Humanverse

Clifford vs Clione

American parents have registered 190,268 Cliffords since 1880, against 16 Cliones. Clifford is still ahead, with 139 babies in 2025.

Babies given each name, 1880–2025

Births per year: Clifford against Clione, 1880 to 2025 0 1k 2k 3k 4k 1880 1900 1920 1940 1960 1980 2000 2020

Clifford Clione

Each line is every baby given the name that year, girls and boys added together — the only count that means the same thing for both names. A line breaks where the name fell below five babies in a year — the point at which the SSA stops publishing it — rather than being drawn through a figure nobody published. A single published year in a gap shows as a dot.

Who was ahead

Clifford has been the commoner name in every year either was published, 1880 to 2025. The lead has never changed hands.

The closest they came was 1938, when Clifford had 2,292 and Clione had 16.

Side by side

  Clifford Clione
Total US births 190,26816
Most in one year 3,47316
Babies in 2025 139under 5
Estimated living today 79,0006
Median age today 6387
Peak year 19251938
Best rank 59th boys2,021st girls
Rank in 2025 1,352ndunranked
First recorded 18801938
Girls / boys 2,019 / 188,24916 / 0

A rank is a position within one sex’s list for one year, so the two rank rows are not subtracted from one another and the winning column is not marked on them. The living figure is a life-table estimate, not a count.

Which name is older

Half of the Cliones alive today are over 87; half the Cliffords are over 63. That is 24 years between them: two names in use at the same time, worn by two different generations.

Compare something else

Related comparisons

Social Security Administration birth records, 1880–2025, public domain. Full histories: Clifford and Clione.