Cletus
Cletus was given to 9 boys in 2025, #8,378 among boys’ names; 7,709 Americans have been recorded with it since 1886 (Social Security Administration, published May 2026).
An estimated 2,070 Americans named Cletus and born in the U.S. are alive in 2026 (27% of everyone recorded); the median is 65 years old and half are between 51 and 77.
Girls and boys together; gaps are years SSA did not record (fewer than 5 births).
Births of Cletus by year: SSA national baby-name file, 1880-2025, published May 8, 2026. SSA’s notes on the data.
What does Cletus mean?
Wiktionary, English section
Cletus is “a male given name from Ancient Greek.” Its etymology gives the sense “invoked” (anáklētos,).
Borrowed from Latin Clētus, short form of the papal name Anaclētus, from Ancient Greek ἀνάκλητος (anáklētos, “invoked”, from ἀνακαλέω (anakaléō) + -τός (-tós)).
/ˈkliːt.əs/
Meaning: Wiktionary, English section, as of Sep 25, 2026 (CC BY‑SA 4.0).
How popular is Cletus?
#8,378 among boys’ names, 2025
Cletus rose from #8,898 in 2015 to #8,378 in 2025 among boys’ names; its share of boys born rose from 4.2 to 5.3 per million.
243 babies in 1922, the peak
Cletus peaked in 1922, when 243 babies were given it (233 boys, #391 among boys’ names). The 9 births of 2025 are 4% of that peak.
Births by sex.
| Year | Births | Rank | Per 1,000 boys |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 9 | #8,378 | 0.01 |
| 2024 | 6 | #11,194 | under 0.01 |
| 2022 | 9 | #8,435 | 0.01 |
| 2021 | 10 | #7,712 | 0.01 |
| 2020 | 8 | #8,888 | under 0.01 |
| 2019 | 6 | #11,038 | under 0.01 |
| 2018 | 7 | #9,868 | under 0.01 |
| 2017 | 6 | #11,034 | under 0.01 |
| 2016 | 6 | #10,982 | under 0.01 |
| 2015 | 8 | #8,898 | under 0.01 |
Every recorded year (132)
| Year | Births | Rank | Per 1,000 boys |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | 7 | #9,830 | under 0.01 |
| 2013 | 8 | #8,943 | under 0.01 |
| 2012 | 5 | #12,617 | under 0.01 |
| 2011 | 8 | #8,901 | under 0.01 |
| 2009 | 5 | #12,830 | under 0.01 |
| 2008 | 6 | #11,309 | under 0.01 |
| 2007 | 5 | #12,697 | under 0.01 |
| 2006 | 5 | #12,371 | under 0.01 |
| 2004 | 10 | #7,061 | 0.01 |
| 2003 | 8 | #7,973 | under 0.01 |
| 2002 | 8 | #7,765 | under 0.01 |
| 2001 | 11 | #6,082 | 0.01 |
| 2000 | 6 | #9,284 | under 0.01 |
| 1999 | 12 | #5,360 | 0.01 |
| 1998 | 5 | #9,867 | under 0.01 |
| 1997 | 11 | #5,329 | 0.01 |
| 1996 | 10 | #5,597 | 0.01 |
| 1994 | 9 | #5,936 | under 0.01 |
| 1993 | 11 | #5,054 | 0.01 |
| 1991 | 17 | #3,479 | 0.01 |
| 1990 | 10 | #5,043 | under 0.01 |
| 1989 | 16 | #3,477 | 0.01 |
| 1988 | 12 | #3,944 | 0.01 |
| 1987 | 13 | #3,558 | 0.01 |
| 1986 | 18 | #2,795 | 0.01 |
| 1985 | 19 | #2,613 | 0.01 |
| 1984 | 17 | #2,716 | 0.01 |
| 1983 | 21 | #2,347 | 0.01 |
| 1982 | 20 | #2,441 | 0.01 |
