Cleaveland
Derived from an Old English place name meaning "cliff near a land cultivated by peasants".
Name Census estimates that about 5 living Americans carry the first name Cleaveland. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Cleaveland today is around 77 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Cleaveland births was 1930 (8 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Cleaveland. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
Key insights
- • The typical person named Cleaveland is about 77 years old today, placing it firmly among the names of earlier generations. Most living Cleavelands were born before 1959.
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Cleaveland. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
5
~ 1 in 68,550,868 Americans
Peak year
1930
8 babies that year
Average age
77
years old
1951 SSA rank
#3,808
Tracked since 1912
Popularity
Cleaveland: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Cleaveland from the 1910s through to the 1950s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1910s, with 18 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1910s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Cleaveland by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Cleaveland during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Origin
Meaning and history of Cleaveland
The name Cleaveland originates from the Old English language and is derived from the words "clif" meaning cliff or slope, and "land" meaning land or territory. It is believed to have originated in the Anglo-Saxon period, sometime between the 5th and 11th centuries AD, in the region that is now modern-day England.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Cleaveland can be found in the Domesday Book, a manuscript record of a great survey commissioned by William the Conqueror in 1086. The name was likely used to refer to someone who lived near a cliff or on a sloping piece of land.
In the 13th century, there are records of a John de Cleaveland, who lived in Yorkshire, England. This is one of the earliest known individuals to bear the name Cleaveland.
During the 16th century, a prominent figure named Moses Cleaveland was a Protestant minister and puritan who lived from 1624 to 1701. He was known for his strong religious beliefs and his opposition to the Church of England's practices.
In the 18th century, a man named John Cleaveland (1722-1806) was a British-American poet and educator. He is best known for his satirical poetry and for serving as a professor at Yale College (now Yale University) in New Haven, Connecticut.
Another notable individual with the name Cleaveland was Moses Cleaveland (1754-1806), a lawyer, surveyor, and land agent from Connecticut. He led the surveying party that founded the city of Cleveland, Ohio, which was named in his honor, though the spelling was slightly altered.
In the 19th century, Grover Cleaveland (1837-1908) was an American politician who served as the 22nd and 24th President of the United States, being the only president to serve non-consecutive terms. He was born Stephen Grover Cleaveland, but later dropped the 'a' from his last name.
These are just a few examples of individuals throughout history who have borne the name Cleaveland, highlighting its origins and significance in various contexts.
People
Cleaveland + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Cleaveland as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with C
Other first names starting with C with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Cleaveland: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Cleaveland?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 5 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Cleaveland going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 68,550,868 US residents.
Is Cleaveland a common name?
We classify Cleaveland as "Very Rare". It ranks above 18.2% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 43 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Cleaveland most popular?
The single biggest year for Cleaveland was 1930, when 8 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Cleaveland is about 77 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
What does the SSA popularity chart show?
The chart tracks births, not the number of people alive with the name today. Each point shows how many babies were given the name Cleaveland in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Cleaveland a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Cleaveland in the SSA data are male. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Is Cleaveland still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Cleaveland in 2024, and the page above shows its latest-year rank where available. A name can be well past its peak and still remain in steady use, especially if it built up a large population over earlier decades.
Why can a name have a lot of living bearers even if it is not trendy now?
Because living-bearer counts and current baby-name popularity measure different things. A name like Cleaveland can build up a very large population over many decades, even if fewer parents are choosing it now than they did at its peak.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only covers names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files do not have a published Census demographic snapshot. In those cases, the page still shows the SSA trend, gender history, and state data.
How many Americans are named Cleaveland?
If you just want to know how many people have the name Cleaveland, HowManyOfMe.org gives you the headline number in one glance.