Given name & surname
Cleveland
“from the land of clifffs”
Cleveland is used as a given name and a surname. One English interpretation is “from the land of clifffs.”
Meaning & origin
What it means
One English interpretation is “from the land of clifffs.”
Where it comes from
An origin associated with this spelling is English.
How it developed
From Middle English Cleveland, from Middle English clive, built from English cliff + land.
Adapted from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0)
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
Cleveland through the years
- Babies since 1880
- 22,032
- 21,945 boys · 87 girls
- Most popular year
- 1947
- 368 babies
- 2025
- 11
- #7,286 for boys
- 2021–25 vs 2016–20
- −41%
- Cooling
By the numbers
In 2025, this name appeared in 11 U.S. birth records for boys, ranking No. 7,286 among boys’ names. Average annual use for boys was 40.9% lower in 2021–2025 than in 2016–2020. Its largest published annual count for boys was 360 in 1947. Published U.S. population figures for this spelling include 8,151 as a first name in 2020; 29,935 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.
Cleveland’s family of names
Cleveland has a related form in Cleaveland. Cleveland has a related form in Cleavland. Cleveland has a related form in Cleeveland.
Inner ring: spellings · outer: nicknames and forms.
Nicknames & forms 4
Diminutives, pet forms, short forms and variants used alongside the name.
Spellings & scripts 1
The same name written differently, including transliterations into other scripts.
People named Cleveland
- Cleveland AbbeAmerican meteorologist and advocate of time zones (1838-1916)
- Cleveland AmoryAmerican writer (1917–1998)
- Cleveland EatonAmerican musician1939–2020
- Cleveland MoffettAmerican journalist and writer1863–1926
- Cleveland DearLouisiana politician (1888-1950)
- Cleveland M. BaileyAmerican politician (1886-1965)
- Cleveland WilliamsAmerican boxer (1933–1999)
- Cleveland BucknerAmerican basketball player (1938-2006)
- Cleve AbbottAmerican sports coach, athletics administrator, educator (1894–1955)1892–1955
Characters named Cleveland: Cleveland Brown (Family Guy and The Cleveland Show character), Cleveland Brown Jr. (fictional character).
Listed by how widely each person is written about, which says nothing about the name itself.
Similar names
If you love Cleveland, these share its style, era, origin or sound, from outside its own family.
Rockland
“from the rocky land”
>99% boys
Jerald
“one who rules with the spear”
>99% boys
Woody
“a woman of the forest” · “a man of the forest”
>99% boys
Sherman
“one who cuts wool cloth”
>99% boys
Kennard
“of the brave or royal guard”
>99% boys
Bill
“the determined protector” · “will”
>99% boys
Stanford
“from the stony ford”
>99% boys
Artis
“lofty hill; noble” · “rock”
94% boys · 6% girls