Cloyde
A name meaning "leader of people" derived from Old English.
Name Census estimates that about 16 living Americans carry the first name Cloyde. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Cloyde today is around 88 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Cloyde births was 1926 (13 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Cloyde. 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 Cloyde is about 88 years old today, placing it firmly among the names of earlier generations. Most living Cloydes were born before 1948.
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Cloyde. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
16
~ 1 in 21,422,146 Americans
Peak year
1926
13 babies that year
Average age
88
years old
1950 SSA rank
#3,779
Tracked since 1912
Popularity
Cloyde: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Cloyde from the 1910s through to the 1950s, spanning 5 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1920s, with 64 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
Cloyde 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 Cloyde 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 Cloyde
The name Cloyde is a relatively uncommon one, with its origins shrouded in mystery. Some scholars believe it may have derived from the Old English word "clud," which means "a rock or stone." Others trace its roots to the Germanic name "Chlodwig," meaning "famous warrior."
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Cloyde can be found in the Domesday Book of 1086, a manuscript record of the great survey of England commissioned by William the Conqueror. In this document, a landowner named Cloyde is mentioned as holding property in the county of Devon.
Throughout the Middle Ages, the name Cloyde appears sporadically in various historical records, though it never achieved widespread popularity. One notable bearer of the name was Cloyde de Montfort, a French knight who fought in the Crusades during the 13th century.
As the centuries passed, the name Cloyde remained relatively obscure, with few individuals of historical significance bearing it. One exception was Cloyde Gilmour (1886-1962), a Scottish-born engineer who played a pivotal role in the construction of the Panama Canal.
In the 20th century, the name Cloyde gained a touch of literary fame when American author Cloyde Ewing Tew III (1912-1985) published several works of fiction and non-fiction, including the novel "The Forgotten Ones" and the historical account "U.S. Martial Pistols and Revolvers."
Another noteworthy figure with the name Cloyde was American baseball player Cloyde Lorenzo Bolton (1939-2020), who played for several teams in the major leagues, including the Boston Red Sox and the Milwaukee Brewers, during the 1960s and 1970s.
While the name Cloyde may not be as widely recognized as some other given names, it carries a unique historical legacy that spans centuries and continents. From its possible Old English or Germanic origins to its appearances in medieval records and modern literature, the name Cloyde has carved out a distinctive path through the annals of history.
People
Cloyde + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Cloyde 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
Cloyde: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Cloyde?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 16 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Cloyde 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 Cloyde a common name?
We classify Cloyde 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, 148 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Cloyde most popular?
The single biggest year for Cloyde was 1926, when 13 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Cloyde is about 88 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 Cloyde in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Cloyde a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Cloyde 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 Cloyde still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Cloyde 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 Cloyde 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 common is the name Cloyde?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.