Cleavland
A name of English origin meaning "land by the cliff or hill valley".
Name Census estimates that about 1 living Americans carry the first name Cleavland. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Cleavland today is around 72 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Cleavland births was 1920 (6 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Cleavland. 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 Cleavland is about 72 years old today, placing it firmly among the names of earlier generations. Most living Cleavlands were born before 1964.
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Cleavland. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
1
~ 1 in 342,754,338 Americans
Peak year
1920
6 babies that year
Average age
72
years old
1932 SSA rank
#3,867
Tracked since 1920
Popularity
Cleavland: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Cleavland from the 1920s through to the 1930s, spanning 2 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1920s, with 6 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
Cleavland 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 Cleavland 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 Cleavland
The given name Cleavland is an Old English name that dates back to the 5th century AD. It is derived from the words "clif," meaning a cliff or a steep slope, and "land," meaning a territory or region. The name was originally used to describe someone who lived near a cliff or in a hilly area.
One of the earliest known references to the name Cleavland can be found in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, a historical record of events in Anglo-Saxon England. The Chronicle mentions a man named Cleavland who was a landowner in the kingdom of Mercia in the 7th century.
In the 9th century, the name Cleavland appeared in the Domesday Book, a great survey of land and property commissioned by William the Conqueror after the Norman conquest of England in 1066. The Domesday Book records a Cleavland who was a tenant farmer in the county of Yorkshire.
During the Middle Ages, the name Cleavland was predominantly found in the northern regions of England, particularly in the counties of Yorkshire, Northumberland, and Durham. It was associated with the rugged and hilly terrain of these areas.
One notable figure in history who bore the name Cleavland was Cleavland of Beverley, a 12th-century monk and scholar who wrote several theological works and served as the abbot of the Benedictine monastery in Beverley, Yorkshire.
Another famous Cleavland was Cleavland the Explorer, who lived in the 16th century. He was an English navigator and explorer who sailed to the West Indies and the Caribbean Sea, where he documented the flora and fauna of the region.
In the 17th century, Cleavland the Playwright was a prominent figure in English literature. He wrote several plays that were performed in London's theaters during the Restoration period.
During the 18th century, Cleavland the Botanist was a renowned scientist who studied plant life and made significant contributions to the field of botany. He was particularly known for his work on the classification of plants native to the British Isles.
In the 19th century, Cleavland the Artist was a celebrated painter whose landscapes and portraits captured the beauty of the English countryside and the people who lived there.
People
Cleavland + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Cleavland 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
Cleavland: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Cleavland?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 1 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Cleavland 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 342,754,338 US residents.
Is Cleavland a common name?
We classify Cleavland as "Very Rare". It ranks above 3.8% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 11 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Cleavland most popular?
The single biggest year for Cleavland was 1920, when 6 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Cleavland is about 72 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
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 Cleavland in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Cleavland a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Cleavland 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 Cleavland still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Cleavland 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 Cleavland 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.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only covers names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files do not have a published Census demographic snapshot. In those cases, the page still shows the SSA trend, gender history, and state data.
How many people have Cleavland as a first name?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.