# Cletus (first name)

Source: https://namelineage.com/first-name/cletus/  
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 | Greek |
| Meaning | “invoked” |
| Pronunciation | /ˈkliːt.əs/, 2 syllables |
| Nicknames | none recorded |
| Variant spellings | none recorded |
| US babies named this | 7,709 since 1880 |
| Boys / girls in the US | 7,437 / 272 (4% girls) |
| Babies in England and Wales | not in the ONS data |

## Etymology

Borrowed from Latin Clētus, short form of the papal name Anaclētus, from Ancient Greek ἀνάκλητος (anáklētos, “invoked”, from ἀνακαλέω (anakaléō) + -τός (-tós)).

## 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 |
|---|---|---|
| 1926 | 13 | 2,594 |
| 1927 | 13 | 2,578 |
| 1928 | 9 | 3,215 |
| 1929 | 14 | 2,330 |
| 1931 | 11 | 2,607 |
| 1933 | 6 | 3,824 |
| 1935 | 5 | 4,325 |
| 1937 | 6 | 3,878 |
| 1938 | 6 | 3,916 |
| 1940 | 7 | 3,567 |
| 1941 | 5 | 4,520 |
| 1942 | 5 | 4,742 |
| 1943 | 5 | 4,804 |
| 1944 | 5 | 4,686 |
| 1948 | 5 | 5,384 |

### United States, boys

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2009 | 5 | 12,835 |
| 2011 | 8 | 8,908 |
| 2012 | 5 | 12,624 |
| 2013 | 8 | 8,948 |
| 2014 | 7 | 9,836 |
| 2015 | 8 | 8,903 |
| 2016 | 6 | 10,987 |
| 2017 | 6 | 11,039 |
| 2018 | 7 | 9,874 |
| 2019 | 6 | 11,043 |
| 2020 | 8 | 8,893 |
| 2021 | 10 | 7,717 |
| 2022 | 9 | 8,440 |
| 2024 | 6 | 11,199 |
| 2025 | 9 | 8,382 |

## In other languages

- Bulgarian: Клетъс
- Polish: Klet

## People named Cletus

- Bobby Driscoll, American actor (1937–1968)

## 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.