Clio
A feminine name of Greek origin referring to the muse of history.
Name Census estimates that about 638 living Americans carry the first name Clio. It is a predominantly female name (97.1% of registrations). The average person named Clio today is around 16 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Clio births was 2015 (37 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Clio. 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.
People living today
638
~ 1 in 537,233 Americans
Peak year
2015
37 babies that year
Average age
16
years old
1933 SSA rank
#3,061
Tracked since 1894
Gender
Gender distribution for Clio
Clio leans heavily female at 97.1% of total registrations, but 25 boys have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Clio as a male name
- Ranked #3,061 in 1933
- 7 male births in 1933
- Peak: 1930 (7 births)
Clio as a female name
- Ranked #5,973 in 2024
- 20 female births in 2024
- Peak: 2015 (37 births)
Popularity
Clio: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Clio from the 1890s through to the 2020s, spanning 11 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 256 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Clio remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Clio 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 Clio during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Clios live
The SSA's state-level files cover 4 states and territories. California, New York, Massachusetts recorded the most babies named Clio, while Texas, Massachusetts, New York recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 28 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Clio
The given name Clio originates from Ancient Greek and is the name of the muse of history in Greek mythology. The name derives from the Greek word "kleiō" meaning "to recount" or "to celebrate." It likely emerged as a personal name in ancient Greece, though records from that era are scarce.
Clio was one of the nine muses in Greek mythology, daughters of Zeus and Mnemosyne. As the muse of history, she was often depicted carrying a scroll and wearing a crown of laurel leaves. Her name appears frequently in ancient Greek literature and poetry as an invocation to the muse for inspiration in recounting historical events.
One of the earliest recorded individuals with the name Clio was Clio of Byzantium, a Greek historian who lived in the 4th century BC. Her works, which have been lost, focused on the history of the regions around the Black Sea.
In the Renaissance period, the name Clio gained popularity among the educated classes as a nod to the classical ideals of the era. One notable bearer was Clio Lucretia Rickman (1711-1808), an English poet and playwright.
In the 19th century, the name Clio was used by several notable figures, including Clio Rickman (1840-1920), an English writer and feminist, and Clio Hinton Ricketts (1871-1954), an American artist and advocate for Native American rights.
Another well-known individual with the name Clio was Clio Sterne (1888-1958), an Austrian-born British actress and dancer who appeared in numerous films and stage productions in the early 20th century.
More recently, Clio Gould (1915-1985) was a British actress and dancer who performed in several West End productions and films during the mid-20th century.
People
Clio + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Clio 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
Clio: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Clio?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 638 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Clio 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 537,233 US residents.
Is Clio a common name?
We classify Clio as "Very Rare". It ranks above 86.8% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 856 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Clio most popular?
The single biggest year for Clio was 2015, when 37 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Clio is about 16 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Clio a female name?
Yes, 97.1% of people registered as Clio 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.
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.