How rare is the name Clayton?

91,105 people in the United States have the first name Clayton, about 1 in 3,315. It ranks #585 of 53,615 first names in the 2020 Census.

first name

CLAYTON

#585

of 53,615 first names recorded in the 2020 Census

People
91,105
About
1 in 3,315
This common or more
61.3%
Who bears it

Of the 91,105 people named Clayton, 84.4% reported their origin as White, 6.2% as Black and 3.9% 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.

Clayton peaked in 2000, when 2,577 babies got the name.

Births per year, SSA records 1880–2025
18802025
Peak year
2000
Births that year
2,577
In 2025*
1,130 ▼56%
Recorded as
almost entirely male

At least 139,954 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.

Clayton by decade

Among all names given to American babies, its best decade was the 1990s, when it ranked #306. The largest share of babies named Clayton, 21.9%, were born between 1981 and 1996, as millennials.

1880s#438653
1890s#521752
1900s#4981,057
1910s#3955,683
1920s#3699,498
1930s#4257,225
1940s#4907,080
1950s#5159,345
1960s#5489,334
1970s#45710,809
1980s#33117,041
1990s#30621,864
2000s#38818,735
2010s#49713,971
2020s#5786,907
Before 19011.1%
Greatest Generation 1901–2710.3%
Silent Generation 1928–459.3%
Baby boom 1946–6412.7%
Generation X 1965–8011.5%
Millennials 1981–9621.9%
Generation Z 1997–1221.3%
2013 and later12%

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 Clayton is most common

Compared with all babies born in each state since 1910, Clayton has been most common in Hawaii (2.3×), South Dakota (2.1×), and Maine (2×), and least common in Rhode Island (0.07×).

134,611 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 Clayton

#583 Loretta · 91,196#584 Blanca · 91,179#586 Luz · 90,901#587 Mariah · 90,630

Spelled almost the same

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

#33,752 Clayten · 244#44,702 Claton · 154#52,133 Cliton · 109

Also a last name

As a last name, Clayton ranks #611 of 156,621, with 53,875 people. See Clayton as a last name

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