Head to head · Boys' names
Cannon vs Clyde
#721 vs #742 in 2025
Cannon is a whisker ahead (#721 vs #742 in 2025), but the curves point different ways: Cannon is stepping back from its peak, Clyde is holding its place on the charts. On momentum, Clyde has the edge.
Cast your vote
Which one would you pick?
Your gut first, the numbers after — the split shows once you pick.
The tale of the tape
On the charts, Clyde leads 3 measures of 6; Cannon leads 2.
Ranks, counts and years are measured in the official US birth record; the classroom and living figures are estimates computed from it. The dot marks the side each measure favours on the charts — more common, not better.
What the records say
146 years of US births, drawn on one scale
Two curves, one scale
Who owned which decade
- 1880s: Cannon —, Clyde #60 — Clyde higher
- 1890s: Cannon —, Clyde #58 — Clyde higher
- 1900s: Cannon #1064, Clyde #56 — Clyde higher
- 1910s: Cannon #3787, Clyde #63 — Clyde higher
- 1920s: Cannon #3786, Clyde #69 — Clyde higher
- 1930s: Cannon —, Clyde #87 — Clyde higher
- 1940s: Cannon #3525, Clyde #118 — Clyde higher
- 1950s: Cannon #3223, Clyde #162 — Clyde higher
- 1960s: Cannon #3573, Clyde #259 — Clyde higher
- 1970s: Cannon #3211, Clyde #378 — Clyde higher
- 1980s: Cannon #3571, Clyde #535 — Clyde higher
- 1990s: Cannon #1999, Clyde #853 — Clyde higher
- 2000s: Cannon #866, Clyde #1207 — Cannon higher
- 2010s: Cannon #546, Clyde #919 — Cannon higher
- 2020s: Cannon #629, Clyde #720 — Cannon higher
Clyde stood higher in 12 of 15 decades; Cannon has held the lead since the 2000s.
Rank by decade
| Decade | Cannon | Clyde |
|---|---|---|
| 1880s | — | #60 |
| 1890s | — | #58 |
| 1900s | #1064 | #56 |
| 1910s | #3787 | #63 |
| 1920s | #3786 | #69 |
| 1930s | — | #87 |
| 1940s | #3525 | #118 |
| 1950s | #3223 | #162 |
| 1960s | #3573 | #259 |
| 1970s | #3211 | #378 |
| 1980s | #3571 | #535 |
| 1990s | #1999 | #853 |
| 2000s | #866 | #1207 |
| 2010s | #546 | #919 |
| 2020s | #629 | #720 |
Average national rank across each decade. A dash means the name sat outside the recorded top of that decade.
The names themselves
Meaning, roots, sound and the people who carried each
Where each name comes from
Cannon
From the medieval English word for a cathedral canon, a clergyman; or an anglicized Irish family name
The English surname comes from Anglo-Norman and Middle English 'canoun', a member of a cathedral chapter — used for the clergyman himself or for someone in his household's service. The Irish surname Cannon is an anglicization of Ó Canáin and related Gaelic names, and its own root is separately debated. Both roads end at the same English spelling, so a bearer today cannot be sorted into one or the other. The artillery word is unrelated in origin: it descends from Latin 'canna', a reed or tube.
Latin canonicus → Anglo-Norman canoun → English surname Cannon → Cannon (given name)
How it traveled
For most of its life this was a surname, not a first name. In medieval England it attached to men connected with cathedral canons — the clergy who lived under canon law and staffed the great churches — and in Ireland it emerged separately when clerks wrote Gaelic names such as Ó Canáin in English letters.
Clyde
the washer, the cleansing one
The Roman name for the river was Clota, which is generally read as a British goddess-name from a root meaning to wash or cleanse. That is the standard reading, but it rests on a single early form and cannot be proved.
Clota → Clyde
How it traveled
For most of a century the Clyde built ships, and it built them in such numbers that Clydebuilt became a word in its own right, stamped on hulls from Glasgow to Hong Kong as a guarantee. At its height the yards along a few miles of one Scottish river were launching a large share of everything afloat.
Where a reading is contested the note says so — this page does not turn a guess into a fact. The chain is each name's recorded forms, oldest first; the story is its opening, told in full on the name's own page.
Out loud, and in short
Cannon
KAN-un
Stress on the first syllable, exactly like the artillery word. Identical in speech to 'canon' with one n, which is where most written mistakes come from.
- Cann — The only short form in any real use, and mostly informal and family-internal; it does not stand alone as a given name.
- Canny — Heard occasionally as a playground or teammate nickname rather than anything settled.
