Cleveland
A name derived from an English place name meaning "cliff land" or "land by the cliff".
Name Census estimates that about 10,321 living Americans carry the first name Cleveland. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Cleveland today is around 60 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Cleveland births was 1947 (368 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Cleveland. 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 Cleveland with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Although Cleveland is used almost entirely for boys, the SSA data does show 87 girls registered with the name since 1880.
People living today
10K
~ 1 in 33,209 Americans
Peak year
1947
368 babies that year
Average age
60
years old
2024 SSA rank
#6,506
Tracked since 1880
Census
Cleveland in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 8,157 people with the first name Cleveland, which placed it at #2,837 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
#2,837
National first-name rank
People counted
8.2K
8,157 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
2.7
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
74.3% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Cleveland
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Cleveland is Black at 74.3%. The next largest groups are White (19.5%) and Two or More Races (2.9%). 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 Cleveland 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 Cleveland at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American74.3% · 6,062
- White19.5% · 1,589
- Two or more races2.9% · 240
- Hispanic or Latino1.6% · 132
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.1% · 87
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.6% · 47
Gender
Gender distribution for Cleveland
Out of the 22,021 babies given the name Cleveland since 1880, 99.6% were registered as male. The name sits firmly on the male side of the spectrum, with only a handful of female registrations across the entire dataset.
Cleveland as a male name
- Ranked #6,506 in 2024
- 13 male births in 2024
- Peak: 1947 (360 births)
Cleveland as a female name
- Ranked #10,047 in 1978
- 5 female births in 1978
- Peak: 1947 (8 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Cleveland appears almost entirely male. Of the 8,151 people counted with this name, 99.5% were male and only a very small share were female.
Popularity
Cleveland: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Cleveland 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 3,203 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
Cleveland 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 Cleveland during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Clevelands live
The SSA's state-level files cover 25 states and territories. Louisiana, Georgia, North Carolina recorded the most babies named Cleveland, while Arizona, Indiana, District of Columbia recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 670 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Cleveland
The given name Cleveland is an English name derived from the Old English words "clif" meaning cliff and "land" meaning land or estate. It was originally a place name referring to a location situated on or near a cliff. The name likely emerged during the Anglo-Saxon period in England, between the 5th and 11th centuries.
Cleveland does not appear to have any direct references in ancient texts or religious scriptures. However, it was likely used as a surname or a place name in medieval England, particularly in areas with cliffs or hilly terrain.
One of the earliest recorded individuals with the name Cleveland was Grover Cleveland, the 22nd and 24th President of the United States. He was born in 1837 and served as president from 1885 to 1889 and again from 1893 to 1897. His name was originally Stephen Grover Cleveland, but he later dropped the Stephen.
Another notable individual with the name Cleveland was Milton Cleveland, an American composer and music educator born in 1905. He is known for his contributions to the field of music education and his work in promoting music education in public schools.
In literature, Cleveland Amory was an American author, journalist, and animal rights activist born in 1917. He is best known for his books on animal welfare and his work in promoting animal rights.
Cleveland Sellers was an American civil rights activist born in 1944. He was a prominent figure in the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) and participated in the Orangeburg Massacre in 1968, where he was one of the protesters injured.
Cleveland Abbe, born in 1838, was an American meteorologist and the founder of the National Weather Service. He is credited with establishing the first modern weather forecasting service in the United States.
While the name Cleveland has been used throughout history, it does not appear to have any direct connections to ancient texts or religious scriptures. Its origins can be traced back to Old English and its use as a place name in medieval England.
People
Cleveland + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Cleveland 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
Cleveland: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Cleveland?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 10,321 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Cleveland 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 33,209 US residents.
Is Cleveland a common name?
We classify Cleveland as "Uncommon". It ranks above 97.7% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 22,021 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Cleveland most popular?
The single biggest year for Cleveland was 1947, when 368 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Cleveland is about 60 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Cleveland in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 8,157 people with the name Cleveland, or 2.70 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #2,837 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 Cleveland 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 Cleveland?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Cleveland appears almost entirely male. Of the 8,151 people counted with this name, 99.5% were male and only a very small share were female. 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 Cleveland?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Cleveland is Black at 74.3%. The next largest groups are White (19.5%) and Two or More Races (2.9%). 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 Cleveland most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Cleveland in the 2020 Census, accounting for 74.3% (6,062 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 Cleveland in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Cleveland a male name?
Yes, 99.6% of people registered as Cleveland 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 Cleveland still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Cleveland 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 Cleveland 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 share the name Cleveland?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.