# Cliff (first name)

Source: https://namelineage.com/first-name/cliff/  
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 | not recorded |
| Meaning | not recorded |
| Pronunciation | not recorded |
| Nicknames | none recorded |
| Variant spellings | none recorded |
| US babies named this | 9,307 since 1880 |
| Boys / girls in the US | 9,307 / 0 (0% girls) |
| Babies in England and Wales | 10, 1996 to 2025 |

## Etymology

The given name is from shortenings of the diminutives. The surname is from the noun cliff.

## 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, boys

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2011 | 21 | 4,532 |
| 2012 | 13 | 6,383 |
| 2013 | 14 | 5,981 |
| 2014 | 20 | 4,731 |
| 2015 | 17 | 5,338 |
| 2016 | 19 | 4,983 |
| 2017 | 24 | 4,246 |
| 2018 | 21 | 4,631 |
| 2019 | 26 | 4,026 |
| 2020 | 47 | 2,667 |
| 2021 | 29 | 3,755 |
| 2022 | 33 | 3,477 |
| 2023 | 39 | 3,130 |
| 2024 | 41 | 3,003 |
| 2025 | 43 | 2,895 |

### England and Wales, boys

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 1999 | 3 | 2,943 |
| 2003 | 3 | 3,467 |
| 2013 | 4 | 3,822 |

## People named Cliff

- Cliff Williams, English musician
- Cliff Martinez, American musician and composer, composer, drummer
- Cliff Bastin, English footballer (1912-1991)
- Cliff DeYoung, American actor (b. 1945)
- Cliff Barker, American basketball player (1921–1998)
- Cliff Bourland, American sprinter (1921–2018)
- Cliff Bleszinski, American video game designer
- Cliff Young, Australian ultra marathon runner (1922–2003)
- Cliff Arquette, American actor (1905–1974)
- Cliff Gorman, American actor (1936-2002)
- Cliff Eidelman, American composer
- Cliff Compton, American professional wrestler

## 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.