Cletus
Masculine · “Greek anenkletos”
Cletus is given to both — 7,437 boys and 272 girls since 1880. See other names given to both
The Roman Canon of the Mass lists the early popes, and one of them appears there as Cletus, which is a nickname. His full name was Anencletus, blameless, and the shortening was made in late antiquity by people who found four syllables too many. The clip has been said aloud at every Latin Mass for sixteen hundred years.
How old is the name Cletus?
Cletus first appears in US birth records in 1886 — 139 years ago. The typical Cletus alive today was born around 1932, making them about 93 years old. About 2,200 people named Cletus are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Cletus most popular?
Cletus peaked in 1922, reaching #391 nationally. Today it ranks #8243, 7,852 places below that high. See the whole 1922 chart.
Where it comes from
From Anenkletos to Cletus
The story of Cletus
The Roman Canon, the oldest eucharistic prayer of the Latin church, contains two long lists of saints, and their order preserves fourth-century Roman devotion rather than any later judgment. Linus, Cletus, Clement, Sixtus, Cornelius, Cyprian: the names are recited in sequence, and because the text changed very little for a millennium and a half, it functioned as a preservative. Several names owe their survival in European use to being in it. What is unusual about Cletus is that the form preserved is the informal one. Anacletus is the fuller name and appears in the papal lists; Cletus is what people actually said, and it is the short form that got into the liturgy and then into the calendar. As an American name it belongs to Catholic families of the early twentieth century, and a long-running animated series has since attached it firmly to a comic stereotype.
Meaning
Greek anenkletos, blameless or irreproachable
Cletus is a shortened form of Anacletus or Anencletus, from Greek anenkletos, without reproach, from an-, not, and enkalein, to accuse. The third bishop of Rome is listed under both forms, and for centuries they were thought to be two different men. The name entered English use through the Roman calendar. It peaks in the American data in 1922.
How the name formed
- Anenkletos
- Anacletus
- Cletus
Related forms: Anacletus · Cleto · Cleto
Pronouncing Cletus
KLEE-tus
Two syllables, stress on the first, long e. The -us is a Latin case ending and is dropped in Spanish and Italian, giving Cleto. Some speakers say KLET-us with a short vowel, which is not the traditional reading.
Nicknames for Cletus
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
- 1886
- Most boys named
- 1924226 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #391reached in 1922
- Change vs 2021
- −10.0%9 in 2025, from 10
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.
Cletus in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Anacletus in Latin — related form
- Cleto in Spanish — same name
- Cleto in Italian — same name
Cletuss among us
people named Cletus are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 boy in 189,786 born in 2025 was named Cletus
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Is it right for you
What happens to a name after it peaks
The Margaret test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Cletus's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Margaret climbed just as high around 1907, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Margaret's path sketches the road Cletus is walking now.
Cletus 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
Cletus beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Cletus 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 settled and positive.
- It has a continuous liturgical history of sixteen centuries.
- Clete works as a short form.
- One animated television character dominates the American association.
- It reads as either archaic or comic to most listeners.
- The full form Anacletus is unfamiliar and will not be recognized.
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What they receive
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Cletus
Masculine · #8243 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Cletuss are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 2,200 people named Cletus are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Cletus in 2025?
- Cletus ranks #8243 among US boy names in 2025, with 9 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Cletus?
- About 1 in every 189,786 US boys born in 2025 was named Cletus — 9 in all.
- Will my child share the name Cletus with classmates?
- Cletus will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Cletus
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Danial#8243 · Ogden#8243 · Aaren#8243 · Trinity#8243 · Kourtney#8243 · Maury#8243 · Lindon#8243 · Elbert#8243
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Cletus? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Cletus and another name?
See them side by side — full stats, history and a gentle verdict.
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Which one would you pick?
Your gut first, the numbers after — the split shows once you pick.
US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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