Meaning not yet researched.
Cliff: US boys given the name each year, 1880 to 2025, from Social Security card applications. 43 in 2025. Its best rank was #358 in 1886.
US births per year · SSA card applications
Peaked at #358 in 1886; #2,895 in 2025. Every baby recorded as Cliff in 2025 was a boy.
Baby name · US data 1880–2025
#2,895 for US boys in 2025. Its best year was 1886, at #358.
Hover, tap or use the arrow keys for any year. Years with fewer than five babies of a sex are not published by SSA and show as zero.
Cliff: US boys given the name each year from 1880 to 2025. 43 boys in 2025. Peak: #358 in 1886 · most boys in one year: 310 (1959).
In 2025, 43 US boys were named Cliff, making it the 2,895th most common boys’ name of the year, up 108 places from #3,003 in 2024. That is 2 more than the 41 boys named Cliff in 2024. Its best rank for boys was #358, reached in 1886. The most boys given the name in a single year was 310, in 1959. For comparison, it was #5,338 in 2015 and #706 in 1950.
Social Security card records list Cliff in every one of the 146 years from 1880 to 2025; in 1880 there were 7 babies with the name. In all, 9,307 US babies have been given the name, all of them boys. Its busiest decade was the 1960s, with 1,976 babies named Cliff.
Over the 10 years from 2016 to 2025, 322 US boys were named Cliff; the busiest of those years was 2020, with 47. In 2025 that was about 1 in 39,723 of the boys in SSA’s list for the year.
Related spellings in the SSA files include Clifford (190,268 babies since 1880) and Cliffton (1,872 babies since 1880). The open nickname list we use links it to Clifford.
Meaning not yet researched.
We publish a meaning only with a cited source and a confidence label, and never generate one. Meanings are being researched for the most common names first.
Numbers are all-time US births. Links come from Wikidata’s “said to be the same as” (P460, CC0).
Cliff is listed as a nickname for Clifford, Clifton.
Source: carltonnorthern/nicknames (Apache-2.0).
Births and national rank for each year SSA lists the name, newest first.
| Year | Girls | Girls rank | Boys | Boys rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | — | — | 43 | #2,895 |
| 2024 | — | — | 41 | #3,003 |
| 2023 | — | — | 39 | #3,130 |
| 2022 | — | — | 33 | #3,477 |
| 2021 | — | — | 29 | #3,755 |
| 2020 | — | — | 47 | #2,667 |
| 2019 | — | — | 26 | #4,026 |
| 2018 | — | — | 21 | #4,631 |
| 2017 | — | — | 24 | #4,246 |
| 2016 | — | — | 19 | #4,983 |
| 2015 | — | — | 17 | #5,338 |
| 2014 | — | — | 20 | #4,731 |
| 2013 | — | — | 14 | #5,981 |
| 2012 | — | — | 13 | #6,383 |
| 2011 | — | — | 21 | #4,532 |
| 2010 | — | — | 19 | #4,873 |
| 2009 | — | — | 12 | #6,880 |
| 2008 | — | — | 16 | #5,534 |
| 2007 | — | — | 20 | #4,671 |
| 2006 | — | — | 18 | #4,897 |
| 2005 | — | — | 17 | #4,863 |
| 2004 | — | — | 14 | #5,546 |
| 2003 | — | — | 15 | #5,078 |
| 2002 | — | — | 14 | #5,180 |
| 2001 | — | — | 19 | #4,153 |
| 2000 | — | — | 28 | #3,088 |
| 1999 | — | — | 21 | #3,604 |
| 1998 | — | — | 27 | #2,938 |
| 1997 | — | — | 28 | #2,762 |
| 1996 | — | — | 22 | #3,217 |
| 1995 | — | — | 24 | #2,934 |
| 1994 | — | — | 25 | #2,863 |
| 1993 | — | — | 22 | #3,064 |
| 1992 | — | — | 47 | #1,784 |
| 1991 | — | — | 54 | #1,576 |
| 1990 | — | — | 53 | #1,570 |
| 1989 | — | — | 72 | #1,283 |
| 1988 | — | — | 70 | #1,215 |
| 1987 | — | — | 64 | #1,207 |
| 1986 | — | — | 82 | #1,023 |