| 1981 | 28 | #1,953 | 0.02 |
| 1980 | 25 | #2,121 | 0.01 |
| 1979 | 24 | #2,113 | 0.01 |
| 1978 | 18 | #2,493 | 0.01 |
| 1977 | 21 | #2,217 | 0.01 |
| 1976 | 29 | #1,750 | 0.02 |
| 1975 | 18 | #2,382 | 0.01 |
| 1974 | 20 | #2,136 | 0.01 |
| 1973 | 22 | #1,937 | 0.01 |
| 1972 | 28 | #1,655 | 0.02 |
| 1971 | 31 | #1,561 | 0.02 |
| 1970 | 40 | #1,315 | 0.02 |
| 1969 | 38 | #1,283 | 0.02 |
| 1968 | 34 | #1,319 | 0.02 |
| 1967 | 52 | #1,005 | 0.03 |
| 1966 | 62 | #926 | 0.03 |
| 1965 | 54 | #1,002 | 0.03 |
| 1964 | 66 | #936 | 0.03 |
| 1963 | 62 | #957 | 0.03 |
| 1962 | 49 | #1,091 | 0.02 |
| 1961 | 63 | #970 | 0.03 |
| 1960 | 56 | #1,021 | 0.03 |
| 1959 | 51 | #1,082 | 0.02 |
| 1958 | 55 | #1,029 | 0.03 |
| 1957 | 64 | #943 | 0.03 |
| 1956 | 57 | #988 | 0.03 |
| 1955 | 67 | #907 | 0.03 |
| 1954 | 63 | #933 | 0.03 |
| 1953 | 62 | #908 | 0.03 |
| 1952 | 75 | #807 | 0.04 |
| 1951 | 86 | #750 | 0.05 |
| 1950 | 81 | #761 | 0.05 |
| 1949 | 82 | #760 | 0.05 |
| 1948 | 78 | #765 | 0.04 |
| 1947 | 79 | #771 | 0.04 |
| 1946 | 87 | #695 | 0.05 |
| 1945 | 88 | #645 | 0.07 |
| 1944 | 74 | #724 | 0.05 |
| 1943 | 101 | #635 | 0.07 |
| 1942 | 88 | #685 | 0.06 |
| 1941 | 105 | #578 | 0.09 |
| 1940 | 96 | #604 | 0.08 |
| 1939 | 99 | #575 | 0.09 |
| 1938 | 97 | #602 | 0.09 |
| 1937 | 119 | #531 | 0.11 |
| 1936 | 127 | #507 | 0.12 |
| 1935 | 137 | #483 | 0.13 |
| 1934 | 134 | #495 | 0.13 |
| 1933 | 125 | #501 | 0.13 |
| 1932 | 156 | #455 | 0.15 |
| 1931 | 132 | #498 | 0.13 |
| 1930 | 177 | #442 | 0.16 |
| 1929 | 159 | #465 | 0.15 |
| 1928 | 160 | #482 | 0.14 |
| 1927 | 193 | #439 | 0.17 |
| 1926 | 200 | #429 | 0.18 |
| 1925 | 184 | #442 | 0.16 |
| 1924 | 226 | #407 | 0.20 |
| 1923 | 200 | #427 | 0.18 |
| 1922 | 233 | #391 | 0.21 |
| 1921 | 174 | #466 | 0.16 |
| 1920 | 173 | #463 | 0.16 |
| 1919 | 168 | #451 | 0.17 |
| 1918 | 200 | #414 | 0.20 |
| 1917 | 189 | #411 | 0.20 |
| 1916 | 171 | #433 | 0.19 |
| 1915 | 154 | #438 | 0.18 |
| 1914 | 97 | #497 | 0.15 |
| 1913 | 83 | #476 | 0.16 |
| 1912 | 66 | #486 | 0.15 |
| 1911 | 34 | #508 | 0.15 |
| 1910 | 28 | #541 | 0.14 |
| 1909 | 31 | #454 | 0.19 |
| 1908 | 30 | #438 | 0.19 |
| 1907 | 24 | #473 | 0.16 |
| 1906 | 14 | #650 | 0.11 |
| 1905 | 19 | #532 | 0.14 |
| 1904 | 15 | #590 | 0.12 |
| 1903 | 15 | #581 | 0.13 |
| 1902 | 10 | #756 | 0.08 |
| 1901 | 12 | #609 | 0.11 |
| 1900 | 15 | #651 | 0.10 |
| 1899 | 10 | #670 | 0.09 |
| 1898 | 8 | #819 | 0.07 |
| 1897 | 9 | #735 | 0.08 |
| 1896 | 11 | #681 | 0.09 |
| 1895 | 10 | #700 | 0.09 |
| 1894 | 10 | #682 | 0.09 |
| 1893 | 12 | #577 | 0.11 |
| 1892 | 5 | #1,096 | 0.04 |
| 1891 | 5 | #998 | 0.05 |
| 1888 | 5 | #1,065 | 0.04 |
| 1886 | 5 | #994 | 0.05 |
Ranks and shares: boys’ names in each year’s SSA file; share of all boys SSA recorded that year.
