Clydia
A feminine variation of the name Clodia, thought to derive from Greek words meaning "little stream".
Name Census estimates that about 171 living Americans carry the first name Clydia. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Clydia today is around 78 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Clydia births was 1923 (25 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Clydia. 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 Clydia is about 78 years old today, placing it firmly among the names of earlier generations. Most living Clydias were born before 1958.
People living today
171
~ 1 in 2,004,411 Americans
Peak year
1923
25 babies that year
Average age
78
years old
1972 SSA rank
#6,689
Tracked since 1900
Census
Clydia in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 279 people with the first name Clydia, which placed it at #30,942 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
#30,942
National first-name rank
People counted
279
279 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
55.9% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Clydia
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Clydia is White at 55.9%. The next largest groups are Black (36.2%) and Two or More Races (5.7%). 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 Clydia 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 Clydia at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White55.9% · 156
- Black or African American36.2% · 101
- Two or more races5.7% · 16
- Hispanic or Latino1.1% · 3
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.7% · 2
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.4% · 1
Popularity
Clydia: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Clydia from the 1900s through to the 1970s, spanning 8 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1940s, with 150 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1940s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Clydia 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 Clydia during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Clydias live
The SSA's state-level files cover 3 states and territories. North Carolina, South Carolina, Texas recorded the most babies named Clydia, while Texas, South Carolina, North Carolina recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 5 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Clydia
The name Clydia is a relatively uncommon given name that has its roots in ancient Greece. It is derived from the Greek word "klydōn," which means "wave" or "billow," suggesting a connection to the sea or water.
While the exact origin and meaning of the name are not entirely clear, it is believed to have been used as a feminine name in various regions of ancient Greece, particularly in coastal areas where maritime activities played a significant role in daily life.
In ancient Greek literature, there are a few references to women bearing the name Clydia, although their stories and significance are not well documented. One notable mention is found in the works of the ancient Greek poet Callimachus, who lived in the third century BC.
The earliest recorded example of the name Clydia dates back to the 5th century BC, where it appears on an ancient Greek inscription found in the city of Athens. This suggests that the name was in use during the Classical period of ancient Greek history.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Clydia, though their legacies and accomplishments vary. One such individual was Clydia of Miletus, a Greek poetess who lived in the 6th century BC and was renowned for her lyric poetry. Another was Clydia of Syracuse, a Greek mathematician and philosopher who lived in the 4th century BC and made significant contributions to the field of geometry.
In the Middle Ages, the name Clydia appears to have been less common, but there are records of a few individuals bearing this name. One example is Clydia of Normandy, a French noblewoman who lived in the 11th century and was known for her involvement in the Norman conquest of England.
During the Renaissance period, the name Clydia experienced a brief resurgence, particularly in Italy. One notable figure from this time was Clydia Borgia, an Italian noblewoman and patron of the arts who lived in the 16th century and was a member of the influential Borgia family.
Another individual worth mentioning is Clydia Sforza, an Italian countess and military leader who lived in the 15th century and played a significant role in the struggles for power between various city-states in Italy during the Renaissance.
People
Clydia + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Clydia 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
Clydia: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Clydia?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 171 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Clydia 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 2,004,411 US residents.
Is Clydia a common name?
We classify Clydia as "Very Rare". It ranks above 72.1% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 626 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Clydia most popular?
The single biggest year for Clydia was 1923, when 25 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Clydia is about 78 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Clydia in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 279 people with the name Clydia, or 0.09 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #30,942 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 Clydia 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 Clydia?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Clydia leans strongly female. 277 people counted with this name were female (98.6%), compared with 4 male bearers (1.4%). 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 Clydia?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Clydia is White at 55.9%. The next largest groups are Black (36.2%) and Two or More Races (5.7%). 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 Clydia most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Clydia in the 2020 Census, accounting for 55.9% (156 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 Clydia in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Clydia a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Clydia 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.
Is Clydia still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Clydia 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 Clydia 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 are called Clydia?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.