Cleavon
A masculine name of English origin meaning "descending summit or rising ground".
Name Census estimates that about 212 living Americans carry the first name Cleavon. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Cleavon today is around 47 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Cleavon births was 1973 (37 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Cleavon. 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.
People living today
212
~ 1 in 1,616,766 Americans
Peak year
1973
37 babies that year
Average age
47
years old
2007 SSA rank
#12,700
Tracked since 1921
Popularity
Cleavon: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Cleavon from the 1920s through to the 2000s, spanning 8 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1970s, with 134 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1970s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Cleavon 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 Cleavon 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 Cleavon
The name Cleavon is a relatively modern invention, likely derived from a combination of the English name Clive and the suffix "-on." Its origins can be traced back to the late 19th or early 20th century, though its precise linguistic roots are uncertain.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Cleavon is Cleavon Little, an American actor and comedian born in 1939. Little is best known for his starring role as Sheriff Bart in the 1974 comedy film Blazing Saddles, directed by Mel Brooks. He passed away in 1992 at the age of 53.
Another notable bearer of the name Cleavon is Cleavon Gilman, an American physician and academic who served as the president of the New York Medical College from 1976 to 1986. Gilman made significant contributions to medical education and research during his tenure.
In the realm of sports, Cleavon Smith was a professional basketball player who played in the National Basketball Association (NBA) for the Cleveland Cavaliers and the Los Angeles Lakers in the 1970s and 1980s. He was born in 1955 and played a total of six seasons in the NBA.
Cleavon Bates, born in 1948, is an American lawyer and politician who served as a member of the New Jersey General Assembly, representing the 14th legislative district from 1994 to 2002. He was also the mayor of East Orange, New Jersey, from 1994 to 2004.
Another individual with this name is Cleavon Codio, a Haitian-American photographer and artist known for his work documenting the Haitian diaspora and exploring themes of identity and cultural heritage. Codio's work has been exhibited in various galleries and museums across the United States.
While the name Cleavon is not widely popular or extensively documented in historical records, these individuals have contributed to various fields, including entertainment, medicine, sports, politics, and the arts, leaving their mark on the cultural landscape.
Notable bearers
Famous people named Cleavon
People
Cleavon + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Cleavon 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
Cleavon: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Cleavon?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 212 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Cleavon 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 1,616,766 US residents.
Is Cleavon a common name?
We classify Cleavon as "Very Rare". It ranks above 75% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 241 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Cleavon most popular?
The single biggest year for Cleavon was 1973, when 37 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Cleavon is about 47 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Cleavon a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Cleavon 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.
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.