How rare is the name Clinton?

54,834 people in the United States have the first name Clinton, about 1 in 5,508. It ranks #843 of 53,615 first names in the 2020 Census.

first name

CLINTON

#843

of 53,615 first names recorded in the 2020 Census

People
54,834
About
1 in 5,508
This common or more
67.5%
Who bears it

Of the 54,834 people named Clinton, 75% reported their origin as White, 16.6% as Black and 3.7% as two or more races. Virtually all are male (99.8%). These count how people described themselves on the 2020 Census, not where the name comes from.

Clinton peaked in 1981, when 2,222 babies got the name.

Births per year, SSA records 1880–2025
18802025
Peak year
1981
Births that year
2,222
In 2025*
94 ▼96%
Recorded as
almost entirely male

At least 98,005 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.

Clinton by decade

Among all names given to American babies, its best decade was the 1980s, when it ranked #325. The largest share of babies named Clinton, 24.4%, were born between 1965 and 1980, Generation X's birth years.

1880s#366867
1890s#484857
1900s#4881,122
1910s#4075,320
1920s#3978,512
1930s#4386,748
1940s#4727,720
1950s#5149,359
1960s#51510,320
1970s#33416,442
1980s#32517,642
1990s#6837,935
2000s#1,7052,585
2010s#2,2771,912
2020s#3,323664
Before 19011.9%
Greatest Generation 1901–2713.6%
Silent Generation 1928–4512.8%
Baby boom 1946–6418.3%
Generation X 1965–8024.4%
Millennials 1981–9622.8%
Generation Z 1997–124.3%
2013 and later2%

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 Clinton is most common

Compared with all babies born in each state since 1910, Clinton has been most common in Wyoming (2.3×), Montana (2.2×), and Idaho (2.2×), and least common in New Hampshire (0.2×).

91,325 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 Clinton

#841 Nichole · 55,220#842 Kari · 55,005#844 Hilda · 54,736#845 Bobbie · 54,717

Spelled almost the same

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

#1,228 Clint · 31,154#33,205 Clenton · 250#48,840 Clinten · 129#50,823 Clanton · 117#53,270 Clendon · 101

Also a last name

As a last name, Clinton ranks #2,274 of 156,621, with 15,615 people. See Clinton as a last name

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