Clyde

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Clyde

Gender: Masculine
Language: English
Etymology:
Clyde is the shortened form of Cledwyn, the name of a Scottish river. The origin of this Scottish river name is in some dispute.

Some sources claim the name is from Welsh and could mean “Hardy and Fair” from “caled” (hardy) and “gwyn” (white).

The Penguin Dictionary of First Names indicates that the name is of pre-Roman origin, may mean “The Washer” and may refer to a local goddess.

History:
A Dictionary of First Names (Hanks and Hodges, 1990) suggests that the origins of the name Clyde can be traced to the antebellum Southern practice of giving slaves “place names” of Scottish origin. They further suggest that Clyde was one of the most successful and one of the few to cross over to the white population. The Penguin Dictionary of First Names (Pickering, 1999) repeats this theory, stating Clyde was originally “a popuar choice among Black Americans” because plantation owners were of Scottish descent.

However, this seems unlikely as Clyde is a rather rare British/American surname. Furthermore, information extracted from the 1880 U.S. Census offers quite a different picture. Each year, only a handful of children were named Clyde (most white, some female), which is probably the result of transferring the surname Clyde (derived from the river in Scotland).

This continued until the year 1858, when the number of Clydes (in the United States) suddenly exploded.

Coincidentally or not, this was the year that Colin Campbell (1792-1863), a British military officer and a hero of the 1857 Indian Mutiny, was raised to the peerage and dubbed Baron Clyde.

Pronunciation: clide.

Alternates: Clide, Clywd, Cledwyn.

Famous Bearers:
Artists and Authors:
Clyde Fitch (1865-1909)
American playwright.

Educators, Scholars, and Social Workers:
Clyde Kluckhohn (1905-1960)
American anthropologist.

Fictional Characters:
Clyde Griffiths (1925)
From An American Tragedy by Theodore Dreiser.

Miscellaneous:
Clyde Vernon Cessna (1897-1954)
American aviator.
Clyde Beatty (1903-1965)
American wild animal trainer.
Clyde Barrow (1909-1934)
American outlaw. Partners with Bonnie Parker.
Clyde Turner (1919-1998)
American football player and football coach.
Clyde Walcott (1926-)
West Indian cricket player.

Places:
River Clyde
Scotland.

Scientists:
Clyde W. Tombaugh (1906-1997)
American astronomer. Discovered Pluto.
Clyde E. Wiegand (1915-1996)
American physicist. Co-winner of the 1959 Nobel Prize for Physics.

Singers and Entertainers:
Clyde McPhatter (1932-1972)
American singer.

Popularity:
Percentage from the 1990 U.S. Census:
0.095 % of males named Clyde
0.003 % of females named Clyde

0.002 % surnamed Clyde

Popularity of Clyde:
Popularity (for newborns):
In the United States...
1850: N/A
1875: 161st most popular.
1880: 72nd most popular.
1881: 68th most popular.
1882: 62nd most popular.
1883: 50th most popular.
1884: 56th most popular.
1885: 57th most popular.
1886: 62nd most popular.
1887: 55th most popular.
1888: 60th most popular.
1889: 62nd most popular.
1890: 64th most popular.
1891: 59th most popular.
1892: 56th most popular.
1893: 55th most popular.
1894: 56th most popular.
1895: 59th most popular.
1896: 58th most popular.
1897: 58th most popular.
1898: 58th most popular.
1899: 58th most popular.
1900: 56th most popular.
1901: 55th most popular.
1902: 60th most popular.
1903: 52nd most popular.
1904: 51st most popular.
1905: 53rd most popular.
1906: 55th most popular.
1907: 56th most popular.
1908: 59th most popular.
1909: 59th most popular.
1910: 57th most popular.
1911: 61st most popular.
1912: 65th most popular.
1913: 64th most popular.
1914: 63rd most popular.
1915: 63rd most popular.
1916: 62nd most popular.
1917: 64th most popular.
1918: 67th most popular.
1919: 67th most popular.
1920: 69th most popular.
1921: 69th most popular.
1922: 68th most popular.
1923: 68th most popular.
1924: 68th most popular.
1925: 68th most popular.
1926: 67th most popular.
1927: 66th most popular.
1928: 74th most popular.
1929: 74th most popular.
1930: 76th most popular.
1931: 77th most popular.
1932: 82nd most popular.
1933: 87th most popular.
1934: 84th most popular.
1935: 82nd most popular.
1936: 89th most popular.
1937: 93rd most popular.
1938: 97th most popular.
1939: 101st most popular.
1940: 103rd most popular.
1941: 113th most popular.
1942: 110th most popular.
1943: 114th most popular.
1944: 111th most popular.
1945: 122nd most popular.
1946: 124th most popular.
1947: 128th most popular.
1948: 131st most popular.
1949: 130th most popular.
1950: 136th most popular.
1951: 134th most popular.
1952: 143rd most popular.
1953: 155th most popular.
1954: 161st most popular.
1955: 164th most popular.
1956: 173rd most popular.
1957: 176th most popular.
1958: 183rd most popular.
1959: 196th most popular.
1960: 206th most popular.
1961: 210th most popular.
1962: 225th most popular.
1963: 240th most popular.
1964: 257th most popular.
1965: 268th most popular.
1966: 288th most popular.
1967: 286th most popular.
1968: 301st most popular.
1969: 306th most popular.
1970: 316th most popular.
1971: 351st most popular.
1972: 351st most popular.
1973: 344th most popular.
1974: 376th most popular.
1975: 390th most popular.
1976: 394th most popular.
1977: 407th most popular.
1978: 419th most popular.
1979: 345th most popular.
1980: 418th most popular.
1981: 446th most popular.
1982: 483rd most popular.
1983: 493rd most popular.
1984: 492nd most popular.
1985: 523rd most popular.
1986: 574th most popular.
1987: 619th most popular.
1988: 638th most popular.
1980: 652nd most popular.
1990: 659th most popular.
1991: 774th most popular.
1992: 753rd most popular.
1993: 786th most popular.
1994: 892nd most popular.
1995: 831st most popular.
1996: 978th most popular.
1997: 990th most popular.
1998: 932nd most popular.
1999-2004: N/A

Selected Sources:
A Dictionary of First Names, Hanks and Hodges, 1990
The Penguin Dictionary of First Names, Pickering, 1999
The 1880 U.S. Census- For popularity stats 1850-1880, and other information (it is available on-line at www.familysearch.org)
The Social Security Administration Actuarial Note 139 - For popularity stats 1880-Present