Clemence vs Cletus
American parents have registered 7,709 Cletuses since 1880, against 966 Clemences. But in 2025 it was Clemence that was commoner, 9 babies to 9.
Babies given each name, 1880–2025
Clemence Cletus
Each line is every baby given the name that year, girls and boys added together — the only count that means the same thing for both names. A line breaks where the name fell below five babies in a year — the point at which the SSA stops publishing it — rather than being drawn through a figure nobody published. A single published year in a gap shows as a dot.
Who was ahead
Of the 134 years in which either name was published, Cletus for 123 years and Clemence for 11 years. The lead changed hands 13 times.
10 shorter spells of a year or two are folded into the spans above rather than listed separately.
Side by side
| Clemence | Cletus | |
|---|---|---|
| Total US births | 966 | 7,709 |
| Most in one year | 39 | 243 |
| Babies in 2025 | 9 | 9 |
| Estimated living today | 150 | 2,100 |
| Median age today | 9 | 65 |
| Peak year | 1917 | 1922 |
| Best rank | 1,773rd girls | 391st boys |
| Rank in 2025 | 10,107th | 8,243rd |
| First recorded | 1886 | 1886 |
| Girls / boys | 548 / 418 | 272 / 7,437 |
A rank is a position within one sex’s list for one year, so the two rank rows are not subtracted from one another and the winning column is not marked on them. The living figure is a life-table estimate, not a count.
Which name is older
Half of the Cletuses alive today are over 65; half the Clemences are over 9. That is 56 years between them: two names in use at the same time, worn by two different generations.
Compare something else
Related comparisons
Social Security Administration birth records, 1880–2025, public domain. Full histories: Clemence and Cletus.