Cleo
Feminine · “glory”
Cleo is given to both — 33,565 girls and 11,527 boys since 1880. See Cleo as a boy nameSee other names given to both
Cleo carries the Greek word for glory in two clean syllables, and it has been on American records since the very beginning of them — never crowded, never absent. It is the short form that outgrew its long form: most people meet Cleopatra first and Cleo second, but Cleo has stood alone for well over a century.
How old is the name Cleo?
Cleo was already in use when US birth records began in 1880 — it is at least 145 years old. The typical Cleo alive today was born around 1924, making them about 101 years old. About 10,000 people named Cleo are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Cleo most popular?
Cleo peaked in 1907, reaching #171 nationally. Today it ranks #577, 406 places below that high. See the whole 1907 chart.
Where it comes from
From Kleos (Greek: glory) to Cleo
The story of Cleo
The root is the Greek noun kleos, 'glory', which fed a whole family of ancient names: Kleopatra for women, Kleon and Kleopas for men, and Kleio — the Muse of history, whose name comes to English as Clio. Kleopatra traveled through the Macedonian rulers of Egypt, the last of whom made it one of the most repeated names in the ancient world. English speakers clipped it, and by the nineteenth century Cleo was being written on its own in birth and census records rather than as a household shortening. It arrived on the American charts at the earliest point they exist and has stayed in use ever since, rising again in recent years after a long quiet stretch — the same shape a good many short vintage names have taken.
Meaning
glory, fame (from Greek kleos)
Cleo is the shortened form of Cleopatra, built from Greek kleos, 'glory', plus patros, 'of the father' — so the full name reads roughly 'glory of her father'.
How the name formed
- KleosGreek: glory
- Kleopatra
- Cleopatra
- Cleo
Related forms: Cléo · Kleio · Clio · Clio · Kleopatra · Cleopatra
Pronouncing Cleo
KLEE-oh
Two syllables, stress on the first. The French Cléo sounds essentially the same, so the name survives a border crossing intact.
Nicknames for Cleo
Limited
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
- 1880
- Most girls named
- 19161,031 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #171reached in 1907
- Change vs 2022
- +16.0%516 in 2025, from 445
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.
Cleo in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Cléo in French — spelling variant
- Kleio in Greek — related form
- Clio in English — related form
- Clio in Italian — related form
- Kleopatra in Greek — transliteration
- Cleopatra in Spanish — related form
Strongest US states over the last decade: California, Texas, New York.
Cleos among us
people named Cleo are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 girl in 3,115 born in 2025 was named Cleo
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Spellings of Cleo
- #577
- Cleo on the 2025 chart
- #464
- counting every spelling
The SSA counts spellings, not names. Cleo went to 516 girls in 2025, but Kleo, Khleo and Chleo are the same name said out loud. Together the 4 spellings went to 586, which makes it the 464th most-given girls’ name of the year — 113 places above the chart.
- Cleo516
- Kleo59
- Khleo6
- Chleo5
About 1 girl in 2,743 born in 2025 was given one of these spellings — against 1 in 3,115 for Cleo itself.
Spellings are grouped by a fixed rule that folds interchangeable English spellings of one sound (ck/k, ph/f, x/ks, a non-initial y for i) and keeps vowels apart, so Sean and Shawn stay separate names. It errs towards splitting: a family here is never larger than the truth. SSA national data, 2025. Method
Is it right for you
What happens to a name after it peaks
Fashion outlook
Cleo is on its second act. Revived names age gently: the generation that wore them first is far enough away that the name feels classic rather than dated.
A scored estimate from 146 years of naming cycles — not a prophecy. Great names outlive statistics. How this is scored
Where Cleo is headed
Cleo looks set to keep climbing gently, with roughly 29% more babies a year by 2030 if the current curve holds.
Medium confidence — fitted on official counts through 2025.
A damped-trend projection of the official birth data — a sketch of momentum, not a promise. Every name's forecast, ranked.
Cleo beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Cleo in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US girls given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- Short, phonetic and spelled the way it sounds — four letters that rarely need repeating.
- On US records continuously since records began, which gives it a long, unbroken track rather than a recent invention's uncertainty.
- Recognizable across French, Italian, Greek and Spanish-speaking contexts with little or no adjustment.
- Needs no nickname; it is already the compact form, and pairs easily with longer middle names.
- Cleopatra is a very large shadow for a small name. Most people will make the connection instantly, which is either a pleasure or a tiring joke depending on the year.
- Expect Clio and Chloe as spoken and written mix-ups. Both are close enough that spelling out C-L-E-O will become routine.
- The name is still strongly represented among much older generations, so in some families it will read as a name from a great-grandmother's era — part of why it is being picked up again.
- A child named Cleo will most likely be the only one in her class, which cuts both ways: no surname initial needed, and no one else to share the explaining with.
Nobody names a baby alone.
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What they receive
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Cleo
Feminine · #577 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Cleos are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 10,000 people named Cleo are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How do you spell Cleo?
- Cleo is the most-used spelling in US records — 516 of the 586 babies given the name in 2025. The others recorded are Kleo, Khleo and Chleo.
- How popular is the name Cleo in 2025?
- Cleo ranks #577 among US girl names in 2025, with 516 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Cleo?
- About 1 in every 3,115 US girls born in 2025 was named Cleo — 516 in all.
- Will my child share the name Cleo with classmates?
- Cleo will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Cleo
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Mckenzie#576 · Jimena#578 · Imani#579 · Kyla#579 · Cali#574 · Sevyn#574 · Kailany#581 · Estelle#573
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Cleo? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Cleo and another name?
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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