Cleora
A feminine name of Greek origin meaning "glory to be praised".
Name Census estimates that about 176 living Americans carry the first name Cleora. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Cleora today is around 81 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Cleora births was 1918 (68 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Cleora. 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 Cleora is about 81 years old today, placing it firmly among the names of earlier generations. Most living Cleoras were born before 1955.
People living today
176
~ 1 in 1,947,468 Americans
Peak year
1918
68 babies that year
Average age
81
years old
1982 SSA rank
#10,812
Tracked since 1883
Census
Cleora in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 383 people with the first name Cleora, which placed it at #24,935 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
#24,935
National first-name rank
People counted
383
383 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
63.7% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Cleora
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Cleora is White at 63.7%. The next largest groups are Black (25.3%) and Two or More Races (3.7%). 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 Cleora 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 Cleora at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White63.7% · 244
- Black or African American25.3% · 97
- Two or more races3.7% · 14
- American Indian and Alaska Native3.4% · 13
- Hispanic or Latino2.3% · 9
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.6% · 6
Popularity
Cleora: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Cleora from the 1880s through to the 1980s, spanning 10 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1920s, with 495 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
Cleora 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 Cleora during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Cleoras live
The SSA's state-level files cover 10 states and territories. Pennsylvania, Ohio, Texas recorded the most babies named Cleora, while Mississippi, Iowa, Missouri recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 19 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Cleora
The name Cleora is of Greek origin, derived from the words "kleos" meaning glory and "hora" meaning time or season. It can be interpreted as "glory of the season" or "glorious time." This name emerged during the classical Greek period, around the 5th century BC.
In ancient Greek mythology, Cleora was the name of one of the Oceanids, the three thousand daughters of the Titans Oceanus and Tethys. These nymph-like deities were often associated with various bodies of water and natural phenomena.
The earliest recorded use of the name Cleora can be traced back to the 4th century BC, when it was mentioned in the writings of the Greek philosopher Plato. However, it was not widely popular during that time and remained relatively obscure.
Throughout history, there have been a few notable individuals who bore the name Cleora. One of the earliest recorded was Cleora of Rhodes, a Greek sculptor who lived in the 2nd century BC and created several famous works of art that were displayed in ancient Rhodes.
Another notable Cleora was Cleora, the wife of the Roman Emperor Pupienus, who ruled briefly in 238 AD. She was known for her intelligence and influence during her husband's short reign.
In the 16th century, Cleora Leigh was an English writer and poet who published several works, including a collection of sonnets titled "The Mirrour of Maidens" in 1575.
During the 18th century, Cleora Dormer was a prominent English socialite and political activist who was involved in the Jacobite movement and supported the claim of the House of Stuart to the British throne.
In the 19th century, Cleora Stratton was an American circus performer and actress who gained fame as a member of P.T. Barnum's circus troupe, known for her small stature and comedic talents (1835-1918).
While the name Cleora has remained relatively uncommon throughout history, it has a rich cultural heritage and has been associated with individuals from various backgrounds, ranging from ancient Greek mythology to modern entertainment.
People
Cleora + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Cleora 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
Cleora: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Cleora?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 176 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Cleora 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 1,947,468 US residents.
Is Cleora a common name?
We classify Cleora as "Very Rare". It ranks above 72.5% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,712 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Cleora most popular?
The single biggest year for Cleora was 1918, when 68 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Cleora is about 81 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Cleora in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 383 people with the name Cleora, or 0.13 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #24,935 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 Cleora 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 Cleora?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Cleora leans strongly female. 379 people counted with this name were female (98.4%), compared with 6 male bearers (1.6%). 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 Cleora?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Cleora is White at 63.7%. The next largest groups are Black (25.3%) and Two or More Races (3.7%). 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 Cleora most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Cleora in the 2020 Census, accounting for 63.7% (244 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 Cleora in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Cleora a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Cleora 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 Cleora still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Cleora 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 Cleora 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 Americans are named Cleora?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.