Is Cletus a boy’s or a girl’s name?
Of the 7,709 Americans recorded as Cletus, 4% are girls and 96% boys. In 2025 it went to 9 boys; SSA lists no girls with it that year (fewer than 5, or none).
Years with fewer than 20 babies given the name are left blank.
Girls and boys named Cletus: the SSA national file counts each sex separately.
How many people are named Cletus, and how old are they?
2,070 alive in 2026, estimated
That is 27% of the 7,709 Americans ever recorded as Cletus. The median Cletus alive today is 65 years old; half are between 51 and 77.
The 2020 Census counted 2,679 people named Cletus (70 women and girls, 2,609 men and boys). SSA’s births carried forward to Census day, April 1, 2020, predict 2,561 born in the U.S. The Census count is 5% above that prediction.
Alive today, by age
Alive today, by generation
| Generation | Born | Alive |
|---|---|---|
| Silent Generation | 1928-1945 | 377 |
| Baby Boomers | 1946-1964 | 832 |
| Generation X | 1965-1980 | 449 |
| Millennials | 1981-1996 | 209 |
| Generation Z | 1997-2012 | 103 |
| Generation Alpha | 2013-2025 | 89 |
An estimate, not a count. SSA’s files count people born in the United States who received a Social Security number, so anyone born abroad is not in them; before 1937 most people got a number as adults, and their survival is counted from that age.
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).
Where are babies named Cletus born?
The states with the most babies named Cletus are Ohio, Illinois and Iowa, with 37% of its births recorded by state since 1910; Iowa is not among the ten states with the most births.
| State | Since 1910 | Rank, boys | vs. national |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ohio | 575 | not ranked | 1.5× |
| Illinois | 517 | not ranked | 1.3× |
| Iowa | 465 | not ranked | 3.2× |
| Missouri | 448 | not ranked | 2.2× |
| Pennsylvania | 440 | not ranked | 0.8× |
| Indiana | 373 | not ranked | 1.9× |
| Wisconsin | 315 | not ranked | 1.7× |
| North Carolina | 273 | not ranked | 1.1× |
| Minnesota | 172 | not ranked | 1.0× |
| Kentucky | 163 | not ranked | 0.9× |
Where Cletus is more common than its national share predicts
Relative to its national share, Cletus is most over-represented in Iowa: since 1910 it was given 3.2 times as often there as its national share each year would predict.
States: SSA state file, 1910-2025, published May 8, 2026; births count girls and boys together, and the rank is among boys’ names in the state in 2025. The file leaves out any state and year with fewer than 5 babies of the name, so small states are undercounted; each ratio compares the state’s births of Cletus with the births its national share predicts year by year, for states with at least 100 births of the name.
Names spelled alike
Of these 5 names spelled alike, given to 10,983 babies since 1880, Cletus is the most given (70% 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 Cletus
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 Cletus and names like it
- Compare Cletus and CletisBirths, ranks, peak and the living estimate side by side.
- The most given names of the 1920sCletus peaked in 1922.
- Ohio’s most given namesThe state where SSA recorded the most babies named Cletus since 1910.
- Ancient Greek namesWiktionary’s origin for Cletus: every such name, by how often it is given.
- The top names of 1922The year the most babies were named Cletus.
- The names of the Baby BoomersMost people named Cletus alive today were born 1946-1964.
- Names starting with CMost given first.