Cleven
Masculine
Cleven is a rare boy’s name close to the start of Cleveland. Cleveland itself is a name that lost a letter along the way.
How old is the name Cleven?
Cleven first appears in US birth records in 1908 — 117 years ago. The typical Cleven alive today was born around 1938, making them about 87 years old. About 200 people named Cleven are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Cleven most popular?
Cleven peaked in 1908, reaching #1373 nationally. See the whole 1908 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
Origin, sound and short forms
Our story of Cleven
The city on Lake Erie was laid out by surveyors under Moses Cleaveland, and it was first spelled with his a; a popular story says a newspaper dropped the letter because the name would not fit across its masthead, though the shorter spelling was already in use. Either way Cleveland stuck. Cleven came from Cleveland or from a family name. It is crisp and unusual.
Meaningnot established
Not established
Cleven may be Cleveland shortened or a surname, and nothing records which.
Pronouncing Cleven
KLEV-un
Two syllables with the stress on the first.
Nicknames for Cleven
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
- 1908
- Most boys named
- 192021 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #1373reached in 1908
- Change vs 1984
- 0.0%6 in 1989, from 6
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.
Clevens among us
people named Cleven 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
Cleven 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
- Crisp and easy to say.
- Almost certain to be the only one.
- Easy to spell once heard.
- People will hear eleven.
- It reads as a name of a much earlier generation.
- It has no documented meaning of its own.
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Cleven
Masculine
Frequently asked
- How many Clevens 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 Cleven are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Cleven in 2025?
- Cleven is rarely given in the US today — it does not rank in the top 2000 boy names.
- Will my child share the name Cleven with classmates?
- Cleven 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 Cleven? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Cleven and another name?
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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