Head to head · Boys' names
Cash vs Clayton
#287 vs #300 in 2025 · both holding its place on the charts
Cash is a whisker ahead (#287 vs #300 in 2025) and both are holding its place on the charts. The records will not split these two — sound, story and your own last name will.
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, Clayton leads 3 measures of 6; Cash 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: Cash #844, Clayton #196 — Clayton higher
- 1890s: Cash #864, Clayton #193 — Clayton higher
- 1900s: Cash —, Clayton #182 — Clayton higher
- 1910s: Cash #2730, Clayton #165 — Clayton higher
- 1920s: Cash #3737, Clayton #161 — Clayton higher
- 1930s: Cash #3428, Clayton #185 — Clayton higher
- 1940s: Cash #3169, Clayton #219 — Clayton higher
- 1950s: Cash #3155, Clayton #235 — Clayton higher
- 1960s: Cash #2492, Clayton #249 — Clayton higher
- 1970s: Cash #2442, Clayton #211 — Clayton higher
- 1980s: Cash #2194, Clayton #162 — Clayton higher
- 1990s: Cash #1800, Clayton #156 — Clayton higher
- 2000s: Cash #776, Clayton #207 — Clayton higher
- 2010s: Cash #267, Clayton #259 — Clayton higher
- 2020s: Cash #279, Clayton #297 — Cash higher
Clayton stood higher in 14 of 15 decades; Cash took the 2020s.
Rank by decade
| Decade | Cash | Clayton |
|---|---|---|
| 1880s | #844 | #196 |
| 1890s | #864 | #193 |
| 1900s | — | #182 |
| 1910s | #2730 | #165 |
| 1920s | #3737 | #161 |
| 1930s | #3428 | #185 |
| 1940s | #3169 | #219 |
| 1950s | #3155 | #235 |
| 1960s | #2492 | #249 |
| 1970s | #2442 | #211 |
| 1980s | #2194 | #162 |
| 1990s | #1800 | #156 |
| 2000s | #776 | #207 |
| 2010s | #267 | #259 |
| 2020s | #279 | #297 |
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
Cash
Most likely a maker of cases or boxes, from Anglo-Norman French casse
Two documented readings compete for the surname. The English one is occupational: casse, a case or chest, from Latin capsa — a Cash made boxes. The Irish one takes it as an anglicization of Ó Caise, and in some families as a clipped form of Cassidy. Separately, the everyday word cash comes from the same Latin capsa, by way of the money-box, so the surname and the word are cousins rather than one being derived from the other.
capsa (Latin) → casse (Anglo-Norman French) → Cash (English and Irish surname) → Cash (given name)
How it traveled
The line begins with Latin capsa, a box or chest, which gave Anglo-Norman French casse and, in medieval England, a surname for the man who made them. Ireland contributed a second stream, where Cash served as an anglicization of Ó Caise and, in places, a shortening of Cassidy.
Clayton
Farmstead on clay soil
From Old English clæg, 'clay', and tun, 'farmstead'.
clæg tun → Clayton
How it traveled
The Clayton Antitrust Act of 1914, named for Representative Henry De Lamar Clayton of Alabama, declared that 'the labor of a human being is not a commodity or article of commerce', a line labor unions hailed as their charter. Clayton Moore played the Lone Ranger on television through the 1950s and kept appearing in the mask for decades; in 1979 the owners of the character went to court to stop him, and he toured in dark wraparound sunglasses until they dropped the case and he won the right to wear it again.
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
Cash
KASH
One syllable, rhyming with dash. No regional variation to speak of, and nothing in the spelling that trips up a first reading.
- Cash — Already a single syllable; it is normally used whole, with no everyday short form in circulation.
- Cashy — An affectionate family diminutive rather than a name used outside the house.
Clayton
KLAY-tun
Two syllables with the stress on the first.
- Clay — The usual short form; also a given name on its own.
Is it right for you
The differences that decide it, laid out by what you want
Choose by what you want
Choose Cash if you want…
- a name most people already know#287 in 2025, 1,181 babies that year
- a name holding steadyCash is holding its place on the charts
- a name with fewer syllablesCash is 1 syllable to Clayton's 2
- a newer arrivalCash entered the US charts in 1885
Choose Clayton if you want…
- a name fewer children share#300 in 2025 — clayton will almost certainly be the only one in school
- a name with more sound in itClayton runs 2 syllables, Cash 1
- a long American recordClayton was already in use when US records began in 1880
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
Cash
Strengths
- One syllable and one obvious pronunciation — it survives loudspeakers, phone calls and roll call without correction.
- Spelled as an ordinary English word, so most people write it right the first time they hear it.
- Works as the short form of a longer formal name, Cassius or Cassian, if parents want a full-length option on the birth certificate.
To consider
- It is also the plain English word for money, and that reading arrives first for almost everyone. Expect the jokes — about wallets, about registers — to be lifelong, if mostly good-natured.
- The Kash spelling is in real circulation, so a Cash will spend a certain amount of life confirming which one he is.
- The name's wave is recent enough that nearly everyone carrying it is still a child or a young person; there is no generation of grown Cashes yet to make it feel ordinary on an adult.
Clayton
Strengths
- Instantly recognized and easy to spell.
- Comes with Clay as a ready short form.
- A long, steady American history.
To consider
- As a surname-first name it may be taken for a last name on forms.
- It is familiar enough that a Clayton may share the name with a classmate.
- For a girl it would be very unusual.
Documented properties of each name — how it spells, travels and shortens — not opinions about the child.
How each is likely to age
Cash
40%chance Cash feels dated by 2040
Cash 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.
Clayton
25%chance Clayton feels dated by 2040
Clayton peaked long ago yet still holds steady — names that survive their own wave usually settle into quiet, durable classics.
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 Cash and Clayton 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 Cash and Clayton?
Put both to the vote.
One link to your partner, your parents, your sister. Each of them gets the two names, a one-tap answer and room to say why — and every reply lands in one place.
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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
- One-syllable names: said in a single beat
- Musical names, from Aria to Lennon
- Country music names
- Strong-sounding names with a hard edge
- all guides
Where Cash and Clayton each sit in the library — alternatives in the same style, ranked by the same records.
Cash or Clayton — the short answers
- Which is more popular, Cash or Clayton?
- Cash, in 2025: Cash ranked #287 with 1,181 babies; Clayton ranked #300 with 1,130 babies.
- Which name is rising faster, Cash or Clayton?
- Neither is rising. Over the last five years Cash moved down 23 places; Clayton moved down 11 places.
- Which is the older name, Cash or Clayton?
- Cash entered the US charts in 1885; Clayton was already in use when US records began in 1880. On the American record, Clayton is the older name.
- How many people are named Cash and Clayton?
- About 27,000 people named Cash are estimated to be alive in the US today. About 105,000 people named Clayton are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- Will there be other Cashs or Claytons in the classroom?
- Cash will almost certainly be the only one in school. Clayton 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
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