Cleburne
An English surname derived from a place name of uncertain meaning.
Name Census estimates that about 5 living Americans carry the first name Cleburne. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Cleburne today is around 95 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Cleburne births was 1919 (13 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Cleburne. 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 Cleburne is about 95 years old today, placing it firmly among the names of earlier generations. Most living Cleburnes were born before 1941.
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Cleburne. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
5
~ 1 in 68,550,868 Americans
Peak year
1919
13 babies that year
Average age
95
years old
1934 SSA rank
#3,767
Tracked since 1913
Popularity
Cleburne: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Cleburne from the 1910s through to the 1930s, spanning 3 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1910s, with 51 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1910s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Cleburne 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 Cleburne during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Cleburnes live
Origin
Meaning and history of Cleburne
The given name Cleburne is an anglicized form of the Irish surname Ó Cléirigh, which means "descendant of the cleric." It has its roots in the medieval Gaelic language and can be traced back to the 12th century. The name was originally associated with the clergy or learned class in Ireland.
In the 16th century, during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I, many Irish names were anglicized to make them more English-sounding. This is when the surname Ó Cléirigh evolved into the anglicized form of Cleburne. The name then transitioned from being a surname to being used as a given name.
One of the earliest recorded instances of Cleburne as a first name was in the 17th century, when Patrick Cleburne (1828-1864) was born in Ireland. He later became a prominent Confederate general during the American Civil War and was known for his bravery and military prowess.
Another notable figure with the name Cleburne was Sir Robert Cleburne (1676-1738), an Irish politician and landowner who served as a member of the Irish House of Commons in the early 18th century.
In the 19th century, Cleburne Gaines (1821-1902) was a prominent American architect and civil engineer who designed several notable buildings, including the Old Main building at the University of Alabama.
The name Cleburne also appears in literary works, such as the novel "The Cleburne Jacksons" by Donald Albyn (1856-1928), a Scottish writer who lived in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
Another historical figure with the name Cleburne was Cleburne Morse (1885-1958), an American lawyer and politician who served as a member of the United States House of Representatives from Missouri in the early 20th century.
While the name Cleburne has its roots in Ireland, it has been adopted and used by various cultures and regions over the centuries, with notable bearers of the name making their mark in fields such as military, politics, architecture, and literature.
People
Cleburne + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Cleburne 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
Cleburne: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Cleburne?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 5 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Cleburne 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 68,550,868 US residents.
Is Cleburne a common name?
We classify Cleburne as "Very Rare". It ranks above 18.2% 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 Cleburne most popular?
The single biggest year for Cleburne was 1919, when 13 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Cleburne is about 95 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Cleburne a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Cleburne 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.