Find out how popular the last name Cleaver is in the United States and learn more about the meaning, history, and race and ethnic origin of people in America who are named Cleaver.

Cleaver, like all of the last names we have data for, is identified by the U.S. Census Bureau as a surname which has more than 100 occurrences in the United States in the Decennial Census survey. The most recent statistics we have for the Cleaver surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Cleaver in America

Cleaver is the 7387th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Cleaver surname appeared 4,509 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 2 people would have the surname Cleaver.

We can also compare 2010 data for Cleaver to data from the previous census in 2000. The table below contains all of the statistics for both years in a side-by-side comparison.

The history of the last name Cleaver

The surname Cleaver is an English occupational name derived from the Middle English word "cliver," meaning a small sword or knife. It originates from the Old English word "culter," which means knife or ploughshare. The name likely referred to someone who made or sold knives or cleavers, which were essential tools for butchers and cooks.

The earliest recorded use of the name dates back to the 13th century in Norfolk, England. A person named William le Clyver was documented in the Hundred Rolls of Norfolk in 1273. The surname was also found in other parts of East Anglia, including Suffolk and Essex, during the medieval period.

One of the earliest known references to the name can be found in the Subsidy Rolls of Cambridgeshire from 1327, where a Richard Clyvere was listed. The Cleaver surname also appeared in the Subsidy Rolls of Suffolk in 1381, with a John Clevere recorded.

In the 15th century, the surname was sometimes spelled as "Clyver" or "Clivere," reflecting the variations in pronunciation and spelling common during that time. For instance, a William Clivere was recorded in the Court Rolls of the Manor of Wakefield in Yorkshire in 1490.

One notable individual with the Cleaver surname was Robert Cleaver, a Protestant clergyman and Bishop of Chester who lived from 1570 to 1625. Another was John Cleaver, a 17th-century English playwright and poet who was born around 1615.

In the 18th century, the surname Cleaver was found in various parts of England, including Gloucestershire, where a Thomas Cleaver was born in 1705, and Warwickshire, where a John Cleaver was born in 1725.

A famous bearer of the name in the 19th century was Samuel Cleaver, an English mathematician and academic who lived from 1781 to 1861. He served as the Savilian Professor of Geometry at the University of Oxford.

While the Cleaver surname has its origins in England, it has since spread to other parts of the world, including North America and Australia, due to emigration from Britain.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Cleaver

We also have some data on the ancestry of people with the surname Cleaver.

The below race categories are the modified race categories used in the Census Bureau's population estimates program. All people were categorized into six mutually exclusive racial and Hispanic origin groups:

1. White only
2. Black only
3. American Indian and Alaskan Native only
4. Asian and Pacific Islander only
5. Hispanic
6. Two or More Races

For the most recent 2010 census data, the race/ethnic origin breakdown for Cleaver was:

Note: Any fields showing (S) means the data was suppressed for privacy so that the data does not in any way identify any specific individuals.

Since we have data from the previous census in 2000, we can also compare the values to see how the popularity of Cleaver has changed in the 10 years between the two census surveys.

Data source

The last name data and ethnic breakdown of last names is sourced directly from the Decennial Census survey, conducted every 10 years by the United States Census Bureau.

The history and meaning of the name Cleaver was researched and written by our team of onomatology and genealogy experts.

If you have a correction or suggestion to improve the history of Cleaver, please contact us.

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