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Cletus

#8,378 in 2025Boys' name

Short form of Anacletus

Cletus has been given to 7,709 babies in the U.S. since 1886. In 2025 it ranked #8,378 of 13,926 boys’ names in use. Its peak year was 1922, with 233 recorded.

Babies named Cletus, 2025

1 in 368,000

Cletus over time, 1880–2025

BoysGirls
010020030018801900192019401960198020002020

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 Gaps mean the name was given fewer than 5 times that year; these counts are unpublished.

Cletus: meaning, origin, and history

Short form of Anacletus

Ancient Greek

What Cletus means

Cletus is a short form of Anacletus.

Dictionary etymologyReferences, data & attribution

Borrowed from Latin Cletus, short form of the papal name Anacletus, from Ancient Greek ἀνάκλητος (anáklētos, “invoked”), from ἀνακαλέω (anakaléō) + -τός (-tós).

Excerpt from Wiktionary: Cletus (English) · CC BY-SA 4.0

Wiktionary material is available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

Origin, language, and formation

Cletus is used in English. Its origins include Ancient Greek.

Cletus comes through Latin Cletus and Ancient Greek ἀνάκλητος.

Related names and everyday forms

Related names include Anacletus.

Pronunciation and spelling

In English, Cletus is pronounced /ˈkliːt.əs/.

American usage and historical context

In the United States, 7,437 boys were recorded with the name Cletus between 1886 and 2025. Its highest annual count was 233 in 1922; its best national rank was #391 in 1922.

Over 5 years its rank rose, from #8,888 in 2020 to #8,378 in 2025. Over 10 years its rank rose, from #8,898 in 2015 to #8,378 in 2025.

In the United States, 272 girls were recorded with the name Cletus between 1898 and 1948. Its highest annual count was 16 in 1918; its best national rank was #1,650 in 1899.

How common is Cletus?

Everything below is computed from the 2025 data — the most recent year available.

Among all babies, 2025
1 in 368,000
9 of 3,315,165 births
Among boys only
1 in 190,000
<0.01% of boys
Rank, 2025
#8,378
of 13,926 boys’ names in use
Coin-flip room size
255,323 kids
Even odds of a second one

Where Cletus 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 2025 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 255,323 children born in 2025 and it's an even bet that one of them is another Cletus. In a class of 30 the chance is Under 1%.

When Cletuss were born

Half of everyone ever recorded as Cletus was born before 1932 — so the typical Cletus is around 93 today.

Median birth year
1932
About 93 years old
Biggest decade
1920s
25.6% of all use
Born in the last 25 years
2.2%
Mostly a past generation
Recorded since 1950
1,889
People you could plausibly meet
Choose a decade

1920s — 25.6% of all recorded uses (1,902).

Is Cletus 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
+2,816
Places climbed
Rank vs 5 years ago
+510
Places climbed
Rank vs 10 years ago
+520
Places climbed
Births vs 10 years ago
1.13×
More babies than then
Share of its own peak
3.9%
Peak was 1922 (233)
Years since peak
103
Years
Year-to-year steadiness
Shifting
21.2% average annual change
Best rank ever
#391
1922

Spellings of Cletus

Cletus is the most-used spelling, taking 74.9% of the 9,934 babies given a near-identical spelling.

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 Cletus is used

Across 1910–2025, Cletus was most concentrated in Iowa — about 1 in 5,000 boys, against 1 in 28,483 across all states with data. It was least common in Virginia (1 in —).

020 per 100,000

Most concentrated

  1. 1Iowa1 in 5,000
  2. 2Missouri1 in 9,091
  3. 3Indiana1 in 11,111
  4. 4Wisconsin1 in 11,111
  5. 5Ohio1 in 14,286
  6. 6Illinois1 in 16,667
  7. 7North Carolina1 in 16,667
  8. 8Kentucky1 in 20,000

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. Cletus has too little recent state data to map, so this covers all years from 1910.

Cletus around the world

Where Cletus ranks in official birth records elsewhere in the world. Rankings only — the number of births isn’t comparable between places, so it isn’t shown.

  • South Australia
    1966–1974
    #455
    in 1974

Popularity data from Consumer and Business Services (South Australia). CBS SA data under CC BY 4.0.

Notable people named Cletus

People whose public names include Cletus, backed by Wikidata given-name records and ordered by linked Wikimedia pages. The name may be a middle name.

People data from Wikidata (CC0). Fame is measured, not judged — the order reflects how widely each person is documented, not the U.S. birth records popularity this page is otherwise about.

Cletus by the numbers

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

As a boy's name

Rank in 2025
#8,378
Trend vs 5 yrs ago
Up 510
Best rank ever
#391
1922
Peak year
1922
233 that year
First recorded
1886
Last recorded
2025
All-time count
7,437
Count in 2025
9

As a girl's name

Rank in 2025
Unranked
Trend vs 5 yrs ago
—
Best rank ever
#1,650
1899
Peak year
1918
16 that year
First recorded
1898
Last recorded
1948
All-time count
272
Count in 2025
Under 5

Names similar to Cletus

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

CleatusClementJustusCleonCleoClementeCleveCletisClemonTitusClemClevelandClemensTytusClevenClellAugustusClemmieCleophusCleverCleaveCleothaClentonClevon

Names with a curve like Cletus

Not spelling — timing. These names rose, peaked and faded in the same years as Cletus, so they read as being from the same moment even when they look nothing alike.

MilfordOdisArlieBurlOlenBertramHobertDelmerWilfordLymanWilburnJewel

Sibling names for Cletus

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 Cletus

Top names of 1922, Cletus's peak yearThe 1920s in fullOther names that peaked in 1922Boys' names starting with C