Cleo: Meaning of Baby Name Cleo

About the Name Cleo

Cleo is a short, vibrant Greek name derived from the element kleos, meaning "glory" or "fame" — hence its frequent gloss as "famed." It serves as a friendly short form of names like Cleopatra and Cleopas and stands confidently on its own, carrying a breezy, vintage charm that suits the current revival of crisp, old-soul names for girls. Its mix of ancient grandeur and modern ease gives it a distinctive personality.

For American girls, Cleo is a recent arrival, entering the US Social Security top-1000 in 2019 and appearing every year since, with a total of 2,356 births across that short span. The name is on a clear upswing: it reached its peak in 2024 at rank #603, rising from #663 in 2022 and #610 in 2023. That steady climb marks it as a fresh favorite still gathering momentum, very much a name of the moment among parents drawn to short, spirited choices.

Cleo's appeal lies in its compact, two-syllable brightness and its connection to ideas of glory and renown, all wrapped in a playful, modern-vintage package. Recorded variants include Clea and Clio, the latter echoing the Greek muse of history while keeping the same lively, lighthearted sound. With its short shape and rising popularity, Cleo offers parents an antique name that feels thoroughly fresh and full of personality.

Source: U.S. Social Security Administration name data, 1880–2024 (methodology). By Marvin Tang.

Quick Facts About Cleo

1,029

Greek baby names in our dictionary

545

Greek female names

75

4-letter C-names in our dictionary

721

C-female names total

2019–2025

years of US SSA records (7 total)

2,872

total US births named Cleo (all years)

US Popularity History (2019–2025)

🔥 Rising fast: Cleo climbed 305 places in the US girls ranking over the last 5 years (#882 in 2020 → #577 in 2025).

Annual US births named Cleo by gender, from US Social Security Administration records. Peak year: 2025 with 516 girls named Cleo (girl rank #577 that year).

Source: US Social Security Administration. Limitations: US birth-certificate data only; names appearing fewer than 5 times in a given year are suppressed for privacy; spelling variants are counted separately. For names that ranked outside the US top 100 before year 2000, only the years they reached the top 100 are shown — the chart may have gaps for less-popular historical names.

Where in the US Is Cleo Most Popular?

Average girl-name rank within each state across 2016–2025 SSA records. A lower number means the name appears closer to the top of that state's girls-name rankings — a per-capita measure that isn't biased toward large states. For Cleo the strongest states are Oregon, Utah, Colorado.

Strongest girls-name states

#	State	Avg rank	Births
1	Oregon	#446	59
2	Utah	#453	95
3	Colorado	#514	67
4	Kansas	#524	18
5	Oklahoma	#529	39
6	Kentucky	#561	22
7	Minnesota	#563	77
8	Washington	#571	114
9	California	#598	432
10	Pennsylvania	#609	87

Weakest girls-name states

#	State	Avg rank	Births
1	Florida	#938	49
2	Texas	#882	137
3	Maryland	#806	19
4	Illinois	#784	77
5	South Carolina	#774	16
6	Virginia	#761	58
7	Michigan	#727	68
8	Indiana	#720	54
9	Wisconsin	#715	27
10	Ohio	#706	69

Source: SSA state-level baby-name dataset 2016–2025. States with fewer than 3 years of data for Cleo in this window are excluded. Births < 5 in a given state-year are suppressed by SSA for privacy.

Variant Forms

Name	Meaning	Gender	Origin
Clio	Celebrate	Female	Greek

Looking for names like Cleo?

A dedicated page with 60+ related names — spelling variants, rhymes, alliterations, same-origin matches, and shared meaning concepts — lives at its own URL so each kind of similarity gets a deeper treatment than fits here.

See all names like Cleo →

Compare Cleo to Other Popular Names

Side-by-side popularity charts and crossover years for Cleo against today's most popular girls-name peers (top 8 by US births in the last 10 years of SSA records).

Cleo vs Olivia 210,124 births since 2014

Cleo vs Emma 202,477 births since 2014

Cleo vs Sophia 169,709 births since 2014

Cleo vs Isabella 158,431 births since 2014

Cleo vs Ava 157,356 births since 2014

Cleo vs Charlotte 151,872 births since 2014

Cleo vs Mia 149,779 births since 2014

Cleo vs Amelia 142,728 births since 2014

Compare to a different name →