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Cletis

UnisexBoys' nameGirls' name

Variant of Cletus

Cletis has been given to 1,762 babies in the U.S. since 1904. It was used fewer than 5 times in 2025, so it doesn't appear in the latest year's list — today it's a genuinely uncommon pick. Its peak year was 1924, with 44 recorded. It's used for both sexes: 91% boys, 9% girls all-time.

Babies named Cletis, 1996

1 in 729,000

Cletis over time, 1880–2025

BoysGirls
020406018801900192019401960198020002020

Based on births in the U.S. Babies given the name each year. Hover the chart — or focus it and use the arrow keys — for any year. Gaps mean the name was given fewer than 5 times that year; these counts are unpublished.

Girls or boys — Cletis over time

In 1996, Cletis went to 0% girls and 100% boys.

19041996

A sex is only published in years it reached five applications, so a stretch at 0% or 100% means the other side stayed under that floor — not that it was never used.

Cletis: meaning, origin, and history

Variant of Cletus

Deeper origin not confirmed in the cited records

What Cletis means

Cletis is a variant of Cletus.

Documented naming usage and pronunciation

Cletis is used in English (Rare).

Another recorded pronunciation is /ˈkli.təs/ for Cletis.

Related names and everyday forms

Related names include Cletus.

American usage and historical context

In the United States, 1,603 boys were recorded with the name Cletis between 1904 and 1996. Its highest annual count was 44 in 1924; its best national rank was #1,074 in 1924.

In the United States, 159 girls were recorded with the name Cletis between 1911 and 1942. Its highest annual count was 14 in 1920; its best national rank was #2,003 in 1911.

Sources & methodologyReferences, data & attribution

Meaning, origin, and language notes draw on the references below.

American popularity figures use published Social Security Administration records for this exact spelling. Counts below five for a name, sex, and year are omitted.

How common is Cletis?

Cletis had fewer than 5 recorded uses in 2025, so these figures use 1996, the last year it was published.

Among all babies, 1996
1 in 729,000
5 of 3,646,048 births
Among boys only
1 in 379,000
<0.01% of boys
Rank, 1996
Unranked
Fewer than 5 uses
Coin-flip room size
505,451 kids
Even odds of a second one

Where Cletis sits on the popularity scale

Rarest published (5 a year)#1 — Liam (20,818)

Chance at least one other child shares the name

If the other children were drawn at random from the 1996 national name distribution. Real classrooms cluster by region and community, so treat these as a floor, not a ceiling.

Class of 20Under 1%
Class of 30Under 1%
Grade of 100Under 1%
School of 500Under 1%

Put another way: gather 505,451 children born in 1996 and it's an even bet that one of them is another Cletis. In a class of 30 the chance is Under 1%.

When Cletiss were born

Half of everyone ever recorded as Cletis was born before 1937 — so the typical Cletis is around 88 today.

Median birth year
1937
About 88 years old
Biggest decade
1920s
22.2% of all use
Born in the last 25 years
8.7%
Mostly a past generation
Recorded since 1950
570
People you could plausibly meet
Choose a decade

1920s — 22.2% of all recorded uses (356).

Is Cletis rising or falling?

Rank movement and count movement can disagree — the number of distinct names in use keeps growing, so a name holding a steady count still slides down the list. Both are shown.

Rank vs 1 year ago
—
Not ranked then
Rank vs 5 years ago
New entry
Not ranked then
Rank vs 10 years ago
—
Not ranked then
Births vs 10 years ago
—
Not published both years
Share of its own peak
0%
Peak was 1924 (44)
Years since peak
101
Years
Year-to-year steadiness
Volatile
52.8% average annual change
Best rank ever
#1,074
1924

Spellings of Cletis

Cletis is not the most common spelling — Curtis is, with 52.2% against Cletis's 0.32%.

Grouped by closeness of spelling (up to two letter changes), same sex, with a floor on all-time use. It catches Sophia/Sofia and Aiden/Ayden, and misses spellings that sound alike but look different, like Sean and Shawn.

Where Cletis is used

Across 1910–2025, Cletis was most concentrated in West Virginia — about 1 in 33,333 boys, against 1 in 147,467 across all states with data. It was least common in Texas (1 in —).

03 per 100,000

Most concentrated

  1. 1West Virginia1 in 33,333
  2. 2Arkansas1 in 50,000
  3. 3Kentucky1 in 50,000
  4. 4Missouri1 in 50,000
  5. 5Tennessee1 in 100,000
  6. 6Illinois1 in —
  7. 7Indiana1 in —
  8. 8Oklahoma1 in —

Shading is the share of that state's recorded boys given this name, not the raw count — otherwise the map would just show which states are biggest. Unshaded states have no published records for this period. U.S. birth records suppress state-year counts below 5; state counts therefore don't add up to the national total. Every state links to its full rankings. Cletis has too little recent state data to map, so this covers all years from 1910.

Cletis by the numbers

The raw record for each sex the name is used for.

As a boy's name

Rank in 2025
Unranked
Trend vs 5 yrs ago
—
Best rank ever
#1,074
1924
Peak year
1924
44 that year
First recorded
1904
Last recorded
1996
All-time count
1,603
Count in 2025
Under 5

As a girl's name

Rank in 2025
Unranked
Trend vs 5 yrs ago
—
Best rank ever
#2,003
1911
Peak year
1920
14 that year
First recorded
1911
Last recorded
1942
All-time count
159
Count in 2025
Under 5

Names similar to Cletis

Matched on shared beginnings and endings, similar length, and comparable popularity.

CleotisCleatisCleonClemonCletusClemensClevenClellClementeMattisClemmieCleverJustisCleatusCleaveCleothaClentonClevonClementCleophusOttisCleveLeotisArtis

Sibling names for Cletis

Names from the same era and popularity tier — the two things that make a sibling set feel deliberate — skipping lookalike spellings and shared initials.

Explore around Cletis

Top names of 1924, Cletis's peak yearThe 1920s in fullOther names that peaked in 1924Boys' names starting with C