Clarnce
Masculine · “From the dukedom of Clarence”
Clarnce is Clarence with the middle vowel gone from the page as well as from the mouth, and the name underneath is not a name at all in origin but a royal title — one that has been handed out repeatedly and has never gone well for anybody.
How old is the name Clarnce?
Clarnce first appears in US birth records in 1902 — 123 years ago. The typical Clarnce alive today was born around 1932, making them about 93 years old. About 200 people named Clarnce are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Clarnce most popular?
Clarnce peaked in 1902, reaching #794 nationally. See the whole 1902 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From Clarence to Clarnce
The story of Clarnce
The title outlived its dukes in two unexpected forms. One is heraldic: the Clarenceux King of Arms, the second-ranking herald in England, still carries a version of the name and has done for six centuries, granting arms south of the Trent long after the dukedom itself lapsed. The other is American and belongs to one man. Clarence Darrow spent a long career defending people nobody else would, and in the most famous of those cases he defended a teacher accused of teaching evolution — deliberately losing at trial so that the conviction could be appealed, and turning the courtroom into an argument that was carried in every newspaper in the country while the verdict itself became beside the point.
Meaning
From the dukedom of Clarence
The title was made for a royal duke and built on the name of an English lordship. It became a personal name in the nineteenth century, in the way that titles sometimes do, and it carries no meaning beyond the place it names.
How the name formed
- Clarence
- Clarnce
Pronouncing Clarnce
KLAR-unts
Two syllables. That is how the full name is said as well, which is exactly why this spelling exists.
Nicknames for Clarnce
Moderate
What the data says
146 years of official birth records
The long climb, and where it stands now
The same years in position rather than babies
- First recorded
- 1902
- Most boys named
- 192936 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #794reached in 1902
- Change vs 1964
- 0.0%5 in 1971, from 5
Rank is a position, a count is a headcount, and they move independently — a name can hold its rank while the number of babies behind it falls. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration.
Clarnces among us
people named Clarnce are estimated to be alive in the US today
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Is it right for you
Questions parents actually ask
Fashion outlook
Clarnce sits outside the current charts, and that is its own kind of answer: naming cycles can only date the names they carried up. A name this rare has no decade stamped on it — it cannot go out of fashion, because it was never in.
Based on 146 years of naming cycles. How we read them
The trade-off
- The name behind it is dignified, familiar and unmistakably American in flavor.
- It shortens in two quite different directions.
- The spelling matches the way the name is actually said.
- Clarence is the standard spelling and his will be corrected to it on every form.
- The name belongs firmly to one American era and has not returned.
- The missing letter reads as an error rather than a choice to most people who see it.
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Clarnce
Masculine
Frequently asked
- How many Clarnces are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 200 people named Clarnce are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Clarnce in 2025?
- Clarnce is rarely given in the US today — it does not rank in the top 2000 boy names.
- Will my child share the name Clarnce with classmates?
- Clarnce will almost certainly be the only one in school.
More C names
The most-given names starting with C, all years combined.
Charles#48 · Christopher#68 · Carl#1132 · Christian#96 · Caleb#58 · Cameron#76 · Carlos#150 · Clarence#1499
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Clarnce? See the current top 100.
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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