Clemon
A masculine name derived from the Greek kleos, meaning "glory or renown".
Name Census estimates that about 516 living Americans carry the first name Clemon. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Clemon today is around 68 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Clemon births was 1919 (37 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Clemon. 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 Clemon is about 68 years old today, placing it firmly among the names of earlier generations. Most living Clemons were born before 1968.
People living today
516
~ 1 in 664,253 Americans
Peak year
1919
37 babies that year
Average age
68
years old
2003 SSA rank
#9,791
Tracked since 1894
Census
Clemon in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 456 people with the first name Clemon, which placed it at #22,008 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
#22,008
National first-name rank
People counted
456
456 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
79.2% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Clemon
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Clemon is Black at 79.2%. The next largest groups are White (14.3%) and Two or More Races (3.3%). 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 Clemon 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 Clemon at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American79.2% · 361
- White14.3% · 65
- Two or more races3.3% · 15
- Hispanic or Latino1.8% · 8
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.1% · 5
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.4% · 2
Popularity
Clemon: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Clemon from the 1890s through to the 2000s, spanning 12 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1920s, with 264 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
Clemon 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 Clemon during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Clemons live
The SSA's state-level files cover 10 states and territories. Mississippi, Alabama, Texas recorded the most babies named Clemon, while Virginia, South Carolina, Louisiana recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 14 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Clemon
The name Clemon has its origins rooted in the ancient Greek language and culture, dating back to the classical period around the 5th century BCE. It is derived from the Greek word "klemos," which means "vine branch" or "shoot," symbolizing growth, vitality, and fertility.
In Greek mythology, there are references to Clemon being a minor deity associated with the cultivation of grapevines and the production of wine. He was often depicted as a young man with a wreath of vines on his head, representing the bountiful harvests and the joyous celebrations that accompanied the winemaking process.
The earliest recorded use of the name Clemon can be traced back to ancient Greek texts and inscriptions. One notable individual bearing this name was Clemon of Athens, a renowned sculptor who lived in the 5th century BCE and contributed to the creation of the magnificent Parthenon in Athens.
Throughout history, the name Clemon has been carried by various notable figures. In the 2nd century BCE, Clemon of Alexandria was a renowned Greek grammarian and literary critic who made significant contributions to the study of language and literature.
During the Renaissance period, Clemon Biondi (1460-1534) was an Italian humanist scholar and philosopher known for his works on ethics and moral philosophy. His writings influenced the intellectual discourse of the time and helped shape the ideas of the Renaissance movement.
In the field of science, Clemon Gottfried Fahrenheit (1686-1736) was a German physicist and inventor who developed the temperature scale that bears his name – the Fahrenheit scale. His groundbreaking work in thermometry paved the way for more accurate temperature measurements and advanced scientific research.
Another noteworthy figure was Clemon Humphrey (1809-1879), an American statesman and jurist who served as a United States Senator from Vermont and later as the Chief Justice of the Vermont Supreme Court. He played a significant role in shaping the legal system and upholding the principles of justice during his tenure.
While the name Clemon may not be as widely used today as it once was, it carries a rich historical legacy that spans centuries and cultures. Its roots in ancient Greek mythology and its association with growth, vitality, and the celebration of nature's bounty make it a name with a profound and enduring significance.
People
Clemon + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Clemon 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
Clemon: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Clemon?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 516 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Clemon 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 664,253 US residents.
Is Clemon a common name?
We classify Clemon as "Very Rare". It ranks above 84.9% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,339 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Clemon most popular?
The single biggest year for Clemon was 1919, when 37 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Clemon is about 68 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Clemon in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 456 people with the name Clemon, or 0.15 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #22,008 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 Clemon 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 Clemon?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Clemon leans strongly male. 444 people counted with this name were male (97.4%), compared with 12 female bearers (2.6%). 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 Clemon?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Clemon is Black at 79.2%. The next largest groups are White (14.3%) and Two or More Races (3.3%). 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 Clemon most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Clemon in the 2020 Census, accounting for 79.2% (361 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 Clemon in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Clemon a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Clemon 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 Clemon still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Clemon 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 Clemon 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 many people have Clemon 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.