleave 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 Cleave during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Cleaves live
Origin
Meaning and history of Cleave
The name Cleave is derived from the Old English word "cleofan," which means "to split or divide." Its origins can be traced back to the Anglo-Saxon period in Britain, between the 5th and 11th centuries.
The name Cleave was initially used as a surname for those who worked as wood-splitters or cleaved wood for a living. Over time, it evolved into a given name, although its usage has remained relatively uncommon.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Cleave can be found in the Domesday Book, a great survey of England commissioned by William the Conqueror in 1086. The book mentions a landowner named Cleave in the county of Gloucestershire.
In the Middle Ages, the name Cleave appeared in various historical records and manuscripts, although it was rarely used as a given name. One notable individual who bore this name was Cleave Arundell, a 14th-century English knight who fought in the Hundred Years' War.
During the Renaissance period, the name Cleave gained some popularity among English Puritans, who favored biblical names or those with strong symbolic meanings. One such individual was Cleave Otes, a 16th-century English Puritan minister and author.
In the 17th century, the name Cleave was associated with a prominent family in Massachusetts Bay Colony. Cleave Grosse, born in 1634, was one of the earliest settlers in the colony and played a role in its governance.
Another notable bearer of the name was Cleave Halley, an 18th-century English physician and anatomist who made significant contributions to the study of human anatomy.
In more recent times, the name Cleave has remained relatively rare, but a few individuals have carried it. One such person was Cleave Woodling, an American artist and illustrator born in 1919, known for his works depicting rural life in the Midwest.
While the name Cleave may not be as common as other given names, it carries a rich history and a unique meaning rooted in the Anglo-Saxon tradition. Its association with wood-splitting and division has given it a distinctive character that has persisted throughout the centuries.
People
Cleave + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Cleave 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
Cleave: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Cleave?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 85 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Cleave 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 4,032,404 US residents.
Is Cleave a common name?
We classify Cleave as "Very Rare". It ranks above 62.2% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 403 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Cleave most popular?
The single biggest year for Cleave was 1920, when 18 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Cleave 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 Cleave in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 152 people with the name Cleave, or 0.05 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #44,992 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 Cleave 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 Cleave?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Cleave appears almost entirely male. Of the 143 people counted with this name, 99.3% 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 Cleave?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Cleave is Black at 51.3%. The next largest groups are White (34.2%) and Two or More Races (5.9%). 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 Cleave most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Cleave in the 2020 Census, accounting for 51.3% (78 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 Cleave in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Cleave a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Cleave 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 Cleave still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Cleave 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 Cleave 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 are called Cleave?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.