Given name & surname
Claudius
“one who is lame”
Claudius is a variant of Claude. One English interpretation is “one who is lame.”
Original GreekΚλαυδιος
Meaning & origin
What it means
Claudius is a variant of Claude. One English interpretation is “one who is lame.”
Explained through its name family
Where it comes from
An origin associated with this spelling is Roman.
The story
Published U.S. birth records include this spelling as early as 1890. This is the earliest published observation available here, rather than a date for the name’s origin. Claudius is a variant of Claude. The history of Claude gives this family its wider story. Claude’s historical associations include various early saints.
Combines direct and name-family evidence
In the Bible
In the Bible, the name Claudius appears in Acts 11:28, Acts 23:26.
- Acts 11:28
- Acts 23:26
From biblical name research
Claudius through the years
- Babies since 1880
- 928
- 928 boys · 0 girls
- Most popular year
- 1916
- 23 babies
- 2025
- 6
- #10,930 for boys
- 2021–25 vs 2016–20
- —
- Too few births to compare
By the numbers
In 2025, this name appeared in 6 U.S. birth records for boys, ranking No. 10,930 among boys’ names. The recent annual counts are too incomplete to establish a ten-year comparison. Its largest published annual count for boys was 23 in 1916. Published U.S. population figures for this spelling include 778 as a first name in 2020.
From Social Security birth records and U.S. Census name counts for this exact spelling. Other spellings are counted separately.
Claudius’s family of names
In Latin usage, Claudius has a feminine form in Claudia. Claudius has a related form in Claude. In Swedish usage, Claudius has a conventional equivalent in the French form Claude.
Inner ring: nicknames and forms · outer: across languages.
Around the world
Claudius has relatives in 17 languages. Lines run from its Latin roots to each of them.
Nicknames & forms 3
Diminutives, pet forms, short forms and variants used alongside the name.
Across languages 12
Equivalents and cognates in other languages, plus older forms it grew from.
- Claudiafeminine form · Latin, Dutch
- Claudioderivative · Italian, Tagalog
- Klaudijusequivalent
- ⲕⲗⲁⲩⲇⲓⲟⲥborrowing · Coptic
- ΚλαύδιοςGreek
- KlaudiuszPolish
- Claudiuborrowing · Romanian
- Clodioderivative · Galician
Show 4 moreShow fewer
See also 1
Names our sources mention alongside this one. They are related in story or meaning, not forms of this name.
People named Claudius
- Claudius SalmasiusFrench classical scholar, writer and professor in Leiden (1588-1653)
- Labi SiffreBritish poet, songwriter, musician, and singerborn 1945
- Claudius RichBritish business agent, traveller and antiquarian (1787-1821)
- Claudius ClavusDanish geographer1388–1500
- Claudius of BesançonFrench abbot and bishop700–699
- Claudius ColasFrench Esperantist (1884-1914)
- Claudius RegaudFrench physician1870–1940
- Claudius BuchananBritish theologian1766–1815
- Claudius Jacquandpainter from France1803–1878
Characters named Claudius: King Claudius (Shakespeare's Hamlet).
Listed by how widely each person is written about, which says nothing about the name itself.
Similar names
If you love Claudius, these share its style, era, origin or sound, from outside its own family.
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