Clayton

What Clayton means

Means “clay + enclosure, settlement; town”

From Middle English Claytone, Cleyton, from Old English clǣġ (“clay”) + Old English tūn (“enclosure, settlement; town”).

Source: Wiktionary, “Clayton” (revision 92470578), CC BY-SA 4.0. Quoted from the etymology; we don’t write our own.

How popular is Clayton?

US: Falling: down from #248 in 2015. England & Wales: Falling: down from #500 in 2015.

Biggest US share so far: 2000, when 2,564 boys got the name (#151 that year). First in the US records in 1880.

How common

• About 1 in 1,512 baby boys in the US in 2025
• About 1 in 5,439 baby boys in England and Wales in 2025
• About 1 in 6,547 baby boys in Scotland in 2025

“1 in N” divides by all listed births for that sex. The US list leaves out names given to fewer than 5 babies, and the UK lists leave out names given to 2 or fewer, so the real figure is a little rarer than shown.

Where in the US

Most popular in WV (3.09 per 1,000 boys), ID (2.43 per 1,000 boys), AK (2.2 per 1,000 boys) in 2025.

SSA state data, 2025. Share of all listed boys born in each state.

US vs UK

Clayton is #300 in the US and #702 in England & Wales (2025).

Same sex as this page (boys). SSA (US), ONS (England and Wales), NRS (Scotland).

Boy or girl?

In 2025, 99.9+% of US babies named Clayton were boys.

Counts below the publishing threshold (US 5, UK 3) are not included.

How to say it

IPA from Wiktionary.

Other spellings parents chose in 2025

• Klayton89 US · 4 E&W
• Clayten10 US
• Klayten6 US

Names that sound the same and differ by a letter or two, with baby counts for the same sex. US and E&W counts.

If you like Clayton

Boys

• Spencer#360Editor’s note Peaked in the US in 1998, with 4,619 babies; 908 in 2025
• Dalton#448Editor’s note Down from #328 in 2015 to #448 in 2025 in the US
• Austin#113“majestic”^*
• Mitchell#952Editor’s note Peaked in the US in 1994, with 5,370 babies; 245 in 2025
• Quinton#973“queen s town”^*
• Kyle#508“narrows”^*

For a sister

• Haley#861“hay field”^*
• Shelby#649Editor’s note Peaked in the US in 1991, with 10,220 babies; 444 in 2025
• Taylor#403From the word “tailor”^*
• Kelly#851Editor’s note Peaked in the US in 1977, with 18,234 babies; 319 in 2025
• Kelsey#814Editor’s note Cooling off in the US: #343 in 2015, #814 in 2025
• Tiffany#878Editor’s note Peaked in the US in 1988, with 18,364 babies; 304 in 2025

Picked from the US top 1,000 in 2025: names Wiktionary also files under From a surname, whose US popularity since 1990 rose and fell most like Clayton’s. Rank is US 2025.