Clifford Smith
There are approximately 691 people named Clifford Smith living in the United States today. That makes this name combination very rare, occurring at a rate of about 1 in 496,027 Americans.
This estimate combines SSA birth records for the first name Clifford with Census Bureau frequency data for the surname Smith. Below you will find a breakdown of both names, including popularity trends, gender data, and Census demographics where available.
Expected bearers
691
1 in 496,027
Named Clifford
87K
Alive today
Named Smith
2.7M
Alive today
US population
343M
Denominator
Estimated living: 87K
Rarity: Uncommon
Gender: Male
Peak year: 1925
Average age: 63
Top Census group: White (74.2%)
Estimated bearers: 2.7M
Rarity: Very Common
Census rank: #1
Per 100K: 792.79
Top ancestry: White (68.0%)
First name trend
Clifford: popularity over time
Year-by-year SSA birth registrations for the first name Clifford. The peak year was 1925 with 3,473 births. The average person named Clifford today is 63 years old.
Babies born per year
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Clifford
Self-reported race and ethnicity breakdown for people with the first name Clifford, from the 2020 US Census Bureau first-name tables. The largest published group is White at 74.2%.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Clifford described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. These are self-reported numbers, and they describe the population who happened to carry the name Clifford at the time of the Census. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity.
- White74.2% · 58,590
- Black or African American17.0% · 13,393
- Two or more races3.1% · 2,445
- Asian and Pacific Islander2.3% · 1,839
- Hispanic or Latino2.1% · 1,670
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.2% · 974
Ethnicity
Ancestry of the Smith surname
Self-reported race and ethnicity breakdown for people with the surname Smith, from the 2020 US Census Bureau. The largest group is White at 68.0%.
The bar chart below shows how people with the surname Smith described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. These are self-reported numbers, and they describe the population who happened to carry the surname Smith at the time of the Census. A surname does not determine a person's race or ethnicity.
- White68.0% · 1,611,236
- Black or African American22.6% · 535,967
- Two or more races4.4% · 103,611
- Hispanic or Latino3.5% · 82,947
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.8% · 19,744
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.7% · 16,139
Methodology
How we calculated this
The first name Clifford has a living-bearer frequency of 0.0254% of the US population, based on 87,218 estimated living Americans carrying this first name (from SSA birth records going back to 1880, adjusted for mortality using CDC life tables).
Even though the Census Bureau now publishes first-name tables, we do not use that file as the main first-name input for this estimate. The latest first-name Census snapshot is from 2020, which makes it 6 years old today. Because Census first-name data is only released once every 10 years, SSA birth records plus CDC survival rates give a better current estimate of how many people are likely alive with the name Clifford right now.
The surname Smith appears at a rate of 792.79 per 100,000 residents in the 2020 Census Bureau surname file, which translates to a frequency of 0.7928%.
Multiplying these two independent frequencies against the current US population of 342,754,338 gives an expected count of approximately 691 people with the full name Clifford Smith. This assumes statistical independence between first and last names, which is a simplification but produces reasonable estimates for most combinations.
Related
Other people named Clifford
Related
Other people with the surname Smith
FAQ
Clifford Smith: questions and answers
How many people are named Clifford Smith?
We estimate approximately 691 people in the United States share the full name Clifford Smith. That works out to about 1 in 496,027 Americans. This is calculated by combining the first-name frequency (0.0254%) with the surname frequency (792.79 per 100K) against the current US population.
How rare is the name Clifford Smith?
We classify Clifford Smith as "Very Rare". About 1 in 496,027 Americans share this exact first and last name combination.
Is Clifford a male or female name?
Clifford is predominantly male. Out of 190,128 total SSA registrations, 98.9% were male and 1.1% were female. See the full Clifford profile for detailed gender data.
Where does this data come from?
First-name data comes from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files (1880 to 2024). Surname data comes from the 2020 US Census Bureau decennial surname tables. Living-bearer estimates use CDC actuarial life tables to adjust for mortality. Read the full methodology.
How many people are named Clifford Smith?
Want to know how common the name Clifford Smith is? HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, puts the living-bearer count front and centre.