Cletus

Where Cletus comes from

Borrowed from Latin Clētus, short form of the papal name Anaclētus, from Ancient Greek ἀνάκλητος (anáklētos, “invoked”, from ἀνακαλέω (anakaléō) + -τός (-tós)).
— Wiktionary's entry for Cletus
  • Ancient Greek
  • 2 syllables
Along the way
  1. 1886
    First appearance
    #959 among boys, 5 babies — the first year at least five got the name.
  2. 1909
    Cletus Joseph Benjamin born
    American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church
  3. 1922
    Peak, #391
    233 babies named Cletus — more than any year before or since.
  4. 1938
    The fade
    The first year with half the peak's births — down to #601.
  5. 1947
    Cletus Chandrasiri Perera born
    Sri Lankan Roman Catholic bishop
In the dictionary
  • A male given name from Ancient Greek.
Namesakes
  • Cletus Chandrasiri Perera · Sri Lankan Roman Catholic bishop, 1947–2026
  • Cletus Joseph Benjamin · American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church, 1909–1961
  • Cletus Ibeto · Nigerian businessman, born 1952
  • Cletus Clark · American hurdler, born 1962
  • Cletus F. O'Donnell · Catholic bishop, 1917–1992

Sources: the origin note and dictionary entry are quoted from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0); the namesakes come from Wikidata (CC0); the milestones are worked out from the SSA record.