How rare is the name Clarence?

82,717 people in the United States have the first name Clarence, about 1 in 3,651. It ranks #639 of 53,615 first names in the 2020 Census.

first name

CLARENCE

#639

of 53,615 first names recorded in the 2020 Census

People
82,717
About
1 in 3,651
This common or more
62.9%
Who bears it

Of the 82,717 people named Clarence, 52.2% reported their origin as White, 40.1% as Black and 3% as two or more races. Virtually all are male (99.7%). These count how people described themselves on the 2020 Census, not where the name comes from.

Clarence peaked in 1921, when 7,367 babies got the name.

Births per year, SSA records 1880–2025
18802025
Peak year
1921
Births that year
7,367
In 2025*
117 ▼98%
Recorded as
almost entirely male

At least 305,423 babies have been given the name since 1880. Years SSA withheld, because fewer than 5 were born, are skipped rather than drawn as zero. * 2025 is the newest year published and it undercounts: a card application is filed some time after a birth.

Clarence by decade

Among all names given to American babies, its best decade was the 1910s, when it ranked #60. The largest share of babies named Clarence, 38.2%, were born between 1901 and 1927, the Greatest Generation's birth years.

1880s#628,777
1890s#6911,949
1900s#7313,651
1910s#6049,468
1920s#6666,979
1930s#9742,958
1940s#16536,402
1950s#25629,669
1960s#36217,662
1970s#45810,792
1980s#6267,438
1990s#1,0134,548
2000s#1,7032,592
2010s#2,3771,795
2020s#3,076743
Before 19017.3%
Greatest Generation 1901–2738.2%
Silent Generation 1928–4525%
Baby boom 1946–6417.9%
Generation X 1965–806.3%
Millennials 1981–963.3%
Generation Z 1997–121.4%
2013 and later0.6%

Rank counts both sexes together, among every name SSA recorded that decade; the number under it is births. The 2020s run only to 2025. Generation years follow Pew Research Center, which has not named a generation after 2012.

Where Clarence is most common

Compared with all babies born in each state since 1910, Clarence has been most common in West Virginia (2.3×), Louisiana (2.3×), and North Dakota (2.1×), and least common in Nevada (0.04×).

266,221 births recorded by state, 1910–2025. 2× means twice as common as nationally. States with fewer than 30 such births are left blank, and SSA withholds any year with fewer than 5 in a state, so small states read low.

Either side of Clarence

#637 Jaden · 83,104#638 Kendall · 83,086#640 Leonardo · 82,530#641 Bernard · 82,518

Spelled almost the same

8 first names in the 2020 Census spelled within a letter or two of Clarence, most common first.

#14,831 Clarance · 787#18,210 Clarine · 594#23,344 Clarene · 420#31,632 Clearance · 270#38,781 Claren · 197#43,502 Clearence · 162#47,034 Clerance · 140#49,509 Clarena · 125

Also a last name

As a last name, Clarence ranks #46,712 of 156,621, with 491 people. See Clarence as a last name

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