Head to head · Boys' names
Clyde vs Yousef
#742 vs #744 in 2025 · both holding its place on the charts
Clyde is a whisker ahead (#742 vs #744 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, Clyde leads 5 measures of 6; Yousef leads 1.
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, Yousef — — Clyde higher
- 1890s: Clyde #58, Yousef — — Clyde higher
- 1900s: Clyde #56, Yousef — — Clyde higher
- 1910s: Clyde #63, Yousef — — Clyde higher
- 1920s: Clyde #69, Yousef — — Clyde higher
- 1930s: Clyde #87, Yousef — — Clyde higher
- 1940s: Clyde #118, Yousef — — Clyde higher
- 1950s: Clyde #162, Yousef — — Clyde higher
- 1960s: Clyde #259, Yousef — — Clyde higher
- 1970s: Clyde #378, Yousef #4122 — Clyde higher
- 1980s: Clyde #535, Yousef #1912 — Clyde higher
- 1990s: Clyde #853, Yousef #1522 — Clyde higher
- 2000s: Clyde #1207, Yousef #1112 — Yousef higher
- 2010s: Clyde #919, Yousef #835 — Yousef higher
- 2020s: Clyde #720, Yousef #833 — Clyde higher
Clyde stood higher in 13 of 15 decades; Clyde took the 2020s.
Rank by decade
| Decade | Clyde | Yousef |
|---|---|---|
| 1880s | #60 | — |
| 1890s | #58 | — |
| 1900s | #56 | — |
| 1910s | #63 | — |
| 1920s | #69 | — |
| 1930s | #87 | — |
| 1940s | #118 | — |
| 1950s | #162 | — |
| 1960s | #259 | — |
| 1970s | #378 | #4122 |
| 1980s | #535 | #1912 |
| 1990s | #853 | #1522 |
| 2000s | #1207 | #1112 |
| 2010s | #919 | #835 |
| 2020s | #720 | #833 |
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.
Yousef
He will add; God shall increase
The root is the Hebrew verb yasaf, 'to add'. The book of Genesis attaches the name to Rachel's hope for another son, and the reading has stayed stable across every language the name has traveled into.
Yosef → Iōsēph → Yūsuf → Yousef
How it traveled
The name begins as Hebrew Yosef, borne in Genesis by the son of Jacob sold into Egypt and risen to govern it. That story traveled: the Greek translators of the Hebrew Bible wrote it Iōsēph, Latin made it Ioseph and then Joseph, while Arabic kept closer to the original consonants as Yūsuf — the name of a prophet and the subject of the twelfth sura of the Quran, which calls itself the most beautiful of stories.
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.
Yousef
YOO-sef
Stress usually falls on the first syllable in American English, though yoo-SEF is also heard. In Arabic the vowel of the second syllable is longer and rounder — closer to YOO-soof.
- Yous — The most straightforward informal clip among English-speaking friends and classmates.
- Joe — Used by some bearers as an everyday English equivalent, since Yousef and Joseph are the same name; formal documents keep Yousef.
- Sef — An informal short form taken from the second syllable; not used as a given name on its own.
- Yoyo — A family-level nickname for small children rather than something carried into adulthood.
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 Yousef'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 Yousef
Choose Yousef if you want…
- a name on the way upup 119 places on the charts in five years
- a name with more sound in itYousef runs 2 syllables, Clyde 1
- plenty of nickname options4 recorded short forms — Yous, Joe and Sef
- a newer arrivalYousef entered the US charts in 1970
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.
Yousef
Strengths
- One of the oldest continuously used names on record, held in Hebrew, Arabic, Greek and Latin traditions alike.
- Recognizable across Arabic, Turkish, Persian, Hebrew and English-speaking settings without needing translation.
- Two syllables, no silent letters, and every sound in it exists in English.
To consider
- The spelling competes with Youssef, Yusuf, Yousuf and Yusef, all in real use. Yours will need repeating and correcting fairly often, and forms will sometimes come back with an extra s.
- Stress varies between speakers — YOO-sef and yoo-SEF are both out there — so a bearer may hear their own name two ways in the same week.
- In the US this name's bearers skew young, so it reads as a contemporary choice here even though it is ancient elsewhere. A Yousef is unlikely to share a classroom with another.
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.
Yousef
40%chance Yousef feels dated by 2040
Yousef 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 Yousef 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 Yousef?
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 Yousef each sit in the library — alternatives in the same style, ranked by the same records.
Clyde or Yousef — the short answers
- Which is more popular, Clyde or Yousef?
- Clyde, in 2025: Clyde ranked #742 with 350 babies; Yousef ranked #744 with 349 babies.
- Which name is rising faster, Clyde or Yousef?
- Yousef. Over the last five years Clyde moved down 27 places; Yousef moved up 119 places.
- Which is the older name, Clyde or Yousef?
- Clyde was already in use when US records began in 1880; Yousef entered the US charts in 1970. On the American record, Clyde is the older name.
- How many people are named Clyde and Yousef?
- About 49,000 people named Clyde are estimated to be alive in the US today. About 6,900 people named Yousef are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- Will there be other Clydes or Yousefs in the classroom?
- Clyde will almost certainly be the only one in school. Yousef 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, Yousef 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