Cliff
Pronounced K L IH1 F (ARPABET)
- 1 syllable
- Peaked 1959
- 145 years in use
- 1 spelling
How popular is Cliff?
Cliff is a boys' name, and has been in the record since the data starts in 1880. It has been given to 9,464 children — the 1,113th most common boys' name on record.
It is still recorded, but barely: 296 births across the past decade, against a peak of 329 in a single year. That peak was in 1959.
Clif is counted with it here, since the two are pronounced identically.
Spelling variants
These spellings sound identical to Cliff and are counted together with it, which is why the totals here are higher than a single-spelling count.
- Clif
Nicknames
Cliff is itself a short form of Clifford.
Characteristics
- 1 syllable
Phonetic detail
- Pronunciations:
- K L IH1 F
- Stress pattern:
- 1
- Syllables:
- 1
Stress digits mark unstressed (0), primary (1) and secondary (2) syllables.
Names like Cliff
Same first letter and syllable count, peaking around the same time.
Sibling names for Cliff
Names from the same era with a matching rhythm but a different initial.
Frequently asked questions
- How popular is the name Cliff?
- Cliff ranks 1,113th among boys' names in US records, with 9,464 births since 1880. Over the past decade it accounts for 296.
- Is Cliff a unisex name?
- No. Cliff is recorded almost entirely as a boys' name; births to the other gender are too few to register as a share.
- When was Cliff most popular?
- 1959, when 329 children were given the name. It has been in use for 145 years and is still recorded as of 2024.
- How else is Cliff spelled?
- Clif. All of these sound the same and are counted together in the totals on this page.