# Cliff (surname)

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

A surname.

| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Origin | not recorded |
| Type | not recorded |
| People in the US (2010 Census) | 2,395 |
| US rank (2010) | 12,856 of 162,253 |
| How often | about 1 in every 128,913 people |
| Change since 2000 | +0.8% (2,375 in 2000) |
| Pronunciation | not recorded |
| Variant spellings | none recorded |

## Etymology

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

## Who carries it

Share of people named Cliff 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) | 82% |
| Black (not Hispanic) | 11% |
| Hispanic or Latino (any race) | 2.2% |
| Asian and Pacific Islander | 0.8% |
| American Indian and Alaska Native | 2.0% |
| Two or more races | 1.5% |

## Similar surnames

Cluff, Claffey, Culp, Colby, Clapp, Calvo, Clubb, Calfee, Calva, Cullop.

## 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.