Claude

French from Latin

"lame; enclosure"

Claude Origin and Meaning

The name Claude is a boy's name of French origin meaning "lame; enclosure".

Claude is a soft-spoken French name that conjures up the pastel colors of Monet and harmonies of Debussy. In France, it is used for girls as well, in fact in the Tracy Chevalier novel Lady and the Unicorn, the protagonist is a female Claude.

Claudes have appeared in such iconic movies as Chinatown and Close Encounters of the Third Kind. Actor Simon Baker has a son named Claude Blue.

A French classic, Claude was also a top 100 name in the U.S. until 1922.

The attractive Italian version Claudio is occasionally heard in this country, and Claudius is the original Latin--which could be restored in the current Latin-loving climate. While "lame" is the most widely-acknowledged meaning, some etymologists theorize that the name may relate to the word for enclosure or clause, an alternate meaning that may appeal to a child with a form of this otherwise-appealing name.

Claude Rank in US Top 1000

# 889 in the US

Claude Rank in Nameberry Top 1000

# 494 on Nameberry

Popularity of the name Claude

• 494 Nameberry 2025

20 Names Similar to Claude

These 20 names were selected by our users that were looking for other names like Claude.

• Cecil
• Clement
• Augustine
• Clarence
• Oswald
• Leopold
• Lionel
• Archibald
• Sylvester
• Edgar
• Virgil
• Ernest
• Solomon
• Wilfred
• Rufus
• Barnaby
• Hector
• Bartholomew
• Gilbert
• Edmond

Famous People Named Claude

• (Oscar )Claude Monet, French impressionist painter
• (Achille )Claude Debussy, French composer
• Claude Kelly American singer,songwriter
• (William) Claude Rains English actor
• Festus Claudius "Claude" McKay Jamaican,American novelist
• Claude Elwood Shannon American mathematician
• Claude Makélélé French footballer
• Claude Lévi Strauss, French anthropologist
• Claude Picasso son of painter Pablo Picasso
• Claude Simon French novelist, winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature
• Claude Cohen Tannoudji, French physicist; winner of the Nobel Prize in Physics
• Claude Blue Baker son of actors Simon Baker and Rebecca Rigg
• Claude Giroux Canadian hockey player
• Claude Indiana Emmanuel Hanson son of American musician Taylor Hanson

The name Claude in Pop Culture

• Claude Gianni Ray's best friend on Everybody Loves Raymond
• Claude Frollo character in Victor Hugo's Notre,Dame de Paris (The Hunchback of Notre Dame)
• Claude Faustus character in the anime/manga Kuroshitsuji / Black Butler
• Claude von Riegan house leader in video game Fire Emblem Three Houses

International Variations of the name Claude

• Claudios Greek
• Claudicio Spanish
• Claud French
• Klaudiusz Polish
• Claudiu French
• Glaudio Spanish
• Claudian French
• Claudien French
• Klavdii Russian
• Claudius German
• Clavio Spanish
• Kolos Hungarian
• Cladio Spanish
• Claudio Spanish