Clif

Boys' name

Diminutive of Clifford or Clifton

Clif has been given to 199 babies in the U.S. since 1945. 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 1959, with 19 recorded.

Babies named Clif, 1981

1 in 692,000

Clif over time, 1880–2025

Boys

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 Gaps mean the name was given fewer than 5 times that year; these counts are unpublished.

Clif: meaning, origin, and history

Diminutive of Clifford or Clifton

Deeper origin not confirmed in the cited records

What Clif means

Clif is a diminutive of Clifford or Clifton.

Origin, language, and formation

Clif is used in English.

Related names and everyday forms

Related names include Clifford and Clifton.

American usage and historical context

In the United States, 199 boys were recorded with the name Clif between 1945 and 1981. Its highest annual count was 19 in 1959; its best national rank was #1,872 in 1959.

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.

Wiktionary material is available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

How common is Clif?

Clif had fewer than 5 recorded uses in 2025, so these figures use 1981, the last year it was published.

Among all babies, 1981: 1 in 692,000; 5 of 3,459,130 births
Among boys only: 1 in 358,000; <0.01% of boys
Rank, 1981: Unranked; Fewer than 5 uses
Coin-flip room size: 479,538 kids; Even odds of a second one

Where Clif 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 1981 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 479,538 children born in 1981 and it's an even bet that one of them is another Clif. In a class of 30 the chance is Under 1%.

When Clifs were born

Half of everyone ever recorded as Clif was born before 1959 — so the typical Clif is around 66 today.

Median birth year: 1959; About 66 years old
Biggest decade: 1950s; 45.2% of all use
Born in the last 25 years: 70.4%; A modern name
Recorded since 1950: 187; People you could plausibly meet

Choose a decade

1950s — 45.2% of all recorded uses (90).

Is Clif 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 1959 (19)
Years since peak: 66; Years
Year-to-year steadiness: Volatile; 38.3% average annual change
Best rank ever: #1,872; 1959

Spellings of Clif

Clif is not the most common spelling — Eli is, with 30.8% against Clif's 0.04%.

Eli30.8%153,495
Colin26.8%133,706
Clay8.1%40,252
Ali6.9%34,383
Clint6.6%32,731
Clair2.4%12,041
Cleo2.3%11,527
Leif2.0%9,997

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.

Clif 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: #1,872; 1959
Peak year: 1959; 19 that year
First recorded: 1945
Last recorded: 1981
All-time count: 199
Count in 2025: Under 5

Names similar to Clif

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

Alif Salif Clide Clim Clio Cline Clive Climmie Cliford Kalif Clinten Cliffard Cliff Clift Khalif Cliffton Climon Clintin Kahlif Clint Olif Clinard Cliston Clinnie

Sibling names for Clif

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

For a sister

Meg Andra Tamela Robbin Jannette Joellen Gerri Debby

For a brother

Russ Nicky Dwain Stan Lindsay Von Stevie Rod

Explore around Clif

Top names of 1959, Clif's peak year The 1950s in full Other names that peaked in 1959 Boys' names starting with C