Head to head · Boys' names
Clyde vs Yehuda
#742 vs #740 in 2025 · both holding its place on the charts
Yehuda is a whisker ahead (#740 vs #742 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
The tape is even: Clyde and Yehuda each lead 3 measures of 6.
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: Clyde #60, Yehuda — — Clyde higher
- 1890s: Clyde #58, Yehuda — — Clyde higher
- 1900s: Clyde #56, Yehuda — — Clyde higher
- 1910s: Clyde #63, Yehuda — — Clyde higher
- 1920s: Clyde #69, Yehuda — — Clyde higher
- 1930s: Clyde #87, Yehuda — — Clyde higher
- 1940s: Clyde #118, Yehuda — — Clyde higher
- 1950s: Clyde #162, Yehuda #3260 — Clyde higher
- 1960s: Clyde #259, Yehuda #2838 — Clyde higher
- 1970s: Clyde #378, Yehuda #1898 — Clyde higher
- 1980s: Clyde #535, Yehuda #1235 — Clyde higher
- 1990s: Clyde #853, Yehuda #1167 — Clyde higher
- 2000s: Clyde #1207, Yehuda #1029 — Yehuda higher
- 2010s: Clyde #919, Yehuda #923 — Clyde higher
- 2020s: Clyde #720, Yehuda #773 — Clyde higher
Clyde stood higher in 14 of 15 decades; Clyde has held the lead since the 2010s.
Rank by decade
| Decade | Clyde | Yehuda |
|---|---|---|
| 1880s | #60 | — |
| 1890s | #58 | — |
| 1900s | #56 | — |
| 1910s | #63 | — |
| 1920s | #69 | — |
| 1930s | #87 | — |
| 1940s | #118 | — |
| 1950s | #162 | #3260 |
| 1960s | #259 | #2838 |
| 1970s | #378 | #1898 |
| 1980s | #535 | #1235 |
| 1990s | #853 | #1167 |
| 2000s | #1207 | #1029 |
| 2010s | #919 | #923 |
| 2020s | #720 | #773 |
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
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.
Yehuda
praised, or thanksgiving
Genesis 29:35 gives the reading directly: Leah names her fourth son after saying she will praise God, tying Yehudah to the Hebrew root behind hodah, to thank or praise. Some scholars treat that as a folk etymology attached to an older tribal or territorial name, but "praise" is the reading carried by the tradition and by standard reference works.
Yehudah → Ioudas → Iudas → Judah → Jude
How it traveled
" Greek-speaking translators of the Hebrew Bible wrote it Ioudas, Latin made it Iudas, and English inherited Judah and Jude from that line. The Hebrew form itself never went anywhere; it stayed in continuous everyday use in Jewish communities, later paired in Yiddish custom with Leib, "lion," after Jacob's blessing that calls Judah a lion's whelp.
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
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.
Yehuda
yeh-HOO-dah
Stress falls on the middle syllable. The final vowel is a clear "ah," not a swallowed "uh," though American speakers often soften it to yuh-HOO-duh.
- Yudi — Common informal short form within Hebrew- and Yiddish-speaking families; used at home and among friends rather than on documents.
- Yud — Clipped one-syllable form, mostly spoken among peers and siblings.
- Leib — From the traditional Yiddish pairing Yehuda Leib, "Judah lion"; also stands alone as a given name in its own right, and appears as Leibel.
- Judah — The English form, often used as the everyday or school name alongside Yehuda on official records.
- Also Jude.
Is it right for you
The differences that decide it, laid out by what you want
Choose by what you want
Choose Clyde if you want…
- a name holding steadyClyde is holding its place on the charts
- a name with fewer syllablesClyde is 1 syllable to Yehuda's 3
- 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 Yehuda
Choose Yehuda if you want…
- a name on the way upup 88 places on the charts in five years
- a name with more sound in itYehuda runs 3 syllables, Clyde 1
- plenty of nickname options5 recorded short forms — Yudi, Yud and Leib
- a newer arrivalYehuda entered the US charts in 1950
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
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.
Yehuda
Strengths
- Roughly three thousand years of unbroken use, from Genesis through the kingdom of Judah to the present day.
- Travels between languages with ready-made equivalents: Judah in English, Judá in Spanish, Ioudas in Greek.
- Several established short forms already in real use — Yudi, Yud, Leib, and the English Judah or Jude.
To consider
- Outside communities where Hebrew names are everyday, the first attempt is often ya-HOO-da or a stumble at the opening syllable. A one-time correction, but a lifelong one.
- The name is strongly and specifically Jewish. For many families that is exactly the point; it is worth naming clearly rather than discovering later.
- Its Greek descendant Judas carries the New Testament association. Yehuda and Judah are untouched by it in Jewish usage, but the resemblance can prompt questions from people who do not know the difference.
Documented properties of each name — how it spells, travels and shortens — not opinions about the child.
How each is likely to age
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.
Yehuda
40%chance Yehuda feels dated by 2040
Yehuda 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.
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 Clyde and Yehuda 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 Clyde and Yehuda?
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.
Free to start · no account needed · everyone you invite votes in one tap
More than two in the running? Settle it with a bracket or run the full comparison with your last name.
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 Clyde and Yehuda each sit in the library — alternatives in the same style, ranked by the same records.
Clyde or Yehuda — the short answers
- Which is more popular, Clyde or Yehuda?
- Yehuda, in 2025: Yehuda ranked #740 with 351 babies; Clyde ranked #742 with 350 babies.
- Which name is rising faster, Clyde or Yehuda?
- Yehuda. Over the last five years Clyde moved down 27 places; Yehuda moved up 88 places.
- Which is the older name, Clyde or Yehuda?
- Clyde was already in use when US records began in 1880; Yehuda entered the US charts in 1950. On the American record, Clyde is the older name.
- How many people are named Clyde and Yehuda?
- About 49,000 people named Clyde are estimated to be alive in the US today. About 7,700 people named Yehuda are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- Will there be other Clydes or Yehudas in the classroom?
- Clyde will almost certainly be the only one in school. Yehuda 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
Sixty more head-to-heads are dealt in the arena every day — or line up Clyde, Yehuda and the rest of your shortlist with your last name in one printable report.
Free to start · no account needed · everyone you invite votes in one tap