Mostly girls · peaked in 1907
Cleo name popularity since 1925
24,327 babies born in the US from 1925 to 2025 were named Cleo (71.6% girls, 28.4% boys). Half of them were born in 1943 or earlier, so the typical Cleo is about 83 years old in 2026. Cleo peaked in 1907 as the #171 name for girls, and it ranked #577 in 2025.
Key facts
- US babies since 1925
- 24,327
- Named Cleo, 1925–2025
- Peak year
- 1907
- #171 for girls that year
- In 2025
- #577
- for girls in 2025 (516 babies)
- Girls / boys
- 71.6% girls
- 17,421 girls · 6,906 boys
- Most popular in
- Arkansas
- 4.02× its national share
Peak year is the year Cleo made up the largest share of US girls, in records going back to 1880. Typical age is based on births from 1925 on, not on who is living today.
Cleo births per year, 1925–2025
The biggest year on this chart was 1925. Measured as a share of all babies, Cleo peaked earlier, in 1907.
- Steepest fall: Between 1938 and 1943, Cleo's share of baby girls fell by 50%, from 1 in 2,850 to 1 in 5,720.
- Fastest rise: Between 2017 and 2022, it became 3.1× more common, from 1 in 11,300 baby girls to 1 in 3,690.
Shaded on the chart. Both compare Cleo's share of all US girls five years apart, counting only years with at least 100 babies named Cleo.
Decade by decade
Babies named Cleo in each decade, and its rank among girls' names in the middle year of the decade (1935, 1945 … 2025).
| Decade | Girls | Boys | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1925–29 | 3,394 | 1,352 | – |
| 1930s | 4,183 | 1,876 | #291 |
| 1940s | 2,239 | 1,270 | #542 |
| 1950s | 1,321 | 875 | #796 |
| 1960s | 578 | 452 | #1,425 |
| 1970s | 331 | 331 | #2,694 |
| 1980s | 309 | 235 | #2,493 |
| 1990s | 471 | 170 | #2,987 |
| 2000s | 610 | 94 | #3,091 |
| 2010s | 1,380 | 135 | #1,744 |
| 2020–25 | 2,605 | 116 | #577 |
Ranks count every name given to at least 5 girls that year, so they can go past 1,000.
Generation fingerprint
41.0% of babies named Cleo from 1925 to 2025 were born in the Silent Generation years (1928–1945). The full split by generation:
Where Cleo is most popular
The index compares Cleo'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 Cleo.
| State | Index | Babies |
|---|---|---|
| Arkansas | 4.02× | 731 |
| Mississippi | 3.39× | 728 |
| Oklahoma | 3.23× | 744 |
| South Carolina | 2.45× | 608 |
| Alabama | 2.01× | 628 |
Names with a similar story
Of the other 1999 names on this site, these six had the share of babies closest in shape to Cleo's from 1925 to 2025, however common each one got. Each line is scaled to its own high; the dashed line is Cleo.
Names from the same era
Other common names that peaked within two years of Cleo (1907).
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