Clyde
KLYDE
One syllable, rhyming with side. Said the same in Scotland and America, with no second reading anywhere.
- Cly — Cut to one syllable; used inside families rather than written.
- Skip — An unrelated nickname that attached to a generation of Clydes in America.
Is it right for you
The differences that decide it, laid out by what you want
Choose by what you want
Choose Cannon if you want…
- a name most people already know#721 in 2025, 374 babies that year
- a name past its most crowded yearsCannon is stepping back from its peak
- a name with more sound in itCannon runs 2 syllables, Clyde 1
- a newer arrivalCannon entered the US charts in 1904
Choose Clyde if you want…
- a name fewer children share#742 in 2025 — clyde will almost certainly be the only one in school
- a name with fewer syllablesClyde is 1 syllable to Cannon's 2
- a long American recordClyde was already in use when US records began in 1880
- a name that ages quietlyan estimated 12% chance of feeling dated by 2040, against 40% for Cannon
Each line is a measured difference between the two names — a rank, a count, a recorded form — never a judgement of either. Save the one that answers your question; it lands on your shortlist.
The trade-offs, name by name
Cannon
Strengths
- Every English speaker can read it aloud on sight — one settled pronunciation, no variants to correct.
- Sits inside a pattern Americans already know well: a surname used as a boy's first name, alongside Carson, Mason and Hudson.
- Has been documented on US records far longer than its recent surge of babies suggests, so it is not a new coinage.
To consider
- The homograph is unavoidable: in American English, 'cannon' is first of all a piece of artillery. Most people take that in stride, but the association arrives before any medieval clergyman does.
- Expect the one-n spelling. 'Canon' turns up in canon law, literary canon and a camera brand, so a lifetime of gentle corrections is likely.
- Its wave is very recent, so nearly everyone who carries it is still a child. Among adults it reads as a distinctly modern American choice.
Clyde
Strengths
- One syllable, five letters, and no possible mispronunciation.
- It has a real and traceable source: a named river with a documented history.
- It works in front of long surnames, where most one-syllable names get crowded.
To consider
- Bonnie and Clyde is the first association for most Americans and shows no sign of fading.
- The spelling is recorded for girls as well as boys, though it reads overwhelmingly as a boy's name.
- It is strongly of the early twentieth century, and a child would be nearly alone with it.
Documented properties of each name — how it spells, travels and shortens — not opinions about the child.
How each is likely to age
Cannon
40%chance Cannon feels dated by 2040
Cannon sits in the calm middle of the cycle — neither chasing a wave nor sliding off one. Middle-of-the-cycle names age slowly and predictably.
Clyde
12%chance Clyde feels dated by 2040
Clyde has held the top-100 across 6 different decades — it has never depended on fashion, and names like that read the same at any age.
A reading of where each name sits on the long naming cycle — computed, not measured, and explained on the data page.
With your last name
Say both in full. The notes are facts about letters and sound — a rhyme, a shared initial, the monogram — not a verdict on either name.
Type a last name to hear Cannon and Clyde in full.
Weighing the whole shortlist? Run the full comparison — up to eight names with your last name, initials, classroom projections and a printable report.
Decide together
Nobody names a baby alone
Still torn between Cannon and Clyde?
Put both to the vote.
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More head-to-heads
Same measures, different pair. Sixty more are dealt daily in the arena.
Lists these names appear on
- Classics hiding in plain sight
- Grandpa names ready for the playground
- Names that belong entirely to the 1880s
- all guides
Where Cannon and Clyde each sit in the library — alternatives in the same style, ranked by the same records.
Cannon or Clyde — the short answers
- Which is more popular, Cannon or Clyde?
- Cannon, in 2025: Cannon ranked #721 with 374 babies; Clyde ranked #742 with 350 babies.
- Which name is rising faster, Cannon or Clyde?
- Neither is rising. Over the last five years Cannon moved down 179 places; Clyde moved down 27 places.
- Which is the older name, Cannon or Clyde?
- Cannon entered the US charts in 1904; Clyde was already in use when US records began in 1880. On the American record, Clyde is the older name.
- How many people are named Cannon and Clyde?
- About 11,000 people named Cannon are estimated to be alive in the US today. About 49,000 people named Clyde are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- Will there be other Cannons or Clydes in the classroom?
- Cannon will almost certainly be the only one in school. Clyde will almost certainly be the only one in school.
US figures from the Social Security Administration, 1880–2025. Votes are battle voters on this site, not the birth record. Data & methodology
Keep playing
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