Cleave

Boy · recorded 1885–1972

  • 1972last recorded
  • 1894best year

Most popular in 1894.

Last recorded in 1972. Fewer than five boys a year have been given it since, so it's a true rarity.

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Meaning

We don’t have a verified meaning for Cleave.

We only publish meanings we can cite to a source you could check yourself. Most sites will give you one anyway; the ones you find elsewhere are often copied between sites without verification.

Its story

Popularity since 1885

0306018851907192919501972

Hover over or drag across the chart to see any year.

Per million boys born. Years with fewer than five births are not in the record, so the line breaks rather than dropping to zero.
See the 51 recorded years as a table
Cleave, per million boys born. Years absent from the table had fewer than five births.
YearPer million
188556
188850
188945
189054
189149
189249
189460
190033
190538
190734
191031
191131
191414
19158
191613
191710
191816
191911
192017
192110
192214
19239
192410
19256
19268
192711
19285
19297
19306
19316
19326
193310
19347
19357
19368
193711
19404
19425
19436
19465
19483
19506
19515
19524
19534
19543
19573
19583
19592
19663
19723

Where it’s loved

Most popular in these states

Cleave isn’t concentrated in any one state. Either it’s spread evenly, or no state reaches the 25 births over three years needed before a rate means anything.

More like it

More like Cleave

The numbers

Every figure

Births in 1972
5
Rank in 1972
#4,986
How rare
1 in 324,321 boys
Since 1885
403

Cleave was last recorded in 1972. Fewer than five boys have been given the name in any year since, which is the point below which the record stops reporting.

Most popular in 1894, at 60 per million boys born.

There isn’t enough data for a ten-year trend: Cleave doesn’t appear in both ends of that window.

Figures from the US Social Security Administration’s 2025 release. How these numbers are made.