How common is the surname Cliff?

2,395 people in the United States had the surname Cliff in the 2010 Census, about 1 in every 128,913 Americans. It ranked 12,856th of 162,253 surnames.

Is the surname Cliff getting more or less common?

More common. 2,375 people carried it in the 2000 Census and 2,395 in 2010, up 0.8%.

Is Cliff also a first name?

Yes. Cliff is used as a first name as well as a surname; its first-name page has the meaning and how many babies were given it.

The surname Cliff

A surname, carried by 2,395 people in the United States.

1 syllable Soundex C410 Also a first name

Every surname held by 100 or more people in the 2010 US Census, most common on the left (162,253 in all). Cliff is more common than 92.1% of them.

Origin

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

Origin from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0).

How common it is

2010 US Census

There were 2,395 people named Cliff in the United States in 2010, about 1 in every 128,913 Americans. That is up 0.8% since 2000, when the Census counted 2,375.

#12,856

rank among US surnames

2,395

people in 2010

0.8

per 100,000 Americans

+0.8%

change since 2000 (was #12,058)

Rank	Surname	People	1 in
#12,850	Camilo	2,396	128,859
#12,856	Cliff	2,395	128,913
#12,861	Hofmeister	2,394	128,966
#12,865	Wunder	2,393	129,020

Who is named Cliff

Race and Hispanic origin as people reported it in the 2010 Census

82% of people named Cliff identified as white (not Hispanic), 11% as Black (not Hispanic) and 2.2% as Hispanic or Latino (any race).

White (not Hispanic) 82%
Black (not Hispanic) 11%
Hispanic or Latino (any race) 2.2%
American Indian and Alaska Native 2.0%
Two or more races 1.5%
Asian and Pacific Islander 0.8%

Compare: most common surnames among white Americans.

Spellings and sound-alikes

Useful when a record has your ancestor under another spelling

Surnames that sound like Cliff

Cliff has the Soundex code C410, the code US census indexes have used since the 1930s. Every surname with code C410.

Questions

Where does the surname Cliff come from?: The given name is from shortenings of the diminutives. The surname is from the noun cliff.
How common is the surname Cliff?: 2,395 people in the United States had the surname Cliff in the 2010 Census, about 1 in every 128,913 Americans. It ranked 12,856th of 162,253 surnames.
What ethnicity is the surname Cliff?: In the 2010 Census, 82% of people named Cliff identified as white (not Hispanic), and 11% as Black (not Hispanic).
Is the surname Cliff getting more or less common?: More common. 2,375 people carried it in the 2000 Census and 2,395 in 2010, up 0.8%.
Is Cliff also a first name?: Yes. Cliff is used as a first name as well as a surname; its first-name page has the meaning and how many babies were given it.