Clois
A feminine name of French origin meaning "famous battle".
Name Census estimates that about 217 living Americans carry the first name Clois. It appears on both sides of the gender split, with 72.8% of registrations being male. The average person named Clois today is around 80 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Clois births was 1930 (48 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Clois. 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 Clois is about 80 years old today, placing it firmly among the names of earlier generations. Most living Clois' were born before 1956.
People living today
217
~ 1 in 1,579,513 Americans
Peak year
1930
48 babies that year
Average age
80
years old
1975 SSA rank
#4,772
Tracked since 1913
Gender
Gender distribution for Clois
Clois is one of the more evenly split names in the SSA data. Of the 996 total registrations, 725 (72.8%) were male and 271 (27.2%) were female.
Clois as a male name
- Ranked #5,615 in 1975
- 5 male births in 1975
- Peak: 1930 (35 births)
Clois as a female name
- Ranked #4,772 in 1949
- 6 female births in 1949
- Peak: 1917 (16 births)
Popularity
Clois: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Clois from the 1910s through to the 1970s, spanning 7 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1920s, with 306 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
Clois 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 Clois during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Clois' live
The SSA's state-level files cover 6 states and territories. Texas, Arkansas, Alabama recorded the most babies named Clois, while Oklahoma, Tennessee, Mississippi recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 29 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Clois
The name Clois is believed to have originated from the Old French language, with roots tracing back to the Frankish tribes of modern-day France and Germany during the 5th to 9th centuries AD. The name is derived from the Germanic word "klaudia," which means "lame" or "enclosure."
In its earliest forms, the name was spelled as "Chlodis" or "Chlodwig," and it was a popular name among the Merovingian dynasty of Frankish kings. One of the most notable historical figures to bear this name was Clovis I, also known as Chlodovechus, who ruled as the King of the Franks from 481 to 511 AD and played a pivotal role in the spread of Christianity throughout Western Europe.
The name Clois gained further prominence during the Middle Ages, with several religious figures and scholars bearing this name. One such individual was Clois the Venerable, a 9th-century Benedictine monk and scholar who was known for his contributions to the preservation and study of ancient texts.
As the name spread across Europe, it underwent various spelling variations, including "Cloys," "Cloise," and "Clois." In the 12th century, a French nobleman named Clois de Châtillon was a prominent figure during the Third Crusade and served as a military commander under King Richard I of England.
During the Renaissance period, the name Clois was associated with several artists and intellectuals. Clois Gillot, a French painter and engraver born in 1673, was known for his contributions to the Rococo art movement. Additionally, Clois de Valera, a 16th-century Spanish scholar and humanist, was renowned for his work in promoting the study of classical languages and literature.
In more recent times, the name Clois has remained relatively uncommon, but there have been a few notable individuals bearing this name. Clois Leachman, an American actor born in 1926, gained fame for his roles in films such as "The Last Picture Show" and "Young Frankenstein." Clois Oldenburg, an American sculptor born in 1929, was a prominent figure in the Pop Art movement and is known for his large-scale public sculptures.
People
Clois + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Clois 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
Clois: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Clois?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 217 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Clois 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 1,579,513 US residents.
Is Clois a common name?
We classify Clois as "Very Rare". It ranks above 75.2% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 996 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Clois most popular?
The single biggest year for Clois was 1930, when 48 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Clois is about 80 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Clois a male name?
Yes, 72.8% of people registered as Clois 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.