Cloy
A gender-neutral name of unknown origin with no clearly defined meaning.
Name Census estimates that about 16 living Americans carry the first name Cloy. It is a predominantly male name (96.2% of registrations). The average person named Cloy today is around 91 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Cloy births was 1932 (13 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Cloy. 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 Cloy is about 91 years old today, placing it firmly among the names of earlier generations. Most living Cloys were born before 1945.
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Cloy. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
16
~ 1 in 21,422,146 Americans
Peak year
1932
13 babies that year
Average age
91
years old
1944 SSA rank
#3,167
Tracked since 1914
Census
Cloy in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 166 people with the first name Cloy, which placed it at #42,903 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
#42,903
National first-name rank
People counted
166
166 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
66.3% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Cloy
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Cloy is White at 66.3%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (16.9%) and Black (14.5%). 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 Cloy 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 Cloy at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White66.3% · 110
- Hispanic or Latino16.9% · 28
- Black or African American14.5% · 24
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.2% · 2
- Two or more races1.2% · 2
Gender
Gender distribution for Cloy
Cloy leans heavily male at 96.2% of total registrations, but 5 girls have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Cloy as a male name
- Ranked #3,167 in 1944
- 6 male births in 1944
- Peak: 1932 (13 births)
Cloy as a female name
- Ranked #4,969 in 1918
- 5 female births in 1918
- Peak: 1918 (5 births)
2020 Census snapshot
The 2020 Census sex table shows Cloy on both sides of the split. Of the 164 people counted with this name, 90 were male (54.9%) and 74 were female (45.1%).
Popularity
Cloy: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Cloy from the 1910s through to the 1940s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1930s, with 51 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1930s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Cloy 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 Cloy 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 Cloy
The name Cloy has its origins in the Old French language, derived from the word "cloyer," which means "to nail" or "to fasten." This term likely stems from the Latin word "clavus," meaning "nail" or "spike." The name Cloy emerged during the Middle Ages in France, sometime around the 12th or 13th century.
Cloy was primarily used as a surname in its early days, often given to individuals whose occupation involved working with nails or fastening materials together. However, over time, it transitioned into a masculine given name, although its usage remained relatively uncommon.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Cloy dates back to 1279, when a man named Cloy de Beaumont was mentioned in the records of the French town of Beaumont-sur-Oise. In the 14th century, a nobleman named Cloy de Milly was documented in the annals of the Milly-la-Forêt region.
During the Renaissance period, the name Cloy gained some recognition through the works of French poet and playwright Pierre de Ronsard (1524-1585), who included characters with the name in his writings. However, it remained a relatively obscure name, primarily confined to certain regions of France.
One notable historical figure who bore the name Cloy was Cloy de Troyes, a 13th-century French architect and stonemason known for his contributions to the construction of the Troyes Cathedral. Another individual of note was Cloy de Dijon, a 15th-century French painter and illuminator renowned for his intricate illuminated manuscripts.
In the realm of literature, the name Cloy appeared in the works of 17th-century French author Charles Sorel, who featured a character named Cloy in his novel "Le Berger extravagant" (The Extravagant Shepherd).
It's worth noting that while the name Cloy has been recorded throughout history, it has remained a relatively uncommon given name, primarily confined to certain regions of France and occasionally appearing in literary works or historical records.
People
Cloy + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Cloy 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
Cloy: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Cloy?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 16 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Cloy 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 21,422,146 US residents.
Is Cloy a common name?
We classify Cloy as "Very Rare". It ranks above 36.5% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 131 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Cloy most popular?
The single biggest year for Cloy was 1932, when 13 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Cloy is about 91 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Cloy in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 166 people with the name Cloy, or 0.05 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #42,903 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 Cloy 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 Cloy?
The 2020 Census sex table shows Cloy on both sides of the split. Of the 164 people counted with this name, 90 were male (54.9%) and 74 were female (45.1%). 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 Cloy?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Cloy is White at 66.3%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (16.9%) and Black (14.5%). 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 Cloy most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Cloy in the 2020 Census, accounting for 66.3% (110 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 Cloy in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Cloy a male name?
Yes, 96.2% of people registered as Cloy 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 Cloy still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Cloy 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 Cloy 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 have the name Cloy?
If you just want to know how many Americans are named Cloy, HowManyOfMe.org gives you the headline number in one glance.