Clifton is a boy name with a classic feel, drawn from real birth records. Below you'll find what Clifton means and where it comes from, plus how many babies have been named Clifton across the United States, UK, Ireland and New Zealand, how popular Clifton has been over the decades, and the year it peaked.
Clifton is a boy name of Old English origin meaning “town by a cliff”. From an English place name and surname.
| Country | Births on record |
|---|---|
| United States since 1880 | 70,685 births |
| England & Wales since 1996 | 7 births |
Counts come from official national birth-registration statistics: U.S. Social Security Administration, England & Wales (Office for National Statistics), Scotland (National Records of Scotland), Northern Ireland (NISRA), Ireland (Central Statistics Office) and New Zealand (Dept. of Internal Affairs). Coverage spans differ, so totals aren't directly comparable across countries.
Babies named Clifton per year, United States (1880 to 2025). United States peaked in 1975 (1,224/yr) · England & Wales peaked in 1997 (4/yr).
Clifton has been a fairly common baby name in the United States. It was most common in 1975, when it ranked #388 nationally (given to 1,224 babies that year).
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