Cletus
A masculine name of Greek origin meaning "the recalled one".
Name Census estimates that about 2,411 living Americans carry the first name Cletus. It is a predominantly male name (96.5% of registrations). The average person named Cletus today is around 66 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Cletus births was 1922 (243 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Cletus. 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
- • Although Cletus is used almost entirely for boys, the SSA data does show 272 girls registered with the name since 1880.
- • The typical person named Cletus is about 66 years old today, placing it firmly among the names of earlier generations. Most living Cletus' were born before 1970.
People living today
2.4K
~ 1 in 142,163 Americans
Peak year
1922
243 babies that year
Average age
66
years old
2024 SSA rank
#5,384
Tracked since 1886
Census
Cletus in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 2,685 people with the first name Cletus, which placed it at #6,084 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
#6,084
National first-name rank
People counted
2.7K
2,685 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.9
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
79.5% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Cletus
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Cletus is White at 79.5%. The next largest groups are Black (14.6%) and Two or More Races (2.2%). 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 Cletus 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 Cletus at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White79.5% · 2,134
- Black or African American14.6% · 392
- Two or more races2.2% · 59
- American Indian and Alaska Native2.0% · 53
- Hispanic or Latino1.2% · 31
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.6% · 16
Gender
Gender distribution for Cletus
Cletus leans heavily male at 96.5% of total registrations, but 272 girls have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Cletus as a male name
- Ranked #11,157 in 2024
- 6 male births in 2024
- Peak: 1922 (233 births)
Cletus as a female name
- Ranked #5,384 in 1948
- 5 female births in 1948
- Peak: 1918 (16 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Cletus leans strongly male. 2,609 people counted with this name were male (97.4%), compared with 70 female bearers (2.6%).
Popularity
Cletus: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Cletus from the 1880s through to the 2020s, spanning 15 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1920s, with 2,012 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
Cletus 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 Cletus during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Cletus' live
The SSA's state-level files cover 23 states and territories. Ohio, Illinois, Iowa recorded the most babies named Cletus, while California, Nebraska, South Dakota recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 184 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Cletus
The name Cletus has its origins in ancient Greek, derived from the word "kletos" which means "called" or "renowned." It is a masculine name that became popular in early Christian communities.
In the New Testament of the Bible, Cletus is mentioned as an early leader of the Christian church in Rome, sometimes identified as the third Pope or Bishop of Rome after St. Peter and St. Linus. However, the historical details surrounding this Cletus are uncertain.
The name Cletus gained popularity in the early Christian era and was used by several saints and martyrs. One notable Saint Cletus was a 3rd-century martyr from Gaul (modern-day France) who was beheaded during the persecution of Christians under the Roman Emperor Aurelian.
The earliest recorded use of the name Cletus can be traced back to the 4th century AD, with references found in various early Christian writings and records. Among the notable historical figures named Cletus are:
1. Cletus of Brescia (d. 97 AD), an early Christian martyr and saint believed to have been executed during the reign of Emperor Domitian.
2. Cletus of Amasea (d. 304 AD), a Christian martyr from Amasea (modern-day Turkey) who was executed during the Diocletian persecution.
3. Cletus of Nicomedia (d. 312 AD), a Christian martyr from Nicomedia (modern-day Turkey) who was executed during the reign of Emperor Maximian.
4. Cletus of Alexandria (4th century AD), a Christian monk and writer from Alexandria, known for his treatise on the monastic life.
5. Cletus of Auxerre (d. 580 AD), a 6th-century Bishop of Auxerre in Burgundy, France, who is venerated as a saint in the Catholic Church.
The name Cletus has remained in use throughout the centuries, particularly in Catholic and Christian communities, although it has not been as widely popular as some other names of Greek or Latin origin. Its meaning of "called" or "renowned" has contributed to its enduring appeal as a name with a sense of distinction and significance.
People
Cletus + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Cletus 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
Cletus: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Cletus?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 2,411 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Cletus 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 142,163 US residents.
Is Cletus a common name?
We classify Cletus as "Rare". It ranks above 94.4% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 7,698 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Cletus most popular?
The single biggest year for Cletus was 1922, when 243 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Cletus is about 66 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Cletus in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 2,685 people with the name Cletus, or 0.89 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #6,084 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 Cletus 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 Cletus?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Cletus leans strongly male. 2,609 people counted with this name were male (97.4%), compared with 70 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 Cletus?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Cletus is White at 79.5%. The next largest groups are Black (14.6%) and Two or More Races (2.2%). 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 Cletus most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Cletus in the 2020 Census, accounting for 79.5% (2,134 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 Cletus in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Cletus a male name?
Yes, 96.5% of people registered as Cletus 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 Cletus still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Cletus 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 Cletus 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 Cletus as a first name?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.