Cloude
A masculine name with Old French origins referring to a hill or heap.
Name Census estimates that about 8 living Americans carry the first name Cloude. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Cloude today is around 87 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Cloude births was 1929 (7 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Cloude. 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 Cloude is about 87 years old today, placing it firmly among the names of earlier generations. Most living Cloudes were born before 1949.
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Cloude. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
8
~ 1 in 42,844,292 Americans
Peak year
1929
7 babies that year
Average age
87
years old
1946 SSA rank
#3,614
Tracked since 1916
Popularity
Cloude: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Cloude from the 1910s through to the 1940s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1920s, with 18 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
Cloude 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 Cloude during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Origin
Meaning and history of Cloude
The given name Cloude is of Old French origin, derived from the Latin name "Claudius", which itself is derived from the Roman family name "Claudius". The name Claudius is believed to have originated from the Roman word "claudere", meaning "to close" or "to shut".
In ancient Rome, the name Claudius was borne by several members of the Claudian family, one of the most prominent and influential patrician families in the Roman Republic and later the Roman Empire. The most notable bearer of this name was the Roman emperor Claudius (10 BC - 54 AD), who ruled from 41 to 54 AD.
The name Cloude first appeared in its Anglicized form during the Middle Ages, particularly in England and France. One of the earliest recorded instances of the name can be found in the Domesday Book of 1086, which lists a landowner named Cloude de Montfort.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Cloude. One such figure was Cloude de Lorraine (1496 - 1550), a French military leader and nobleman who served as the Duke of Guise. Another was Cloude Goudimel (c. 1514 - 1572), a French composer and editor of Protestant psalters.
In the 16th century, Cloude Garamont (c. 1480 - 1561) was a renowned French type designer and punch-cutter, best known for creating the iconic Garamond typeface. Around the same time, Cloude Fauchet (1530 - 1601) was a French historian and antiquarian.
Moving into the 17th century, Cloude Duval (1612 - 1670) was a French Baroque composer and organist who served as the organist at the Church of St. Paul in Paris.
People
Cloude + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Cloude 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
Cloude: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Cloude?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 8 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Cloude 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 42,844,292 US residents.
Is Cloude a common name?
We classify Cloude as "Very Rare". It ranks above 24.6% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 42 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Cloude most popular?
The single biggest year for Cloude was 1929, when 7 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Cloude is about 87 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
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 Cloude in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Cloude a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Cloude 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 Cloude still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Cloude 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 Cloude 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.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only covers names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files do not have a published Census demographic snapshot. In those cases, the page still shows the SSA trend, gender history, and state data.
How many people have Cloude as a first name?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.