Claude

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Claude

Gender: Masculine, Feminine
Language: English, French
Etymology:
Claude is an English and French form of Claudius, a Latin name which means “Lame.”

History:
Claude has long been a favorite in France, after St. Claude of Besançon, a 7th century saint who became popular in the 12th century. In France, it was at its most popular in the 1940s.

Claude was introduced to England upper crust in the 16th century by the Hamilton family, through their French relations.

In the United States, Claude was initially used rarely, and usually by French-speaking immigrants and their descendants. However, the popular play The Lady of Lyons by British author Edward Bulwer-Lytton (set in France, first produced in 1838) featured a character named Claude Melnotte and was a smash hit on both sides of the Atlantic.

During the latter half of the 19th century, Claude was a fashionable name. Later, in the early 20th-century, it experienced a slow drop-off. In fact, Willa Cather (in 1922 in her Pulitzer prize-winning novel One of Ours) called it “a hayseed name trying to be fine.” Today it is rare in the United States.

Claude is also a feminine name in France, akin to Claudia. In France, it was common during the mid-20th century.

Please see Claudius for more information.

Pronunciation: clawd.

Famous Bearers:
Artists and Authors:
Claude Goudimel (1510-1572)
French composer.
Claude Le Jeune (1527-1600)
French composer.
Claude Lorraine (1600-1682)
French painter.
Claude Perrault (1613-1688)
French architect.
Claude Gillot (1673-1722)
French painter.
Claude-Prosper Jolyot, Sieur de Crébillon (1707-1777)
French novelist.
Claude-Nicolas Ledoux (1736-1806)
French architect.
Claude Monet (1840-1926)
French painter.
Achille Claude Debussy (1862-1918)
French composer.
Claude Ake (1890-1948)
Jamaican-American poet.
Claude Simon (1913-)
French writer. Winner of the 1985 Nobel Prize for Literature.
Claude Mauriac (1914-1996)
French novelist.

Educators, Scholar, and Social Workers:
Claude Favre (1585-1650)
French grammarian.
Claude Pajon (1626-1685)
French theologian.
Claude Fleury (1640-1723)
French religious historian.
Claude Buffier (1661-1737)
French philosopher.
Claude-Adrien Helvétius (1715-1771)
French philosopher.
Claude-Carloman de Rulhière (1734-1791)
French historian.
Claude Fauriel (1772-1844)
French scholar.
Claude-Joseph Charnay (1828-1915)
French archeologist of Latin America.
Claude Joseph Goldsmid Montefiore (1858-1938)
English theologian.
Claude-Frédéric-Armand Schaeffer (1898-1982)
French archeologist.
Claude Lévi-Strauss (1908-)
French social anthropologist.
Claude Bourdet (1909-1996)
French human rights activist.
Claude Ake (1939-1996)
Nigerian political scientist.

Fictional Characters:
Claude Frollo
The tortured archdeacon in Victor Hugo’s The Hunchback of Notre Dame.
Claude Melnotte
A gardener’s son in Edward Bulwer-Lytton’s 1838 play The Lady of Lyons.
Claude Wheeler
The sensitive farmer’s son in Willa Cather’s 1923 novel One of Ours.

Miscellaneous:
Claude Garamond (1499-1561)
French type designer.
Claude de Forbin (1656-1733)
French naval officer.
Claude François de Malet (1754-1812)
French general.
Claude-Joseph Rouget de Lisle (1760-1836)
French author of La Marseillaise.
Claude Victor-Perrin, Duc de Bullune (1764-1841)
French general during the Revolution and Napoleon Wars.
Claude-Étienne Minié (1804-1879)
French army officer who designed the Minié ball.
Claude Grahame-White (1879-1959)
English aviator.

Political Figures:
Claude Pepper (1900-1989)
American politician.

Religious Figures:
Saint Claude (-699)
Abbot of Condate (now Saint-Claude) and Bishop of Besancon.
Claude-Jean Allouez (1622-1689)
Jesuit missionary to Canada.
Claude la Colombière (1641-1682)
French missionary to the Court of St. James in England.

Scientists:
Claude-Louis, Comte Berthollet (1748-1822)
French chemist.
Claude-François-Dorothée, Marquis de Jouffroy d’Abbans (1751-1832)
French engineer.
Claude Chappe (1763-1805)
French engineer.
Claude-Louis Mathieu (1783-1875)
French astronomer and mathematician.
Claude Bernard (1813-1878)
French physiologist. The founder of Experimental Physiology.
Claude Elwood Shannon (1916-)
American mathematician. Developed the theory called Information Theory.
Claude Cohen-Tannoudji (1933-)
French physicist. Co-winner of the 1997 Nobel Prize for Physics.

Singers and Entertainers:
Claude Rains (1889-1967)
English actor. Star of Casablanca and Notorious.
Claude Autant-Lara (1903-)
French filmmaker.
Claude Chabrol (1930-)
French filmmaker.
Claude Lelouch (1937-)
French filmmaker.

