Clinton
Clinton was the 1732nd most popular name for boys in 2025, given to 94 babies. Its best year was 1981, when it ranked 124th with 2,206 babies. Over the last ten years it has moved down 720 places. More babies were named Clinton in the 1980s than in any other decade.
Meaning hill settlement (place name) · English, Old English
Say it KLIN-tun /ˈklɪntən/
- Rank in 2025
- #1,732 boys, down 362 places since 2020
- Babies in 2025
- 94boys
- Girls and boys
- Almost always a boy’s name2021–2025
- Peak year
- 19812,206 babies
- Total since 1880
- 98,005babies recorded
What does the name Clinton mean?
Clinton is an English surname from places named Glinton or Glympton, from an Old English first element plus tūn 'settlement', as Wiktionary notes; Glinton is read as 'town on a hill' and Glympton as 'settlement on the River Glyme'. The Clinton family were Earls of Lincoln, and in the US the name honored New York governors George and DeWitt Clinton. Bill Clinton made it famous as a surname.
tūn (Old English, “settlement”)
How sure is this? Probable. Wiktionary gives two possible place names.
Related names: Clint.
See also: English names, names from places.
Sources for this meaning
- Wiktionary, entry 'Clinton', Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0; facts restated, no text reused)
- US Social Security Administration, national baby-name data 1880-2025 (our computation), SSA (public domain)
Nicknames for Clinton
The usual nicknames for Clinton are Clint. Some parents skip the long form: for every 100 boys named Clinton in the last five years, 73 were named Clint, against 51 twenty years earlier.
| Nickname | Kind | Rank 2025 | Boys, 5 years |
|---|---|---|---|
| Clint | Traditional | #2,364 | 389 |
Nicknames reviewed by our editors; counts are boys given the nickname as their legal first name. Nobody records how many Clintons go by each one.
Clinton popularity since 1880
A few girls are given the name too: 438 since 1918.
| Year | Rank (boys) | Babies (boys) |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | #1,732 | 94 |
| 2020 | #1,370 | 129 |
| 2010 | #990 | 199 |
| 2000 | #633 | 289 |
| 1990 | #203 | 1,501 |
| 1980 | #131 | 2,165 |
| 1970 | #175 | 1,595 |
| 1960 | #243 | 1,095 |
| 1950 | #220 | 832 |
| 1940 | #204 | 632 |
| 1930 | #201 | 694 |
| 1920 | #158 | 908 |
| 1910 | #175 | 162 |
| 1900 | #205 | 91 |
| 1890 | #156 | 90 |
| 1880 | #165 | 79 |
How popular is Clinton, counting every spelling?
Clinton has no other common spelling that sounds the same.
How many kids will share the name Clinton?
94 of the 3,606,400 babies born in the US in 2025 were named Clinton (0.03 per 1,000 births). For a boy named Clinton born in 2025, the chance that another child with the same name is in a class of 20 children the same age is under 1 in 50. If every grade liked the name as much as the 2025 babies do, only about one elementary school in 89 (of 430 pupils) would have a child named Clinton.
Shares of all registered births (NCHS); classes assumed to be children born the same year. How we estimate this.
How old are people named Clinton?
About 62,600 people born in the US named Clinton are alive today, with a median age of 48; half are between 39 and 60. That makes Clinton mostly worn by adults in their thirties to fifties.
Babies given the name each year (SSA) times the share of that birth year still alive (SSA life tables). Counts people born in the US only. Method.
Clinton by state
How common Clinton was among boys born in each state in 2021–2025. In 34 states fewer than five boys a year got the name, too few for SSA to publish, so those states show as zero.
Names with a similar history
These names rose and fell in step with Clinton: their share of US boys followed the most similar curve since 1880. If you like Clinton, they share its era and feel.
Middle names for Clinton · Sibling names for Clinton
Questions about the name Clinton
What does Clinton mean?
Clinton means “hill settlement (place name)” (English, Old English origin). Certainty: probable.
How popular is the name Clinton?
Clinton was the 1732nd most popular name for boys in 2025, given to 94 babies. Its best year was 1981, when it ranked 124th with 2,206 babies. Over the last ten years it has moved down 720 places. More babies were named Clinton in the 1980s than in any other decade.
Is Clinton a boy or girl name?
In 2021–2025, almost always a boy’s name given the name Clinton in the US.
Where is Clinton most popular?
In 2021–2025, Clinton was most common in Mississippi (0.14 per 1,000 boys), followed by Oklahoma and Louisiana.