Cletis
Cletis was last recorded in 1996, when 5 babies were given it; 1,762 Americans have been recorded with it between 1904 and 1996 (Social Security Administration, published May 2026).
Girls and boys together; gaps are years SSA did not record (fewer than 5 births).
Births of Cletis by year: SSA national baby-name file, 1880-2025, published May 8, 2026. SSA’s notes on the data.
How popular is Cletis?
Unranked in 2025
Its last boys’ rank on record is #9,242, in 1996; SSA lists a name only in years with 5 or more births.
52 babies in 1924, the peak
Cletis peaked in 1924, when 52 babies were given it (44 boys, #1,074 among boys’ names). It was not recorded in 2025.
Births by sex.
| Year | Births | Rank | Per million boys |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1996 | 5 | #9,242 | 2.6 |
| 1995 | 5 | #9,091 | 2.6 |
| 1993 | 5 | #8,945 | 2.5 |
| 1988 | 10 | #4,497 | 5.2 |
| 1987 | 5 | #7,137 | 2.7 |
| 1985 | 10 | #4,096 | 5.4 |
| 1983 | 7 | #5,018 | 3.9 |
| 1981 | 7 | #5,037 | 3.9 |
| 1980 | 13 | #3,287 | 7.3 |
| 1979 | 5 | #6,209 | 2.9 |
Every recorded year (79)
| Year | Births | Rank | Per million boys |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1978 | 9 | #3,910 | 5.5 |
| 1977 | 7 | #4,678 | 4.3 |
| 1976 | 10 | #3,512 | 6.4 |
| 1975 | 13 | #2,929 | 8.3 |
| 1974 | 9 | #3,610 | 5.7 |
| 1973 | 9 | #3,489 | 5.8 |
| 1972 | 10 | #3,195 | 6.2 |
| 1971 | 18 | #2,217 | 10.2 |
| 1970 | 6 | #4,327 | 3.2 |
| 1969 | 13 | #2,437 | 7.3 |
| 1968 | 14 | #2,216 | 8.1 |
| 1967 | 18 | #1,860 | 10.3 |
| 1966 | 18 | #1,826 | 10.1 |
| 1965 | 20 | #1,781 | 10.8 |
| 1964 | 27 | #1,512 | 13.5 |
| 1963 | 40 | #1,230 | 19.7 |
| 1962 | 44 | #1,174 | 21.3 |
| 1961 | 41 | #1,236 | 19.3 |
| 1960 | 42 | #1,211 | 19.7 |
| 1959 | 12 | #2,437 | 5.6 |
| 1958 | 13 | #2,281 | 6.1 |
| 1957 | 14 | #2,204 | 6.5 |
| 1956 | 12 | #2,386 | 5.7 |
| 1955 | 10 | #2,603 | 4.9 |
| 1954 | 8 | #2,992 | 3.9 |
| 1953 | 11 | #2,417 | 5.6 |
| 1952 | 18 | #1,814 | 9.3 |
| 1951 | 14 | #2,066 | 7.4 |
| 1950 | 18 | #1,756 | 10.1 |
| 1949 | 14 | #2,044 | 7.9 |
| 1948 | 17 | #1,829 | 9.7 |
| 1947 | 22 | #1,608 | 12.0 |
| 1946 | 26 | #1,386 | 16.0 |
| 1945 | 16 | #1,707 | 11.9 |
| 1944 | 13 | #2,006 | 9.5 |
| 1943 | 20 | #1,590 | 14.0 |
| 1942 | 20 | #1,594 | 14.5 |
| 1941 | 22 | #1,456 | 17.9 |
| 1940 | 22 | #1,440 | 19.0 |
| 1939 | 17 | #1,653 | 15.4 |
| 1938 | 21 | #1,485 | 18.9 |
| 1937 | 34 | #1,125 | 31.9 |
| 1936 | 26 | #1,300 | 25.1 |
| 1935 | 26 | #1,331 | 25.0 |
| 1934 | 36 | #1,098 | 34.9 |
| 1933 | 24 | #1,367 | 24.2 |
| 1932 | 38 | #1,095 | 36.4 |
| 1931 | 29 | #1,288 | 27.9 |
| 1930 | 35 | #1,196 | 31.9 |
| 1929 | 34 | #1,198 | 31.6 |
| 1928 | 34 | #1,231 | 30.7 |
| 1927 | 36 | #1,208 | 31.9 |
| 1926 | 37 | #1,178 | 33.3 |
| 1925 | 35 | #1,203 | 31.4 |
| 1924 | 44 | #1,074 | 38.8 |
| 1923 | 31 | #1,306 | 28.3 |
| 1922 | 29 | #1,370 | 26.7 |
| 1921 | 39 | #1,145 | 35.4 |
| 1920 | 37 | #1,184 | 34.8 |
| 1919 | 23 | #1,538 | 23.5 |
| 1918 | 34 | #1,196 | 33.5 |
| 1917 | 23 | #1,487 | 24.9 |
| 1916 | 30 | #1,212 | 33.7 |
| 1915 | 34 | #1,105 | 40.1 |
| 1914 | 14 | #1,702 | 21.4 |
| 1913 | 13 | #1,510 | 25.4 |
| 1912 | 17 | #1,142 | 39.5 |
| 1910 | 5 | #1,639 | 25.7 |
| 1904 | 6 | #1,090 | 46.8 |
Ranks and shares: boys’ names in each year’s SSA file; share of all boys SSA recorded that year.
Is Cletis a boy’s or a girl’s name?
Of the 1,762 Americans recorded as Cletis, 9% are girls and 91% boys.
Years with fewer than 20 babies given the name are left blank.
Girls and boys named Cletis: the SSA national file counts each sex separately.
How many people are named Cletis, and how old are they?
An estimated 580 Americans named Cletis and born in the U.S. are alive in 2026 (33% of everyone recorded); the median is 64 years old and half are between 56 and 74. An estimate from SSA’s births and life tables, not a count.
The 2020 Census counted 639 people named Cletis (60 women and girls, 579 men and boys). SSA’s births carried forward to Census day, April 1, 2020, predict 714 born in the U.S. The Census count is 11% below that prediction. Possible reasons: people who give a short form or another name to the Census, and a survival estimate that can run high.
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 5 names spelled alike, given to 10,983 babies since 1880, Cletis is the second most given (16% of them).
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 Cletis
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 Cletis and names like it
- Compare Cletis and CletusBirths, ranks, peak and the living estimate side by side.
- The most given names of the 1920sCletis peaked in 1924.
- Missouri’s most given namesThe state where SSA recorded the most babies named Cletis since 1910.
- The top names of 1924The year the most babies were named Cletis.
- The names of the Baby BoomersMost people named Cletis alive today were born 1946-1964.
- Names starting with CMost given first.