Popularity:
Percentage from the 1990 U.S. Census:
0.068 % of males named Claude
0.004 % of males named Claud
0.001 % of females named Claude

Popularity of Claude:
Popularity (for newborns):
In the United States...
1850: 756th most popular.
1875: 128th most popular.
1880: 56th most popular.
1881: 53rd most popular.
1882: 50th most popular.
1883: 54th most popular.
1884: 54th most popular.
1885: 52nd most popular.
1886: 48th most popular.
1887: 46th most popular.
1888: 55th most popular.
1889: 49th most popular.
1890: 57th most popular.
1891: 57th most popular.
1892: 62nd most popular.
1893: 52nd most popular.
1894: 53rd most popular.
1895: 55th most popular.
1896: 54th most popular.
1897: 59th most popular.
1898: 59th most popular.
1899: 63rd most popular.
1900: 59th most popular.
1901: 58th most popular.
1902: 68th most popular.
1903: 71st most popular.
1904: 70th most popular.
1905: 63rd most popular.
1906: 73rd most popular.
1907: 74th most popular.
1908: 69th most popular.
1909: 74th most popular.
1910: 78th most popular.
1911: 87th most popular.
1912: 89th most popular.
1913: 88th most popular.
1914: 93rd most popular.
1915: 96th most popular.
1916: 93rd most popular.
1917: 98th most popular.
1918: 95th most popular.
1919: 93rd most popular.
1920: 92nd most popular.
1921: 96th most popular.
1922: 97th most popular.
1923: 103rd most popular.
1924: 102nd most popular.
1925: 102nd most popular.
1926: 107th most popular.
1927: 113th most popular.
1928: 116th most popular.
1929: 120th most popular.
1930: 122nd most popular.
1931: 134th most popular.
1932: 126th most popular.
1933: 131st most popular.
1934: 130th most popular.
1935: 129th most popular.
1936: 132nd most popular.
1937: 136th most popular.
1938: 131st most popular.
1939: 142nd most popular.
1940: 145th most popular.
1941: 150th most popular.
1942: 149th most popular.
1943: 152nd most popular.
1944: 153rd most popular.
1945: 159th most popular.
1946: 164th most popular.
1947: 167th most popular.
1948: 168th most popular.
1949: 176th most popular.
1950: 177th most popular.
1951: 187th most popular.
1952: 197th most popular.
1953: 205th most popular.
1954: 208th most popular.
1955: 218th most popular.
1956: 231st most popular.
1957: 243rd most popular.
1958: 253rd most popular.
1959: 271st most popular.
1960: 277th most popular.
1961: 277th most popular.
1962: 289th most popular.
1963: 282nd most popular.
1964: 292nd most popular.
1965: 308th most popular.
1966: 316th most popular.
1967: 335th most popular.
1968: 331st most popular.
1969: 368th most popular.
1970: 384th most popular.
1971: 391st most popular.
1972: 416th most popular.
1973: 433rd most popular.
1974: 443rd most popular.
1975: 448th most popular.
1976: 483rd most popular.
1977: 516th most popular.
1978: 500th most popular.
1979: 511th most popular.
1980: 527th most popular.
1981: 557th most popular.
1982: 560th most popular.
1983: 632nd most popular.
1984: 622nd most popular.
1985: 638th most popular.
1986: 671st most popular.
1987: 629th most popular.
1988: 696th most popular.
1989: 756th most popular.
1990: 834th most popular.
1991: 891st most popular.
1992: 927th most popular.
1993: 912th most popular.
1994-2004: N/A

In France...
1900: 59th most popular.
1910: 56th most popular.
1920: 40th most popular.
1930: 10th most popular.
1940: 3rd most popular.
1950: 10th most popular.
1960: 25th most popular.
1970: 58th most popular.
1980: 134th most popular.
1984: 183rd most popular.
1990-2000: N/A

Popularity of Claude, for females:
Popularity (for newborns):
In the United States...
1875: 830th most popular.
1880: 547th most popular.
1881: 582nd most popular.
1882: 678th most popular.
1883: 817th most popular.
1884: N/A
1885: 842nd most popular.
1886: 731st most popular.
1887: 861st most popular.
1888: 959th most popular.
1889: N/A
1890: 791st most popular.
1891: N/A
1892: 958th most popular.
1893-1894: N/A
1895: 893rd most popular.
1896: N/A
1897: 786th most popular.
1898-2004: N/A

In France...
1900-1910: N/A
1916: 195th most popular.
1920: 161st most popular.
1930: 60th most popular.
1940: 48th most popular.
1950: 65th most popular.
1960: 88th most popular.
1970: 160th most popular.
1973: 200th most popular.
1980-2000: N/A

Selected Sources:
A Dictionary of First Names, Hanks and Hodges, 1990
The Oxford Dictionary of English Christian Names, Withycombe, 3rd ed., 1977
The Penguin Dictionary of First Names, Pickering, 1999

The Social Security Administration Actuarial Note 139 - For popularity stats 1880-Present
The 1880 U.S. Census- For popularity stats 1850-1880
Meilleurs Prenoms (http://www.meilleursprenoms.com/) for French stats.