Cleo
Masculine · “glory”
Cleo is given to both — 11,527 boys and 33,565 girls since 1880. See Cleo as a girl nameSee other names given to both
Cleo is glory, in Greek. It is the front of Cleopatra and of Cleon and Cleophas, and the element it keeps — kleos — is one of the most important words in the whole Greek heroic vocabulary.
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 1926, making them about 99 years old. About 3,000 people named Cleo are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Cleo most popular?
Cleo peaked in 1915, reaching #257 nationally. Today it ranks #5208, 4,951 places below that high. See the whole 1915 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From kleos to Cleo
The story of Cleo
Kleos names were common in the Greek world, and several passed into Christian use: Cleopas is named in Luke as one of the two disciples on the road to Emmaus. Cleo is the English short form, and nineteenth-century American families used it for both sexes — for boys as short for Cleon or Cleophas, for girls as short for Cleopatra or Clio. Masculine Cleo peaked around 1890.
Meaning
glory, fame
From the Greek kleos, 'glory' or 'renown' — specifically the fame that outlives a person, which the Iliad treats as the only immortality available to a mortal. Cleopatra is kleos plus patros, 'glory of the father'; Cleon and Cleophas carry the same element.
How the name formed
- kleos
- Cleon
- Cleo
Related forms: Κλέων · Cleo · Clio
Pronouncing Cleo
KLEE-oh
Two syllables, stress on the first. Said the same way whichever sex carries it.
Nicknames for Cleo
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
- 1880
- Most boys named
- 1918363 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #257reached in 1915
- Change vs 2022
- +5.9%18 in 2025, from 17
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
- Κλέων in Greek — related form
- Cleo in Italian — same name
- Clio in English — related form
Cleos among us
people named Cleo are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 boy in 94,893 born in 2025 was named Cleo
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Spellings of Cleo
- #5208
- Cleo on the 2025 chart
- #904
- counting every spelling
The SSA counts spellings, not names. Cleo went to 18 boys in 2025, but Kleo is the same name said out loud. Together the 2 spellings went to 24, which makes it the 904th most-given boys’ name of the year — 4,304 places above the chart.
- Cleo18
- Kleo6
About 1 boy in 71,170 born in 2025 was given one of these spellings — against 1 in 94,893 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 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 scored estimate from 146 years of naming cycles — not a prophecy. Great names outlive statistics. How this is scored
Cleo beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Cleo in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US boys given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- The meaning is transparent and carries genuine weight in the Greek tradition.
- Two clean syllables and no pronunciation risk in English.
- It has a documented biblical bearer in Cleopas as well as a classical family.
- It was given to both sexes and now reads as feminine to most people.
- It is strongly period-coded to the nineteenth century in American records.
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Cleo
Masculine · #5208 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 3,000 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 — 18 of the 24 babies given the name in 2025. The others recorded are Kleo.
- How popular is the name Cleo in 2025?
- Cleo ranks #5208 among US boy names in 2025, with 18 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Cleo?
- About 1 in every 94,893 US boys born in 2025 was named Cleo — 18 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.
Rodger#5208 · Eusebio#5208 · Boy#5208 · Randal#5208 · Gable#5208 · Jessy#5208 · Kelby#5208 · Jens#5208
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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