Claus
Claus was last recorded in 1980, when 5 babies were given it; 366 Americans have been recorded with it between 1880 and 1980 (Social Security Administration, published May 2026).
Girls and boys together; gaps are years SSA did not record (fewer than 5 births).
Births of Claus by year: SSA national baby-name file, 1880-2025, published May 8, 2026. SSA’s notes on the data.
What does Claus mean?
Wiktionary, English section
Claus is “a male given name from Dutch or from German [in turn from Ancient Greek].” Its etymology gives the sense “Nicholas” (Nicolaus).
From Dutch and German Claus, a contraction of Nicolaus (“Nicholas”). The spelling Klaus is from more modern German Klaus and other Germanic languages.
Meaning: Wiktionary, English section, as of Sep 25, 2026 (CC BY‑SA 4.0).
How popular is Claus?
Unranked in 2025
Its last boys’ rank on record is #6,411, in 1980; SSA lists a name only in years with 5 or more births.
13 babies in 1916, the peak
Claus peaked in 1916, when 13 boys were given it, #2,170 among boys’ names. It was not recorded in 2025.
| Year | Births | Rank | Per million boys |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1980 | 5 | #6,411 | 2.8 |
| 1969 | 6 | #4,021 | 3.4 |
| 1968 | 6 | #3,753 | 3.5 |
| 1967 | 6 | #3,619 | 3.4 |
| 1966 | 6 | #3,589 | 3.4 |
| 1965 | 9 | #2,821 | 4.8 |
| 1964 | 7 | #3,333 | 3.5 |
| 1963 | 10 | #2,702 | 4.9 |
| 1962 | 5 | #4,138 | 2.4 |
| 1961 | 9 | #2,928 | 4.2 |
Every recorded year (52)
| Year | Births | Rank | Per million boys |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1960 | 5 | #4,127 | 2.3 |
| 1959 | 11 | #2,556 | 5.2 |
| 1958 | 6 | #3,605 | 2.8 |
| 1957 | 8 | #3,059 | 3.7 |
| 1956 | 11 | #2,518 | 5.2 |
| 1955 | 8 | #3,008 | 3.9 |
| 1954 | 5 | #3,913 | 2.5 |
| 1952 | 6 | #3,422 | 3.1 |
| 1949 | 5 | #3,772 | 2.8 |
| 1941 | 6 | #3,202 | 4.9 |
| 1936 | 11 | #2,201 | 10.6 |
| 1934 | 7 | #3,019 | 6.8 |
| 1932 | 7 | #3,134 | 6.7 |
| 1931 | 6 | #3,452 | 5.8 |
| 1930 | 7 | #3,341 | 6.4 |
| 1929 | 8 | #3,029 | 7.4 |
| 1927 | 5 | #4,302 | 4.4 |
| 1926 | 7 | #3,442 | 6.3 |
| 1925 | 12 | #2,460 | 10.8 |
| 1924 | 9 | #3,063 | 7.9 |
| 1923 | 8 | #3,217 | 7.3 |
| 1922 | 8 | #3,295 | 7.4 |
| 1921 | 8 | #3,258 | 7.3 |
| 1920 | 5 | #4,411 | 4.7 |
| 1919 | 8 | #3,157 | 8.2 |
| 1918 | 6 | #3,804 | 5.9 |
| 1917 | 7 | #3,278 | 7.6 |
| 1916 | 13 | #2,170 | 14.6 |
| 1915 | 6 | #3,471 | 7.1 |
| 1914 | 5 | #3,342 | 7.6 |
| 1913 | 6 | #2,548 | 11.7 |
| 1912 | 7 | #2,082 | 16.3 |
| 1911 | 5 | #1,787 | 22.1 |
| 1907 | 6 | #1,222 | 40.9 |
| 1901 | 5 | #1,081 | 47.0 |
| 1898 | 8 | #818 | 65.2 |
| 1895 | 6 | #1,002 | 51.1 |
| 1891 | 7 | #782 | 69.2 |
| 1890 | 6 | #908 | 54.0 |
| 1887 | 5 | #957 | 49.3 |
| 1885 | 5 | #963 | 46.4 |
| 1880 | 7 | #759 | 63.4 |
Ranks and shares: boys’ names in each year’s SSA file; share of all boys SSA recorded that year.
Is Claus a boy’s or a girl’s name?
Claus has been recorded only for boys: SSA lists no girls with the name in 52 years of records (it lists a name only in years with 5 or more babies of a sex).
Girls and boys named Claus: the SSA national file counts each sex separately.
How many people are named Claus, and how old are they?
An estimated 107 Americans named Claus and born in the U.S. are alive in 2026 (29% of everyone recorded); the median is 65 years old and half are between 61 and 70. An estimate from SSA’s births and life tables, not a count.
The 2020 Census counted 787 people named Claus (7 women and girls, 780 men and boys). SSA’s births carried forward to Census day, April 1, 2020, predict 125 born in the U.S. The Census count is 6.3 times that prediction. Possible reasons: the Census counts people born abroad, whom SSA’s files leave out, and it records the name people give, which SSA may have recorded under another spelling or as part of a compound name.
Living estimate: SSA births carried forward with the survival rates in SSA’s cohort life tables (2024 Trustees Report) for each birth year and sex. How the estimate is made. Count: Census Bureau, first names in the 2020 Census (released April 14, 2026; names reported 100 or more times, with the Bureau’s disclosure-avoidance adjustment).
Names spelled alike
Of these 2 names spelled alike, given to 1,837 babies since 1880, Claus is the second most given (20% of them). In 2025 none of their 63 babies recorded by SSA was a Claus (SSA lists a name only with 5 or more babies of one sex).
Spelled alike: names in the SSA national file with the same pattern of letters and sounds and at most two letters apart, and Wiktionary’s listed forms; births since 1880 and in 2025, and each name’s peak year, from the SSA national file, published May 8, 2026. Some are separate names, not spellings of one.
Names that rose and fell in the same decades as Claus
Names whose births rose and fell across the same decades, measured on each decade’s share of births.
Similar histories: each decade’s share of births, from the SSA national file, 1880-2025, published May 8, 2026. SSA’s notes on the data.
More about Claus and names like it
- Compare Claus and KlausBirths, ranks, peak and the living estimate side by side.
- The most given names of the 1910sClaus peaked in 1916.
- German namesWiktionary’s origin for Claus: every such name, by how often it is given.
- The top names of 1916The year the most babies were named Claus.
- The names of the Baby BoomersMost people named Claus alive today were born 1946-1964.
- Names starting with CMost given first.