2000
#13,863
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 1,999
First available Census row
Per 100,000 0.74
Rare Last name
Clute
A Scottish locational surname derived from a place near Cambuslang in Lanarkshire, likely meaning "place of the hillock."
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 2,181 Americans carry the last name Clute. That puts it at #14,931 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 0.64 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 157,155 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Clute surname. You will find the Census Bureau frequency data, a multi-census history view, an ancestry and ethnicity breakdown based on self-reported demographics, the name's meaning and origin where available, and answers to the most common questions people ask about this surname.
Bearers in the US
2.2K
1 in 157,155
Census rank
#14,931
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
0.6
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
1.9K
rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 1,902 bearers of the surname Clute in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 0.64 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 14931st position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Clute, the largest self-reported group is White at 89.4%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (3.8%) and Hispanic (3.6%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Clute
The surname CLUTE is believed to have originated in the Netherlands, specifically in the province of Friesland. It likely emerged sometime during the late medieval period, around the 13th or 14th century.
CLUTE is thought to be derived from the Dutch word "kluit," which means a clod or lump of earth. This suggests that the name may have been given to someone who lived near or worked on a particular plot of land or farm.
One of the earliest known references to the CLUTE surname can be found in a Dutch census record from the year 1522, which lists a family by the name of "Kloete" residing in the town of Leeuwarden, Friesland.
In the 17th century, as the Dutch began to establish colonies in North America, some individuals bearing the CLUTE name emigrated to the New World. One notable early example is Hendrick Jansen Clute, who was born in the Netherlands around 1620 and later settled in the Dutch colony of New Netherland (present-day New York) in the 1650s.
Another early CLUTE settler in North America was Johannes Clute, who was born in the Netherlands around 1665 and later immigrated to the British colony of New York in the late 17th century.
Over the centuries, the CLUTE surname has been spelled in various ways, including Cluit, Cluyt, and Cluett. Some alternate spellings may have been influenced by regional dialects or phonetic adaptations.
Notable individuals with the CLUTE surname throughout history include:
1. Gregor Chlopicki (also known as Gregor Clute), a Polish military commander who lived from 1772 to 1854 and played a significant role in the November Uprising against Russian rule.
2. Robert E. Clute, an American businessman and politician who served as the Mayor of Schenectady, New York, from 1912 to 1915.
3. William N. Clute, an American botanist and writer who lived from 1869 to 1944 and authored several books on ferns and other plant species.
4. Wilfred Clute, a Canadian politician who served as a member of the House of Commons of Canada from 1935 to 1949, representing the riding of Dauphin, Manitoba.
5. John K. Clute, an American science fiction critic and editor who has been active since the late 20th century and has written extensively on the genre.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Clute
Among Census respondents with the surname Clute, the largest self-reported group is White at 89.4%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (3.8%) and Hispanic (3.6%).
The bar chart below shows how Clute bearers 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 surname, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown for every Census year so the breakdown stays comparable over time. When the source file also includes raw headcounts, Name Census shows those alongside the percentages in the legend.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A person's surname does not determine their race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the Clute surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White89.4% · 1,700
- Two or more races3.8% · 73
- Hispanic or Latino3.6% · 68
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.4% · 26
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.3% · 25
- Black or African American0.5% · 10
Timeline
Historical Census data for Clute
Clute appears in 3 published Census surname files: 2000, 2010, 2020. The cards below show how the name's rank and bearer count changed across each release.
2010
#14,160
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 2,121
+122 bearers (+6.1%)
Per 100,000 0.72
Rank movement Down 297 places
2020
#14,931
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 1,902
-219 bearers (-10.3%)
Per 100,000 0.64
Rank movement Down 771 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #13,863 | 1,999 | 0.74 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #14,160 | 2,121 | 0.72 | +122 bearers (+6.1%) | Down 297 places |
| 2020 | #14,931 | 1,902 | 0.64 | -219 bearers (-10.3%) | Down 771 places |
For 2020, the Census Bureau published race and Hispanic-origin columns as counts rather than percentages. Name Census converts those counts back into shares so the ancestry section stays comparable with the older surname files.
Year on year
2010 vs 2020 Census
How has the Clute surname changed between Census years? The chart shows bearer count side by side, and the table compares rank, count, and frequency.
Census year comparison
20102020
| Metric | 2010 | 2020 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rank | #14,160 | #14,931 | -5.4% |
| Count | 2,121 | 1,902 | -10.3% |
| Per 100K | 0.72 | 0.64 | -11.6% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Clute bearers went from 2,121 to 1,902 (-10.3% change). The surname moved down 771 positions in the national ranking, going from #14,160 to #14,931.
FAQ
Clute surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Clute?
Name Census estimates that about 2,181 living Americans carry the surname Clute. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 157,155 residents.
How common is Clute?
Clute ranks #14,931 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Rare." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 0.64 per 100,000 residents, which is about 1 people out of every 100,000.
How many people with this surname were counted in the Census?
The raw 2020 Census file counted 1,902 people with the surname Clute. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (2,181), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 0.64 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 0.64 per 100,000 means that if you picked a random group of 100,000 U.S. residents, you would expect about 1 of them to have the surname Clute.
Has Clute become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Clute went from 2,121 recorded bearers to 1,902. That is a decrease of 219 (-10.3%). In the national ranking it fell from #14,160 to #14,931.
What does the Census say about the background of Clute?
Among Census respondents with the surname Clute, the largest self-reported group is White at 89.4%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (3.8%) and Hispanic (3.6%). These figures come from the 2020 Census Bureau surname tables, based on how respondents described their own race and ethnicity.
Which group reports this surname most often?
White is the largest self-reported group for the surname Clute in the 2020 Census, accounting for 89.4% (1,700 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Clute appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (89.4%), Two or More Races (3.8%), Hispanic (3.6%). For 2020, the source file also published raw headcounts for each group, which is why this page can show both percentages and counts in the ancestry section.
Is this page using the latest Census data?
Yes. This page is using the latest surname file currently loaded on Name Census, which is 2020. The historical section above also keeps any older Census surname entries we have for Clute (2000, 2010, 2020).
Does the Census include every surname?
No. The Census Bureau only publishes surnames that appeared at least 100 times in a given decennial Census. That means very rare surnames are excluded entirely, and a surname can appear in one Census release but disappear from a later one if it falls below the reporting threshold.
Why don't the ancestry percentages always add up to exactly 100%?
There are two main reasons: rounding and suppression. The Census Bureau rounds published values, and it may suppress very small cells to protect privacy. For 2020, the Bureau also published raw group counts rather than direct percentages, so Name Census converts those counts back into shares for comparability across census years.
What does Clute mean?
A Scottish locational surname derived from a place near Cambuslang in Lanarkshire, likely meaning "place of the hillock." The fuller origin note on this page goes into more detail.
Where does the surname data come from?
All surname statistics on Name Census are drawn from the US Census Bureau's decennial surname frequency tables. These files list every surname that appeared 100 or more times in the 2020 Census, along with a count, a per-100,000 rate, and a self-reported demographic breakdown. You can read the full explanation on our methodology page.
How does Name Census estimate living bearers?
For surnames, Name Census does not age cohorts the way it does for first names. Instead, it takes the Census Bureau's published frequency for Clute (0.64 per 100,000) and applies that rate to the current U.S. resident population to estimate how many living Americans have the surname today.
How common is the surname Clute?
Find out how many people have the last name Clute on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — a quick modern estimate with the living-bearer count front and centre.