Clifton
From an Old English place name meaning "cliff settlement or town".
Name Census estimates that about 39,640 living Americans carry the first name Clifton. It is a predominantly male name (99.4% of registrations). The average person named Clifton today is around 56 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Clifton births was 1975 (1,224 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Clifton. 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 Clifton is used almost entirely for boys, the SSA data does show 436 girls registered with the name since 1880.
People living today
40K
~ 1 in 8,647 Americans
Peak year
1975
1,224 babies that year
Average age
56
years old
2024 SSA rank
#1,746
Tracked since 1880
Gender
Gender distribution for Clifton
Out of the 70,600 babies given the name Clifton since 1880, 99.4% 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.
Clifton as a male name
- Ranked #1,746 in 2024
- 94 male births in 2024
- Peak: 1975 (1,214 births)
Clifton as a female name
- Ranked #8,544 in 1988
- 8 female births in 1988
- Peak: 1970 (13 births)
Popularity
Clifton: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Clifton from the 1880s through to the 2020s, spanning 15 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1950s, with 9,900 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1950s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Clifton 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 Clifton during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Cliftons live
The SSA's state-level files cover 49 states and territories. Texas, North Carolina, Louisiana recorded the most babies named Clifton, while Montana, Rhode Island, Nevada recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 1,287 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Clifton
The name Clifton has its origins in Old English, derived from the elements "clif" meaning cliff or slope, and "tun" meaning an enclosed settlement or town. It emerged as a place name during the Anglo-Saxon period in England, referring to settlements established near cliffs or hilly terrain.
The earliest recorded use of Clifton as a personal name dates back to the late 12th century, when it began to appear in various records and historical documents. It was initially prevalent in regions of England where settlements bearing the name Clifton existed, such as Clifton in Bedfordshire, Clifton in Derbyshire, and Clifton in Bristol.
One of the earliest notable bearers of the name Clifton was Sir Gervase Clifton (c. 1330 - 1391), an English knight and landowner from Nottinghamshire. Another early figure was Sir John Clifton (c. 1450 - 1512), who served as the Sheriff of Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire during the reign of Henry VII.
In the realm of literature, the name Clifton appears in the works of Shakespeare. In the play "Henry VI, Part 2," there is a character named Sir John Clifton, who is a supporter of the House of York during the Wars of the Roses.
During the 17th century, one of the most prominent individuals named Clifton was Sir Gervase Clifton (1588 - 1666), an English politician and baronet who served as the High Sheriff of Nottinghamshire. He was a staunch Royalist during the English Civil War.
Another notable figure was William Clifton (1663 - 1737), an English philosopher and mathematician who made contributions to the development of calculus and is known for his work on the binomial theorem.
Throughout history, the name Clifton has been borne by various individuals from different walks of life, including politicians, soldiers, scholars, and artists. Its enduring presence across centuries reflects its deep-rooted origins in the landscape and settlements of medieval England.
People
Clifton + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Clifton 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
Clifton: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Clifton?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 39,640 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Clifton 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 8,647 US residents.
Is Clifton a common name?
We classify Clifton as "Uncommon". It ranks above 99% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 70,600 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Clifton most popular?
The single biggest year for Clifton was 1975, when 1,224 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Clifton is about 56 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Clifton a male name?
Yes, 99.4% of people registered as Clifton 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.
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.