Klinton
Masculine · “a settlement”
Klinton is Clinton with its first letter swapped for a K, a surname that began as an English place-name and was carried by a Norman official who built one of England's great castles. The K makes it look sharper on the page while the sound stays exactly the same.
How old is the name Klinton?
Klinton first appears in US birth records in 1965 — 60 years ago. The typical Klinton alive today was born around 1984, making them about 41 years old. About 500 people named Klinton are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Klinton most popular?
Klinton peaked in 1984, reaching #1764 nationally. See the whole 1984 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From Old English tūn to Klinton
The story of Klinton
The name first appears in English history with Geoffrey de Clinton, chamberlain and treasurer to King Henry I, who began Kenilworth Castle and founded a priory beside it in Warwickshire. The surname crossed the Atlantic and became an American first name, and several spellings grew from it. Klinton writes the opening with a K, which English itself almost never does before an l: native words use cl, as in clean and climb, and kl is left to borrowings such as klaxon and Klondike.
Meaningscholars disagree
a settlement, from an English place-name
Clinton is an English place-name ending in tūn, a farm or settlement. What the first part meant is argued over, and the medieval family name may come from more than one place.
How the name formed
- Old English tūn
- de Clinton
- Clinton
- Klinton
Related forms: Clinton
Pronouncing Klinton
KLIN-tun
Said exactly like Clinton, with the stress on the first syllable.
Nicknames for Klinton
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
- 1965
- Most boys named
- 199233 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #1764reached in 1984
- Change vs 2016
- −28.6%5 in 2018, from 7
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.
Klinton in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Clinton in English — spelling variant
Klintons among us
people named Klinton 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
Klinton 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 sounds exactly like a familiar name with a long English history.
- Klint or Clint is a ready short form.
- The K makes the spelling distinctive without changing the sound.
- People will write Clinton, and the K will need spelling out for life.
- The name is closely tied to a well-known American political family, which some people will mention.
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Klinton
Masculine
Frequently asked
- How many Klintons are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 500 people named Klinton are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Klinton in 2025?
- Klinton is rarely given in the US today — it does not rank in the top 2000 boy names.
- Will my child share the name Klinton with classmates?
- Klinton will almost certainly be the only one in school.
More K names
The most-given names starting with K, all years combined.
Kenneth#294 · Kevin#221 · Kyle#508 · Keith#800 · Karl#1585 · Kaleb#295 · Kurt#2258 · Kelly#1867
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Klinton? See the current top 100.
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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