# Cleverly (surname)

Source: https://namelineage.com/surname/cleverly/  
Publisher: Name Lineage. Counts from the US Census Bureau; origin and etymology from Wiktionary; bearers from Wikidata. Data updated 2026-11-11.

A surname from Old English.

| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Origin | English |
| Type | place, taken from where an ancestor lived or came from |
| People in the US (2010 Census) | 538 |
| US rank (2010) | 40,610 of 162,253 |
| How often | about 1 in every 573,876 people |
| Change since 2000 | +15% (468 in 2000) |
| Pronunciation | /ˈklɛvəli/, 3 syllables |
| Variant spellings | Cleverley |

## Etymology

Perhaps a variant of Cleveley, through an irregular development, or a possibly a habitational surname from a lost or unidentified place in Hampshire, from Old English clǣfre (“clover”) + lēah (“woodland clearing, glade”) and thus equivalent to clover + -ley (“lea”).

## Who carries it

Share of people named Cleverly in the 2010 US Census by the Census's own race and ethnicity groups. The Census suppresses a share when the count behind it is small.

| Group | Share |
|---|---|
| White (not Hispanic) | 95% |
| Hispanic or Latino (any race) | 2.8% |
| American Indian and Alaska Native | 0.0% |
| Two or more races | 1.3% |

## Similar surnames

Calverley, Cleaver, Clever, Colbert, Clifford, Calvert, Culver, Culbertson, Colburn, Calabrese, Claiborne, Clapper.

## How to read these numbers

A Census count is people alive and counted in 2010, not births, and names occurring fewer than 100 times are not published at all. Ethnicity shares are the Census's own categories.