Clinton
Masculine · “fenced settlement”
Clinton is overwhelmingly a boys’ name — 97,567 boys against 438 girls since 1880.
Clinton is a settlement by a fence, or on a hill — an English place name whose first element is argued about, which became a great New York political family and then a first name.
How old is the name Clinton?
Clinton was already in use when US birth records began in 1880 — it is at least 145 years old. The typical Clinton alive today was born around 1969, making them about 56 years old. About 64,500 people named Clinton are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Clinton most popular?
Clinton peaked in 1981, reaching #124 nationally. Today it ranks #1728, 1,604 places below that high. See the whole 1981 chart.
Where it comes from
From clyne + tun to Clinton
The story of Clinton
Glympton in Oxfordshire and other places gave the surname Clinton, which crossed to America with the de Clinton family. DeWitt Clinton was governor of New York and the driving force behind the Erie Canal, and George Clinton was vice president twice — which made the surname a natural given name in nineteenth-century America. Clinton peaked in American records around 1881 and again, more modestly, in the 1990s.
Meaningscholars disagree
fenced settlement
From an English place name, generally read as the Old English clyne, 'fence' or 'hill', plus tun, 'farmstead' or 'settlement'. Some accounts derive the first element from a personal name instead. The tun element is secure; the first is not.
How the name formed
- clyne + tun
- Clinton
Related forms: Clynton · Clint
Pronouncing Clinton
KLIN-tun
Two syllables, stress on the first. No variation between English accents.
Nicknames for Clinton
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
- 19812,206 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #124reached in 1981
- Change vs 2022
- −29.3%94 in 2025, from 133
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.
Clinton in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Clynton in English — spelling variant
- Clint in English — related form
Strongest US states over the last decade: Texas, California, Georgia.
Clintons among us
people named Clinton are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 boy in 18,171 born in 2025 was named Clinton
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 Abraham test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Clinton's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Abraham climbed just as high around 1911, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Abraham's path sketches the road Clinton is walking now.
Clinton 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
Where Clinton is headed
Clinton is easing off slowly — about 19% fewer babies a year by 2030 if the trend continues.
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.
Clinton beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Clinton in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US boys given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- It carries a documented American political dynasty and a major piece of infrastructure history.
- Clint is available as a short form with an independent record.
- Two firm syllables that pair well with almost any surname.
- The first element of the place name is genuinely disputed.
- The name carries strong political associations for many Americans.
- It reads as a surname to many people.
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What they receive
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Clinton
Masculine · #1728 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Clintons are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 64,500 people named Clinton are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Clinton in 2025?
- Clinton ranks #1728 among US boy names in 2025, with 94 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Clinton?
- About 1 in every 18,171 US boys born in 2025 was named Clinton — 94 in all.
- Will my child share the name Clinton with classmates?
- Clinton will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Clinton
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Anson#1728 · Bentlee#1728 · Eder#1728 · Fredrick#1728 · Jahir#1728 · Kain#1728 · Wilmer#1728 · Simcha#1728
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Clinton? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Clinton and another name?
See them side by side — full stats, history and a gentle verdict.
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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