| 1985 | — | — | 109 | #868 |
| 1984 | — | — | 119 | #800 |
| 1983 | — | — | 135 | #744 |
| 1982 | — | — | 142 | #729 |
| 1981 | — | — | 146 | #714 |
| 1980 | — | — | 143 | #734 |
| 1979 | — | — | 118 | #800 |
| 1978 | — | — | 91 | #902 |
| 1977 | — | — | 89 | #901 |
| 1976 | — | — | 83 | #913 |
| 1975 | — | — | 80 | #918 |
| 1974 | — | — | 99 | #809 |
| 1973 | — | — | 110 | #764 |
| 1972 | — | — | 104 | #783 |
| 1971 | — | — | 130 | #723 |
| 1970 | — | — | 157 | #653 |
| 1969 | — | — | 147 | #651 |
| 1968 | — | — | 124 | #676 |
| 1967 | — | — | 128 | #660 |
| 1966 | — | — | 151 | #606 |
| 1965 | — | — | 174 | #579 |
| 1964 | — | — | 230 | #514 |
| 1963 | — | — | 262 | #495 |
| 1962 | — | — | 229 | #526 |
| 1961 | — | — | 280 | #478 |
| 1960 | — | — | 251 | #497 |
| 1959 | — | — | 310 | #456 |
| 1958 | — | — | 247 | #494 |
| 1957 | — | — | 247 | #496 |
| 1956 | — | — | 147 | #626 |
| 1955 | — | — | 148 | #610 |
| 1954 | — | — | 127 | #649 |
| 1953 | — | — | 92 | #745 |
| 1952 | — | — | 88 | #751 |
| 1951 | — | — | 67 | #853 |
| 1950 | — | — | 94 | #706 |
| 1949 | — | — | 89 | #730 |
| 1948 | — | — | 109 | #648 |
| 1947 | — | — | 140 | #572 |
| 1946 | — | — | 99 | #648 |
| 1945 | — | — | 97 | #613 |
| 1944 | — | — | 86 | #668 |
| 1943 | — | — | 74 | #753 |
| 1942 | — | — | 75 | #740 |
| 1941 | — | — | 69 | #747 |
| 1940 | — | — | 72 | #718 |
| 1939 | — | — | 71 | #709 |
| 1938 | — | — | 56 | #828 |
| 1937 | — | — | 64 | #764 |
| 1936 | — | — | 56 | #817 |
| 1935 | — | — | 59 | #805 |
| 1934 | — | — | 57 | #830 |
| 1933 | — | — | 44 | #949 |
| 1932 | — | — | 46 | #968 |
| 1931 | — | — | 47 | #962 |
| 1930 | — | — | 45 | #1,023 |
| 1929 | — | — | 44 | #1,029 |
| 1928 | — | — | 33 | #1,258 |
| 1927 | — | — | 40 | #1,129 |
| 1926 | — | — | 46 | #1,019 |
| 1925 | — | — | 37 | #1,167 |
| 1924 | — | — | 27 | #1,463 |
| 1923 | — | — | 49 | #996 |
| 1922 | — | — | 39 | #1,145 |
| 1921 | — | — | 46 | #1,031 |
| 1920 | — | — | 43 | #1,077 |
| 1919 | — | — | 42 | #1,049 |
| 1918 | — | — | 45 | #996 |
| 1917 | — | — | 41 | #1,020 |
| 1916 | — | — | 52 | #878 |
| 1915 | — | — | 58 | #794 |
| 1914 | — | — | 34 | #953 |
| 1913 | — | — | 16 | #1,322 |
| 1912 | — | — | 28 | #840 |
| 1911 | — | — | 21 | #695 |
| 1910 | — | — | 20 | #659 |
| 1909 | — | — | 19 | #621 |
| 1908 | — | — | 21 | #557 |
| 1907 | — | — | 18 | #596 |
| 1906 | — | — | 22 | #475 |
| 1905 | — | — | 23 | #466 |
| 1904 | — | — | 24 | #434 |
| 1903 | — | — | 19 | #488 |
| 1902 | — | — | 16 | #541 |
| 1901 | — | — | 15 | #512 |
| 1900 | — | — | 17 | #605 |
| 1899 | — | — | 15 | #506 |
| 1898 | — | — | 18 | #489 |
| 1897 | — | — | 16 | #502 |
| 1896 | — | — | 13 | #603 |
| 1895 | — | — | 21 | #428 |
| 1894 | — | — | 17 | #485 |
| 1893 | — | — | 17 | #451 |
| 1892 | — | — | 13 | #576 |
| 1891 | — | — | 12 | #527 |
| 1890 | — | — | 15 | #493 |
| 1889 | — | — | 15 | #485 |
| 1888 | — | — | 15 | #508 |
| 1887 | — | — | 17 | #412 |
| 1886 | — | — | 23 | #358 |
| 1885 | — | — | 14 | #504 |
| 1884 | — | — | 13 | #528 |
| 1883 | — | — | 10 | #606 |
| 1882 | — | — | 13 | #520 |
| 1881 | — | — | 5 | #892 |
| 1880 | — | — | 7 | #760 |
About the data: counts are Social Security card applications for US births, for names given to at least five babies of a sex in a year (SSA, names.zip, public domain). Ranks follow SSA’s own order: most births first, ties alphabetical. Files retrieved 2026-10-05 (checksum on our sources page).