Cleveland
Taken from the English surname and the district in North Yorkshire it names, formed from Old English clif and land. The sense is roughly "land of cliffs."
Cleveland in 2025
Cleveland was given to 11 babies in the United States in 2025, making it the 15,296th most popular name of the year. That is roughly one in every 301,395 babies born.
The history of Cleveland
Cleveland reached its highest point in 1947, when 368 babies were given the name, ranking 777th that year. Its best-ever ranking was 223rd, in 1884.
Across the 146 years of records since 1880, 22,032 babies have been named Cleveland. Half of them were born before 1944, which places the name's centre of gravity with the Silent Generation.
Cleveland by decade
| Decade | Babies named Cleveland | Best rank |
|---|---|---|
| 1880s | 702 | 223 |
| 1890s | 524 | 488 |
| 1900s | 553 | 628 |
| 1910s | 2,219 | 604 |
| 1920s | 3,203 | 654 |
| 1930s | 2,500 | 712 |
| 1940s | 2,985 | 754 |
| 1950s | 3,079 | 813 |
| 1960s | 2,072 | 1,121 |
| 1970s | 1,503 | 1,299 |
| 1980s | 1,107 | 1,728 |
| 1990s | 743 | 2,609 |
| 2000s | 474 | 4,058 |
| 2010s | 280 | 6,230 |
| 2020s | 88 | 9,942 |
Where Cleveland is heading
Cleveland has fallen 56% over the past decade, from 25 babies in 2015 to 11 in 2025.
That is less than 5% of its 1947 peak — Cleveland is now a rare name in the United States.
Names like Cleveland
Names that rose and fell at the same time as Cleveland.