Clydie
A feminine name derived from the name Clyde, possibly of Scottish origin.
Name Census estimates that about 152 living Americans carry the first name Clydie. It is a predominantly female name (97.5% of registrations). The average person named Clydie today is around 80 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Clydie births was 1926 (35 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Clydie. 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 Clydie is about 80 years old today, placing it firmly among the names of earlier generations. Most living Clydies were born before 1956.
People living today
152
~ 1 in 2,254,963 Americans
Peak year
1926
35 babies that year
Average age
80
years old
1946 SSA rank
#3,237
Tracked since 1892
Census
Clydie in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 238 people with the first name Clydie, which placed it at #34,342 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
#34,342
National first-name rank
People counted
238
238 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
52.1% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Clydie
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Clydie is White at 52.1%. The next largest groups are Black (43.3%) and Two or More Races (2.5%). 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 Clydie 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 Clydie at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White52.1% · 124
- Black or African American43.3% · 103
- Two or more races2.5% · 6
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.8% · 2
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.8% · 2
- Hispanic or Latino0.4% · 1
Gender
Gender distribution for Clydie
Clydie leans heavily female at 97.5% of total registrations, but 22 boys have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Clydie as a male name
- Ranked #3,237 in 1946
- 6 male births in 1946
- Peak: 1945 (6 births)
Clydie as a female name
- Ranked #6,728 in 1961
- 5 female births in 1961
- Peak: 1922 (34 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Clydie leans strongly female. 225 people counted with this name were female (93.4%), compared with 16 male bearers (6.6%).
Popularity
Clydie: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Clydie from the 1890s through to the 1960s, spanning 8 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1920s, with 235 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
Clydie 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 Clydie during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Clydies live
The SSA's state-level files cover 5 states and territories. Georgia, Texas, Alabama recorded the most babies named Clydie, while North Carolina, Florida, Alabama recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 18 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Clydie
The given name Clydie is a relatively uncommon name with an interesting history. Its origins can be traced back to the Old English language spoken in Anglo-Saxon England during the early medieval period. Clydie is believed to have derived from the Old English word "clyd," which means "valley" or "ravine."
In ancient times, names were often inspired by geographical features or natural surroundings. Therefore, it is likely that Clydie was initially given to individuals born or residing in areas with notable valleys or ravines. Some linguists also suggest that the name may have connections to the word "clud," which means "rocky area" or "stony ground" in Old English.
One of the earliest recorded uses of the name Clydie can be found in the Domesday Book, a comprehensive record of landholdings and properties in England compiled in 1086 by order of William the Conqueror. The Domesday Book mentions a landowner named Clydie of Huntingdonshire, who held a significant estate in the region.
Throughout history, there have been a few notable individuals who bore the name Clydie. One such person was Clydie Browne (1888-1962), an American vaudeville performer and actress who appeared in several Broadway productions in the early 20th century. Another notable Clydie was Clydie King (1943-2022), an American singer and backing vocalist who worked with renowned artists like Ray Charles, Aretha Franklin, and Bob Dylan.
In the realm of literature, Clydie Clendenen (1907-1992) was an American author and poet known for her works that explored themes of rural life and the natural world. She published several collections of poetry and short stories throughout her career.
Moving into the field of education, Clydie Beatrice Garner (1920-2008) was an influential American educator and civil rights activist. She played a crucial role in desegregating schools in North Carolina and advocated for equal educational opportunities for all students.
Finally, in the world of sports, Clydie Rowe (1889-1980) was a Canadian athlete and ice hockey player who competed in the 1920 Summer Olympics in Antwerp, Belgium, where he won a gold medal as part of the Canadian men's ice hockey team.
While these are just a few examples, the name Clydie has left its mark across various disciplines and eras, reflecting its rich historical roots and unique origin.
People
Clydie + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Clydie 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
Clydie: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Clydie?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 152 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Clydie 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 2,254,963 US residents.
Is Clydie a common name?
We classify Clydie as "Very Rare". It ranks above 70.5% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 875 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Clydie most popular?
The single biggest year for Clydie was 1926, when 35 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Clydie is about 80 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Clydie in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 238 people with the name Clydie, or 0.08 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #34,342 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 Clydie 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 Clydie?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Clydie leans strongly female. 225 people counted with this name were female (93.4%), compared with 16 male bearers (6.6%). 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 Clydie?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Clydie is White at 52.1%. The next largest groups are Black (43.3%) and Two or More Races (2.5%). 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 Clydie most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Clydie in the 2020 Census, accounting for 52.1% (124 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 Clydie in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Clydie a female name?
Yes, 97.5% of people registered as Clydie 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 Clydie still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Clydie 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 Clydie 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 Americans are named Clydie?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.