Clelia
A feminine name with Latin origins representing "the bright one".
Name Census estimates that about 185 living Americans carry the first name Clelia. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Clelia today is around 53 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Clelia births was 1920 (21 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Clelia. 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.
For a British comparison, Name Census UK has a UK baby-name profile for Clelia with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
185
~ 1 in 1,852,726 Americans
Peak year
1920
21 babies that year
Average age
53
years old
2024 SSA rank
#13,802
Tracked since 1903
Census
Clelia in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 1,010 people with the first name Clelia, which placed it at #12,351 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
#12,351
National first-name rank
People counted
1.0K
1,010 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.3
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Hispanic or Latino
57.6% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Clelia
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Clelia is Hispanic at 57.6%. The next largest groups are White (38.9%) and Black (2.1%). 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 Clelia 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 Clelia at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Hispanic or Latino57.6% · 582
- White38.9% · 393
- Black or African American2.1% · 21
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.7% · 7
- Two or more races0.7% · 7
Popularity
Clelia: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Clelia from the 1900s through to the 2020s, spanning 13 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1920s, with 130 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
Clelia 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 Clelia during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Clelias live
Origin
Meaning and history of Clelia
The name Clelia has its origins in ancient Rome, derived from the Latin word "clalius" which means "lame" or "limping". It was originally a surname or cognomen given to a particular Roman family.
In the early days of ancient Rome, around the 6th century BC, the name Clelia is recorded in the legendary tale of the Roman maiden Clelia, who was one of the hostages given to the Etruscan king Lars Porsenna during the war between Rome and the Etruscan city of Clusium. According to the legend, Clelia escaped from captivity by crossing the Tiber River and leading a group of young Roman women to safety.
The earliest recorded use of Clelia as a given name dates back to the 2nd century AD, when it appears in inscriptions found in Rome and other parts of the Roman Empire. During this period, it was considered a prestigious name associated with the Roman nobility and upper classes.
One of the most famous historical figures bearing the name Clelia was Clelia Pulcheria (363-453 AD), the daughter of the Roman Emperor Arcadius and his wife Aelia Eudoxia. Pulcheria was an influential figure in the Byzantine Empire and played a significant role in the promotion of Christianity.
Another notable Clelia was Clelia Grillo Borromeo (1684-1777), an Italian noblewoman and philanthropist who founded several charitable institutions in Milan, including the Pio Albergo Trivulzio, one of the first modern hospitals in Italy.
In the 16th century, the name Clelia gained popularity in Italy, particularly among the aristocracy. One prominent example was Clelia Farnese (1556-1611), an Italian noblewoman and the daughter of Duke Alessandro Farnese of Parma.
Moving into the 17th century, Clelia Renata Grillo (1594-1644) was an Italian poet and playwright who gained recognition for her literary works, including the pastoral play "Le Arrenopie" (1623).
Throughout history, the name Clelia has been associated with strength, courage, and nobility, reflecting the character of the legendary Roman maiden who inspired its use as a given name.
People
Clelia + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Clelia 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
Clelia: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Clelia?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 185 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Clelia 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 1,852,726 US residents.
Is Clelia a common name?
We classify Clelia as "Very Rare". It ranks above 73.2% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 530 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Clelia most popular?
The single biggest year for Clelia was 1920, when 21 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Clelia is about 53 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Clelia in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 1,010 people with the name Clelia, or 0.33 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #12,351 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 Clelia 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 Clelia?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Clelia appears almost entirely female. Of the 1,008 people counted with this name, 100.0% were female and only a very small share were male. 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 Clelia?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Clelia is Hispanic at 57.6%. The next largest groups are White (38.9%) and Black (2.1%). 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 Clelia most often in the Census?
Hispanic is the largest reported group for people named Clelia in the 2020 Census, accounting for 57.6% (582 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 Clelia in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Clelia a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Clelia in the SSA data are female. 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 Clelia still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Clelia 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 Clelia 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 common is the name Clelia?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.