Given name & surname · also Celtic
Clarence
“from the Clare river”
Clarence is used as a given name, a surname, and a nickname. One Irish interpretation is “from the Clare river.”
Meaning & origin
What it means
One Irish interpretation is “from the Clare river.”
Where it comes from
An origin associated with this spelling is Celtic.
How it developed
In English usage, Clarence developed from CHIARENZA.
The story
Published U.S. birth records include this spelling as early as 1880. This is the earliest published observation available here, rather than a date for the name’s origin.
From dated birth records
Clarence through the years
- Babies since 1880
- 305,423
- 303,564 boys · 1,859 girls
- Most popular year
- 1921
- 7,367 babies
- 2025
- 117
- #1,500 for boys
- 2021–25 vs 2016–20
- −23%
- Easing
Where it’s given
By the numbers
In 2025, this name appeared in 117 U.S. birth records for boys, ranking No. 1,500 among boys’ names. Average annual use for boys was 23.1% lower in 2021–2025 than in 2016–2020. Its largest published annual count for boys was 7,332 in 1921. In 2025, Florida had the largest reported state-level birth count for boys with this name (9). Published U.S. population figures for this spelling include 82,717 as a first name in 2020; 491 as a surname in 2020.
From Social Security birth records and U.S. Census name counts for this exact spelling. Other spellings are counted separately.
Clarence’s family of names
Clarence has an affectionate form in Clarrie. In English usage, Clarence developed from the Italian form CHIARENZA. Clarence has a related form in Clarance.
Inner ring: spellings · middle: nicknames and forms · outer: across languages.
Nicknames & forms 15
Diminutives, pet forms, short forms and variants used alongside the name.
Spellings & scripts 1
The same name written differently, including transliterations into other scripts.
Across languages 2
Equivalents and cognates in other languages, plus older forms it grew from.
See also 1
Names our sources mention alongside this one. They are related in story or meaning, not forms of this name.
People named Clarence
- Clarence SeedorfDutch association football player and managerborn 1976
- Clarence ThomasAssociate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States since 1991born 1948
- Clarence DarrowAmerican lawyer and politician (1857–1938)
- Clancy BrownAmerican actor (born 1959)
- Clarence BrownAmerican film director (1890–1987)
- Buster CrabbeAmerican swimmer, Olympic gold medalist, actor (1908-1983)
- Clarence ClemonsAmerican saxophonist (1942–2011)
- Clarence GilyardAmerican actor (1955–2022)
- Clarence ZenerAmerican physicist1905–1993
Characters named Clarence: Lord Emsworth (fictional human by P. G. Wodehouse).
Listed by how widely each person is written about, which says nothing about the name itself.
Appears in
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If you love Clarence, these share its style, era, origin or sound, from outside its own family.
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