Fun Facts About the Name Clea
- 825 babies named Clea: U.S. records list 825 babies given the name Clea from 1880 through 2025. Even 10 boys received the name Clea - about 1 boy for every 82 girls.
What Does the Name Clea Mean?
Clea is a feminine given name used in English and in several European languages. The usual explanation derives it from the Greek word kleos, meaning "glory, fame, report," the root of the names Kleio (Clio) and Kleopatra (Cleopatra). On that explanation Clea carries the sense "glory," as a shortened or altered form of one of those names rather than a word with its own separate meaning.
Which longer name, if either, is the source is uncertain. Clea may be a short form of Cleopatra, whose Greek parts are kleos, "glory," and patēr, "father," giving the customary meaning "glory of her father." It may instead be a form of Clio, the Greek Muse whose name is tied to the verb kleiein, "to celebrate, to recount." Clea could also be a short name formed directly from kleos without a longer source. The similar-looking Roman name Cloelia, borne by a heroine of early Rome and linked to the Latin gens Cloelia, is a different name with its own origin.
Clea Name History & Origins
Names built on Greek kleos, "glory," are old. In Greek myth Kleio (Latin Clio) was one of the nine Muses, associated with history and heroic poetry, and her name is connected to the verb kleiein. The Ptolemaic queen Cleopatra VII of Egypt, whose name means "glory of her father," made the longer form widely known around the Mediterranean. Clea itself is an uncommon given name in English and other European languages, used as a short, standalone name; how far back it can be traced as an independent name, separate from Clio and Cleopatra, is not clearly documented.
Two 20th-century fictional characters named Clea are well known. Clea is a central figure in Lawrence Durrell's The Alexandria Quartet, and the fourth novel of that series, published in 1960, is named after her. In American comics, Clea is a sorceress from the Dark Dimension associated with Doctor Strange, introduced in the 1960s. Both are literary and popular-culture uses of the name, not its source.
How Popular is the Name Clea?
Clea has historically been an exceptionally rare given name in the United States, remaining well outside the national mainstream. It saw its highest recorded annual births in 2022. Its best rank was #2,897 in 1936.
U.S. name popularity from 1880-2025, based on SSA data. Rank shows how the name compares with other names - lower numbers mean greater popularity. Births shows how many babies received the name each year.
| Year | Rank | Births | % |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | #5,961 | 20 | 0.0012% |
| 2024 | #5,315 | 24 | 0.0015% |
| 2023 | #5,589 | 22 | 0.0014% |
| 2022 | #5,053 | 26 | 0.0016% |
| 2021 | #6,456 | 18 | 0.0011% |
| 2020 | #8,507 | 12 | 0.0007% |
| 2019 | #8,231 | 13 | 0.0008% |
| 2018 | #7,168 | 16 | 0.0009% |
| 2017 | #7,531 | 15 | 0.0009% |
| 2016 | #9,550 | 11 | 0.0006% |
| 2015 | #9,071 | 12 | 0.0007% |
| 2014 | #8,148 | 14 | 0.0008% |
| 2013 | #8,232 | 14 | 0.0008% |
| 2012 | #10,608 | 10 | 0.0006% |
| 2011 | #8,735 | 13 | 0.0007% |
| 2010 | #10,588 | 10 | 0.0006% |
| 2009 | #9,521 | 12 | 0.0007% |
| 2008 | #10,980 | 10 | 0.0005% |
| 2007 | #11,009 | 10 | 0.0005% |
| 2006 | #6,925 | 18 | 0.0009% |
| 2005 | #10,303 | 10 | 0.0005% |
| 2004 | #7,927 | 14 | 0.0008% |
| 2003 | #8,092 | 13 | 0.0007% |
| 2002 | #6,456 | 17 | 0.0009% |
| 2001 | #7,836 | 13 | 0.0007% |
| 2000 | #6,556 | 16 | 0.0009% |
| 1999 | #7,329 | 13 | 0.0007% |
| 1998 | #6,785 | 14 | 0.0008% |
| 1997 | #8,491 | 10 | 0.0006% |
| 1996 | #10,819 | 7 | 0.0004% |
| 1994 | #10,815 | 7 | 0.0004% |
| 1993 | #12,106 | 6 | 0.0003% |
| 1991 | #10,499 | 7 | 0.0004% |
| 1990 | #6,960 | 12 | 0.0006% |
| 1989 | #11,125 | 6 | 0.0003% |
| 1988 | #7,826 | 9 | 0.0005% |
| 1987 | #8,964 | 7 | 0.0004% |
| 1985 | #7,717 | 8 | 0.0005% |
| 1984 | #6,386 | 10 | 0.0006% |
| 1983 | #9,256 | 6 | 0.0004% |
| 1982 | #5,609 | 12 | 0.0007% |
| 1981 | #6,910 | 9 | 0.0005% |
| 1980 | #8,328 | 7 | 0.0004% |
| 1979 | #9,219 | 6 | 0.0004% |
| 1978 | #5,631 | 11 | 0.0007% |
| 1977 | #8,655 | 6 | 0.0004% |
| 1976 | #6,730 | 8 | 0.0005% |
| 1975 | #6,061 | 9 | 0.0006% |
| 1972 | #5,556 | 9 | 0.0006% |
| 1971 | #6,104 | 8 | 0.0005% |
| 1969 | #4,225 | 12 | 0.0007% |
| 1968 | #5,731 | 7 | 0.0004% |
| 1965 | #3,576 | 13 | 0.0007% |
| 1964 | #5,082 | 8 | 0.0004% |
| 1963 | #3,655 | 13 | 0.0007% |
| 1962 | #4,937 | 8 | 0.0004% |
| 1961 | #5,386 | 7 | 0.0003% |
| 1959 | #6,410 | 5 | 0.0002% |
| 1953 | #5,806 | 5 | 0.0003% |
| 1951 | #4,937 | 6 | 0.0003% |
| 1949 | #5,368 | 5 | 0.0003% |
| 1947 | #4,842 | 6 | 0.0003% |
| 1944 | #4,146 | 6 | 0.0005% |
| 1938 | #3,912 | 6 | 0.0005% |
| 1936 | #2,897 | 9 | 0.0009% |
| 1933 | #3,473 | 7 | 0.0007% |
| 1932 | #4,522 | 5 | 0.0005% |
| 1931 | #3,944 | 6 | 0.0006% |
| 1929 | #4,157 | 6 | 0.0005% |
| 1927 | #3,098 | 10 | 0.0008% |
| 1926 | #3,950 | 7 | 0.0006% |
| 1925 | #2,974 | 11 | 0.0009% |
| 1924 | #3,716 | 8 | 0.0006% |
| 1921 | #4,099 | 7 | 0.0006% |
| 1920 | #4,040 | 7 | 0.0006% |
| 1919 | #3,900 | 7 | 0.0006% |
| 1918 | #3,949 | 7 | 0.0006% |
| 1916 | #3,613 | 7 | 0.0007% |
| 1915 | #3,185 | 8 | 0.0008% |
| 1914 | #3,265 | 6 | 0.0008% |
| Year | Rank | Births | % |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1937 | #3,611 | 5 | 0.0005% |
| 1921 | #4,452 | 5 | 0.0005% |
Name popularity over more than a century, based on Social Security Administration data. Gaps in the chart indicate years when the name does not appear in the published records.
