MEANING & HISTORY
What does Clive mean?
Clive is an English surname-derived name connected with Old English clif, cliff. The editorial account explains the surname as originally describing someone who lived near such a feature, supplementing the brief English name sense.
The landscape label is historical rather than a claim about the present bearer’s address or birthplace. Clive is not simply a contraction of Clifford, which is another name with its own formation. Its short established spelling can therefore be explained directly without requiring an invented longer base.
References for this explanation
Pronunciation & syllables
Dictionary readings are kept by language. Select the reading that matches your intended pronunciation. Dots show the source’s written divisions; they are not a universal syllable count across languages.
Wiktionary contributors / Kaikki / Wiktextract · CC BY-SA 4.0
Origin and name formation
Language-specific accounts from the dictionary. A shared spelling can have more than one history.
EnglishEtymology & source
A male given name transferred from the surname, popular in Britain in the mid-twentieth century.
Adapted from Wiktionary contributors via Kaikki/Wiktextract. Source accounts remain in their original English; editorial summaries and filters are adapted. Attribution and downloads
Use in Philippine-linked records
Public-record transcription
1
eligible source records · 2001
This spelling is reported in an openly licensed transcription of elected-candidate records. This is a record count, not a birth count or national popularity measure.
OpenHalalan / COMELEC ↗PSA · OFFICIAL BIRTH RECORDS
Clive in the birth records
Exact spelling and stated year in the published name tables. Read the counts as individual snapshots.
Tables included: 2016, 2017, 2018, 2020, 2022, 2023 and 2024. The 2016 fact sheet lists five names per sex; the later tables include ten. Missing counts are not inferred. Sex categories follow the official tables, independently of dictionary gender labels. Explore the official tables →
Similar names to Clive
Names with a similar opening or ending, ordered by spelling distance. Similar spelling does not imply the same meaning or origin.
Names in this collection
- Olive♀Olive tree or fruit
- Claire♀Bright, clear or shining
- Clare♂♀Medieval English form of Clara: clear or bright
- Cliff♂Short form of Clifford or Clifton
- Clint·Short form of Clinton, or a place-name form
- Clyde♂From Scotland’s River Clyde
- Clara♀Clear, bright, or famous
- Clark·Clerk, scholar or clergyman; surname-derived name
What rhymes with Clive?
No dictionary-confirmed rhyme match is available for this spelling in the current catalogue.
Names with a similar written ending
Spelling suggestions; these are not verified phonetic rhymes.
Explore Clive further
Follow the sources
- OpenHalalan — pinned 2001 COMELEC transcription (opens in a new tab)
Source-reported given-name form in a row with a separate explicit middle initial; ODbL-1.0.
- COMELEC — 2001 List of Elected Candidates (opens in a new tab)
Original document identified by the transcription; selected PDF entries were spot-checked, not every imported row.
- Wiktionary contributors — Clive (English) (opens in a new tab)
Language-specific given-name etymology; shared spelling does not prove every bearer has this origin.
- Behind the Name — clive (opens in a new tab)
Consulted editorial entry, not user submissions: English surname from Old English cliff; residence description.