Boys' name · peaked in 1895
Clarence name popularity since 1925
186,273 babies born in the US from 1925 to 2025 were named Clarence (0.7% girls, 99.3% boys). Half of them were born in 1945 or earlier, so the typical Clarence is about 81 years old in 2026. Clarence peaked in 1895 as the #17 name for boys, and it was outside the top 1,000 in 2025.
Key facts
- US babies since 1925
- 186,273
- Named Clarence, 1925–2025
- Peak year
- 1895
- #17 for boys that year
- In 2025
- Not top 1,000
- #1,500 for boys in 2025
- Girls / boys
- 99.3% boys
- 1,249 girls · 185,024 boys
- Most popular in
- Louisiana
- 2.59× its national share
Peak year is the year Clarence made up the largest share of US boys, in records going back to 1880. Typical age is based on births from 1925 on, not on who is living today.
Clarence births per year, 1925–2025
The biggest year on this chart was 1925. Measured as a share of all babies, Clarence peaked earlier, in 1895.
- Steepest fall: Between 1994 and 1999, Clarence's share of baby boys fell by 34%, from 1 in 4,010 to 1 in 6,060.
Shaded on the chart. This compares Clarence's share of all US boys five years apart, counting only years with at least 100 babies named Clarence.
Decade by decade
Babies named Clarence in each decade, and its rank among boys' names in the middle year of the decade (1935, 1945 … 2025).
| Decade | Girls | Boys | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1925–29 | 210 | 31,464 | – |
| 1930s | 282 | 42,676 | #48 |
| 1940s | 205 | 36,197 | #82 |
| 1950s | 181 | 29,488 | #117 |
| 1960s | 162 | 17,500 | #166 |
| 1970s | 125 | 10,667 | #225 |
| 1980s | 74 | 7,364 | #304 |
| 1990s | 10 | 4,538 | #499 |
| 2000s | 0 | 2,592 | #694 |
| 2010s | 0 | 1,795 | #1,070 |
| 2020–25 | 0 | 743 | #1,500 |
Ranks count every name given to at least 5 boys that year, so they can go past 1,000.
Generation fingerprint
41.1% of babies named Clarence from 1925 to 2025 were born in the Silent Generation years (1928–1945). The full split by generation:
Where Clarence is most popular
The index compares Clarence's share of babies in each state with its share nationwide, 1925–2025 (1.50× = 50% more common). States with at least 300 babies named Clarence.
| State | Index | Babies |
|---|---|---|
| Louisiana | 2.59× | 8,548 |
| West Virginia | 2.52× | 4,078 |
| Mississippi | 2.43× | 5,420 |
| Alabama | 2.37× | 7,723 |
| South Carolina | 2.27× | 5,860 |
Other spellings
Spellings that sound like Clarence and were given to at least 1,000 boys from 1925 to 2025, with the year each one was most popular.
| Spelling | Boys | Peak year |
|---|---|---|
| Clarence (this page) | 185,024 | 1895 |
| Clarance | 2,611 | 1900 |
Names with a similar story
Of the other 499 names on this site, these six had the share of babies closest in shape to Clarence's from 1925 to 2025, however common each one got. Each line is scaled to its own high; the dashed line is Clarence.
Names from the same era
Other common names that peaked within two years of Clarence (1895).
Source: U.S. Social Security Administration national and state baby-name data, which covers names given to at least 5 babies of one sex in a year. About the data