Chlöe

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Chlöe

Gender: Feminine
Language: English
Etymology:
Chlöe comes from a Greek name, Khloe, meaning “Green Shoot,” or “Bud,” or “Young.”

History:
Chloe was originally an epithet of Demeter, the Greek goddess of agriculture and the name was found in Ancient Greece and Rome. It is found in Longus’s 2nd century romance Daphnis and Chloe. The 1st century Latin poet Martial addresses one of his epigrams to a Chloe he no longer likes, and St. Paul mentions a women named Chloe in I Corinthians 1-11.

After the Protestant Reformation, English Puritans became found of reviving the names of minor Biblical personages. Chloe was one of these names.

Also, around the same time that the Puritans were rediscovering, English intellectual thinkers were rediscovering Ancient Greece and Ancient Rome. English poets, especially waxed enthusiastic about “pastoral poetry,” poems that romanticized and idealized shepherds, milkmaids, and the like. One of their major influences was a Daphnis and Chloe, a romance by 2nd century Greek writer Longus. Chloe was one of the Greek names they sprinkled their poems with. Examples include a mention in Sir Philip Sidneys 1590 Arcadia, as well as William Cartwright (1611-1643)’s poem “To Chloe, who for his sake wished herself younger;” Matthew Prior’ (1664-1721) poems “The Question to Lisetta,” “Chloe Hunting,” “To Chloe Jealous,” and “Song;” Thomas D’Urfey’s (1653-1723) poem “Chloe Divine;” and Robert Burns’ (1759-1796) poem “The Charming Month of May.”

In the decade or so before the Civil War, Chloe was more common among slaves than among whites, but that changed after the war.

By the mid 20th-century, the name Chloe had slowly disappeared, but it was revived in the early 1980s and is now quite popular, especially in Europe.

Pronunciation: CLO-ee

Alternates: Khlöe, Clo, Cloe, Kloe.
French: Chloée.

Popularity:
Percentage from the 1990 U.S. Census:
0.007 % named Chloe

Popularity of Chloe:
Popularity (for newborns):
In the United States...
1850: 401st most popular.
1875: 538th most popular.
1880: 367th most popular.
1881: 447th most popular.
1882: 306th most popular.
1883: 435th most popular.
1884: 326th most popular.
1885: 341st most popular.
1886: 365th most popular.
1887: 332nd most popular.
1888: 303rd most popular.
1889: 301st most popular.
1890: 326th most popular.
1891: 359th most popular.
1892: 311th most popular.
1893: 311th most popular.
1894: 340th most popular.
1895: 334th most popular.
1896: 387th most popular.
1897: 414th most popular.
1898: 385th most popular.
1899: 390th most popular.
1900: 390th most popular.
1901: 499th most popular.
1902: 485th most popular.
1903: 425th most popular.
1904: 450th most popular.
1905: 527th most popular.
1906: 472nd most popular.
1907: 554th most popular.
1908: 574th most popular.
1909: 613th most popular.
1910: 584th most popular.
1911: 496th most popular.
1912: 575th most popular.
1913: 621st most popular.
1914: 699th most popular.
1915: 597th most popular.
1916: 598th most popular.
1917: 670th most popular.
1918: 722nd most popular.
1919: 812th most popular.
1920: 728th most popular.
1921: 760th most popular.
1922: 853rd most popular.
1923: 861st most popular.
1924: 843rd most popular.
1925: 946th most popular.
1926: 933rd most popular.
1927: 910th most popular.
1928: 934th most popular.
1929: 815th most popular.
1930: 715th most popular.
1931: 889th most popular.
1932: 748th most popular.
1933: 765th most popular.
1934: 756th most popular.
1935: 803rd most popular.
1936: 699th most popular.
1937: 746th most popular.
1938: 775th most popular.
1939: 862nd most popular.
1940: 816th most popular.
1941: 811th most popular.
1942: 970th most popular.
1943: 951st most popular.
1944-1981: N/A
1982: 855th most popular.
1983: 844th most popular.
1984: 587th most popular.
1985: 563rd most popular.
1986: 464th most popular.
1987: 439th most popular.
1988: 480th most popular.
1989: 302nd most popular.
1990: 212th most popular.
1991: 184th most popular.
1992: 164th most popular.
1993: 158th most popular.
1994: 155th most popular.
1995: 137th most popular.
1996: 112th most popular.
1997: 110th most popular.
1998: 87th most popular.
1999: 63rd most popular.
2000: 40th most popular.
2001: 30th most popular.
2002: 24th most popular.
2003: 24th most popular.
2004: 23rd most popular.

In Britain...
2000: 1st most popular.
2001: 1st most popular.
2002: 1st most popular.
2003: 3rd most popular.
2004: 5th most popular.

In France...
1900-1970: N/A
1976: 194th most popular.
1980: 132nd most popular.
1990: 38th most popular.
2000: 6th most popular.

In Ireland...
1998: 1st most popular.
1999: 1st most popular.
2000: 5th most popular.
2001: 4th most popular.
2002: 5th most popular.
2003: 8th most popular.

Selected Sources:
The Penguin Dictionary of First Names, Pickering, 1999
A Dictionary of First Names, Hanks and Hodges, 1990

The Social Security Administration Actuarial Note 139 - For popularity stats 1880-Present
The 1880 U.S. Census- For popularity stats 1850-1880
National Statistics Online (http://www.statistics.gov.uk) for British stats 2000+