# Clayton (first name)

Source: https://namelineage.com/first-name/clayton/  
Publisher: Name Lineage. US counts from the Social Security Administration; England and Wales counts from the Office for National Statistics; meaning and etymology from Wiktionary. Data updated 2026-11-11.

| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Usually given to | boys |
| Origin | English |
| Meaning | “clay”, “enclosure”, “settlement”, “town” |
| Pronunciation | /ˈkleɪtən/, 2 syllables |
| Nicknames | Clay |
| Variant spellings | none recorded |
| US babies named this | 139,954 since 1880 |
| Boys / girls in the US | 139,344 / 610 (0% girls) |
| Babies in England and Wales | 2,346, 1996 to 2025 |

## Etymology

From Middle English Claytone, Cleyton, from Old English clǣġ (“clay”) + Old English tūn (“enclosure, settlement; town”). Analyzable as clay + -ton.

## Popularity

The last 15 years of each series. A year is missing when too few babies were given the name for the agency to publish it: five in the US, three in England and Wales.

### United States, girls

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2001 | 10 | 9,530 |
| 2003 | 6 | 14,252 |
| 2004 | 14 | 7,926 |
| 2006 | 5 | 17,723 |
| 2008 | 8 | 12,853 |
| 2009 | 7 | 14,022 |
| 2010 | 5 | 17,601 |
| 2011 | 7 | 13,678 |
| 2012 | 8 | 12,468 |
| 2016 | 6 | 14,729 |
| 2017 | 5 | 16,412 |
| 2019 | 8 | 11,596 |
| 2020 | 5 | 15,638 |
| 2021 | 5 | 15,759 |
| 2023 | 8 | 11,411 |

### United States, boys

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2011 | 1,345 | 257 |
| 2012 | 1,367 | 261 |
| 2013 | 1,387 | 258 |
| 2014 | 1,365 | 271 |
| 2015 | 1,479 | 248 |
| 2016 | 1,376 | 266 |
| 2017 | 1,493 | 250 |
| 2018 | 1,451 | 254 |
| 2019 | 1,308 | 273 |
| 2020 | 1,172 | 289 |
| 2021 | 1,237 | 279 |
| 2022 | 1,200 | 286 |
| 2023 | 1,067 | 310 |
| 2024 | 1,083 | 318 |
| 2025 | 1,130 | 300 |

### England and Wales, boys

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2011 | 100 | 392 |
| 2012 | 108 | 386 |
| 2013 | 91 | 440 |
| 2014 | 102 | 397 |
| 2015 | 77 | 500 |
| 2016 | 101 | 417 |
| 2017 | 103 | 423 |
| 2018 | 103 | 411 |
| 2019 | 111 | 388 |
| 2020 | 100 | 406 |
| 2021 | 54 | 672 |
| 2022 | 89 | 453 |
| 2023 | 41 | 791 |
| 2024 | 61 | 622 |
| 2025 | 50 | 702 |

## People named Clayton

- Clayton Anderson, American astronaut and engineer
- Clayton Kershaw, American professional baseball player (born 1988)
- Clayton Moore, American actor (1914–1999)
- Clayton Keller, American ice hockey player
- Clayton Murphy, American middle-distance runner
- Clayton Donaldson, association football player
- Clayton Zane, Australian soccer player
- Clayton Christensen, American economist (1952-2020)
- Clayton Rohner, American actor
- Clayton Snyder, American actor
- Adam Clayton Powell Jr., American Baptist pastor and politician (1908–1972)
- Clayton Keith Yeutter, American politician (1930–2017)

## How to read these numbers

A count is babies registered with that name in that year, not people alive now, so a name common a century ago can have a large total and few recent births.