How rare is the name Clyde?

47,655 people in the United States have the first name Clyde, about 1 in 6,338. It ranks #934 of 53,615 first names in the 2020 Census.

first name

CLYDE

#934

of 53,615 first names recorded in the 2020 Census

People
47,655
About
1 in 6,338
This common or more
69.1%
Who bears it

Of the 47,655 people named Clyde, 70.8% reported their origin as White, 20.3% as Black and 3% as two or more races. 99.2% are male. These count how people described themselves on the 2020 Census, not where the name comes from.

Clyde peaked in 1920, when 3,164 babies got the name.

Births per year, SSA records 1880–2025
18802025
Peak year
1920
Births that year
3,164
In 2025*
350 ▼89%
Recorded as
almost entirely male

At least 148,926 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.

Clyde by decade

Among all names given to American babies, its best decade was the 1880s, when it ranked #151. The largest share of babies named Clyde, 33.4%, were born between 1901 and 1927, the Greatest Generation's birth years.

1880s#1513,267
1890s#1664,090
1900s#1715,093
1910s#15520,804
1920s#16129,791
1930s#20222,856
1940s#25220,964
1950s#35418,045
1960s#5549,136
1970s#8254,410
1980s#1,1702,812
1990s#1,9061,686
2000s#2,7611,304
2010s#1,8942,493
2020s#1,4782,175
Before 19015.3%
Greatest Generation 1901–2733.4%
Silent Generation 1928–4527.3%
Baby boom 1946–6421.8%
Generation X 1965–805.5%
Millennials 1981–962.5%
Generation Z 1997–121.5%
2013 and later2.8%

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 Clyde is most common

Compared with all babies born in each state since 1910, Clyde has been most common in West Virginia (2.9×), North Carolina (2.5×), and Mississippi (2.3×), and least common in Connecticut (0.14×).

131,259 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 Clyde

#932 Trent · 47,904#933 Annabelle · 47,696#935 Emilia · 47,586#936 Lester · 47,571

Spelled almost the same

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

#33,663 Clyda · 245#34,047 Clydie · 241#35,251 Clide · 229

Also a last name

As a last name, Clyde ranks #8,572 of 156,621, with 3,685 people. See Clyde as a last name

Compare