Cline
Masculine · “Small”
Cline is a German word hiding in an English spelling. Klein means small, and the American respelling of it has concealed that so completely that most bearers have no idea the name says anything at all.
How old is the name Cline?
Cline first appears in US birth records in 1894 — 131 years ago. The typical Cline alive today was born around 1933, making them about 92 years old. About 300 people named Cline are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Cline most popular?
Cline peaked in 1905, reaching #1002 nationally. See the whole 1905 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From Klein to Cline
The story of Cline
German surnames arriving in America went through a filter. The spelling was rewritten to fit English habits, the pronunciation was flattened, and in a great many cases the meaning was lost on the way: Zimmermann becomes Carpenter or Zimmerman, Schmidt becomes Smith or Schmitt, Klein becomes Cline or Kline. The family keeps the name and loses the word. One bearer made the American spelling permanent: a singer born Virginia Hensley took Cline from a first marriage and Patsy from her own middle name, and by the time she died at thirty her version of the surname was the one most Americans knew.
Meaning
Small
The German adjective klein is the source, used as a surname for a small man in exactly the way English produced Little and Short. The American spelling with a c and an i is a phonetic respelling made by clerks and families with no German.
How the name formed
- Klein
- Cline
Related forms: Klein
Pronouncing Cline
KLYNE
One syllable, rhyming with fine. The German original is said the same way.
Nicknames for Cline
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
- 1894
- Most boys named
- 193229 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #1002reached in 1905
- Change vs 2020
- 0.0%6 in 2022, 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.
Cline in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Klein in German — same name
Clines among us
people named Cline 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
Cline 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
- It is short, firm and read correctly on sight.
- The meaning is concrete once it is explained.
- It has the settled sound of a real family name.
- Kline and Klein are both in use and his will be written as one of them.
- For many Americans the name belongs to a country singer.
- The German meaning is invisible in this spelling.
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Cline
Masculine
Frequently asked
- How many Clines are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 300 people named Cline are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Cline in 2025?
- Cline is rarely given in the US today — it does not rank in the top 2000 boy names.
- Will my child share the name Cline with classmates?
- Cline 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 Cline? See the current top 100.
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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