Clellan
A given name of uncertain meaning and origin, possibly derived from an Irish surname.
Name Census estimates that about 11 living Americans carry the first name Clellan. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Clellan today is around 84 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Clellan births was 1918 (6 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Clellan. 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 Clellan is about 84 years old today, placing it firmly among the names of earlier generations. Most living Clellans were born before 1952.
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Clellan. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
11
~ 1 in 31,159,485 Americans
Peak year
1918
6 babies that year
Average age
84
years old
1954 SSA rank
#3,918
Tracked since 1918
Popularity
Clellan: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Clellan from the 1910s through to the 1950s, spanning 5 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1920s, with 22 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
Clellan 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 Clellan 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 Clellan
The given name Clellan is believed to have originated from the Gaelic language in the region that is now Scotland. It is thought to be derived from the words "clach" meaning stone and "lann" meaning enclosure or land, potentially referring to a settlement or area surrounded by stone walls or fortifications.
One of the earliest known references to the name Clellan can be found in the Annals of Ulster, an ancient chronicle recording events in medieval Ireland and Scotland, where a person named Clellan is mentioned in an entry dated around the year 1150.
In the 13th century, a Scottish nobleman named Clellan of Craufurdland is recorded as having held lands in Ayrshire, Scotland. This suggests that the name had become established among the Scottish nobility during this period.
The first recorded use of the name Clellan as a given name appears to be in the late 16th century, when a man named Clellan Macdonald was born in the Scottish Highlands around 1580. He later served as a soldier in the Scottish army during the wars of the 17th century.
Another notable bearer of the name was Clellan Adair, an Irish-American soldier and pioneer who was born in County Antrim, Ireland, in 1737. He later emigrated to the American colonies and served in the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War.
In the 19th century, Clellan Wyllys Ridgely was a prominent American lawyer and politician from Maryland, who served as a member of the United States Congress from 1839 to 1843. He was born in 1801 and died in 1858.
One of the most famous individuals named Clellan was George Brinton McClellan, an American civil engineer, railroad executive, and soldier who served as a major general in the Union Army during the American Civil War. He was born in 1826 in Philadelphia and played a significant role in several major battles before being relieved of his command by President Abraham Lincoln in 1862. McClellan later ran for President in 1864 but was defeated by Lincoln.
Another notable bearer of the name was Clellan Wallace Ford, an American actor who appeared in numerous films and television shows throughout the 20th century. He was born in 1905 in Houston, Texas, and had a prolific acting career spanning over five decades until his death in 1987.
People
Clellan + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Clellan 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
Clellan: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Clellan?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 11 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Clellan 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 31,159,485 US residents.
Is Clellan a common name?
We classify Clellan as "Very Rare". It ranks above 30.8% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 58 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Clellan most popular?
The single biggest year for Clellan was 1918, when 6 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Clellan is about 84 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 Clellan in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Clellan a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Clellan 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 Clellan still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Clellan 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 Clellan 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 Clellan as a first name?
If you just want to know how many Americans are named Clellan, HowManyOfMe.org gives you the headline number in one glance.