Clyda
Feminine
Clyda is a man's name with a Latin-style feminine ending, which English has to borrow because it has no way of making one. The valley behind the name also gave its name to a horse that most people have seen without knowing where it came from.
How old is the name Clyda?
Clyda was already in use when US birth records began in 1880 — it is at least 145 years old. The typical Clyda alive today was born around 1927, making them about 98 years old. About 200 people named Clyda are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Clyda most popular?
Clyda peaked in 1883, reaching #692 nationally. See the whole 1883 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
Origin, sound and short forms
Our story of Clyda
Clydesdales were bred in the valley of the Clyde from local mares and imported Flemish stallions, for hauling coal out of Lanarkshire and heavy loads around the farms and city streets. They are big, heavy-boned and famously calm, with the long feathered hair on the lower legs that makes them instantly recognizable. Mechanization nearly finished the breed: numbers collapsed through the twentieth century and it has been listed as at risk ever since. What kept it visible was advertising, because a brewery bought a team and has used them in its promotion for the better part of a century, which is a strange kind of conservation and an effective one.
Meaningnot established
Not established
The river name behind Clyde is pre-English and has been connected to a word about washing or to a goddess. This feminine form is not documented and no reason for it has been recorded.
Pronouncing Clyda
KLY-duh
Two syllables with the stress in front. The first is the long i of Clyde.
Nicknames for Clyda
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 girls named
- 192122 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #692reached in 1883
- Change vs 1959
- +20.0%6 in 1960, from 5
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.
Clydas among us
people named Clyda 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
Clyda 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 read correctly at first sight by nearly everybody.
- Five letters and two syllables: quick to write and easy to remember.
- It has a real river and a real valley behind it.
- It reads as a name of a much older generation, which is either the appeal or the obstacle.
- It will be heard as Clyde by anybody catching it once.
- No origin is documented for the feminine, so the meaning question belongs to the man's name.
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Clyda
Feminine
Frequently asked
- How many Clydas 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 Clyda are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Clyda in 2025?
- Clyda is rarely given in the US today — it does not rank in the top 2000 girl names.
- Will my child share the name Clyda with classmates?
- Clyda will almost certainly be the only one in school.
More C names
The most-given names starting with C, all years combined.
Carol#2239 · Cynthia#1013 · Catherine#313 · Christine#1272 · Carolyn#1222 · Christina#770 · Charlotte#2 · Cheryl#4352
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Clyda? See the current top 100.
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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