Corliss
Feminine
Corliss is given to both — 2,849 girls and 343 boys since 1880. See other names given to both
The largest machine anyone had ever seen was switched on by a president in Philadelphia, and it was called a Corliss. The engine that opened the Centennial Exhibition stood forty feet high, powered the whole of Machinery Hall through a mile of shafting, and made its maker's surname a household word for a generation.
How old is the name Corliss?
Corliss first appears in US birth records in 1919 — 106 years ago. The typical Corliss alive today was born around 1952, making them about 73 years old. About 2,100 people named Corliss are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Corliss most popular?
Corliss peaked in 1946, reaching #591 nationally. See the whole 1946 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
Origin, sound and short forms
The story of Corliss
George Corliss built steam engines that used a fraction of the fuel of anything before them, and the one at the Centennial in eighteen seventy-six was the demonstration piece: two enormous walking beams, a flywheel thirty feet across, and Grant and the Emperor of Brazil turning the valves to start it. Americans who had never heard the name knew it afterwards. The surname moved to the front of the name in the decades that followed, and the record carries it for boys and girls alike, though the ending pulls it toward the women's side and the record follows.
Meaningnot established
Not established
The surname's own origin is not established. It appears in English records without a clear source, and the derivations offered are speculative.
Pronouncing Corliss
KOR-liss
Two syllables with the weight at the front. There is no second reading to correct.
Nicknames for Corliss
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
- 1919
- Most girls named
- 1946182 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #591reached in 1946
- Change vs 1996
- −16.7%5 in 2003, 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.
Corlisss among us
people named Corliss 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
Corliss 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
- Both syllables are readable, so the name is said correctly at sight.
- It works as a surname and as a first name, which suits families that use both.
- Corrie is a ready short form with a life of its own.
- The spelling is recorded for boys as well as girls in the United States.
- There is no meaning to pass on; the name begins with a family and an engine.
- It reads clearly as a name of the first half of the twentieth century.
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Corliss
Feminine
Frequently asked
- How many Corlisss are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 2,100 people named Corliss are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Corliss in 2025?
- Corliss is rarely given in the US today — it does not rank in the top 2000 girl names.
- Will my child share the name Corliss with classmates?
- Corliss 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 Corliss? See the current top 100.
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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