Claudius

Spellings & scripts●

Locally spelled Claude in FR France, US United States, CA Canada and 23 more and Gould in GB United Kingdom.

Spellings marked ● are how people bearing the name write it in our records; ○ marks a model's transliteration. Click a spelling to open its page.

Meaning & origin●

Attested across 17 languages in the etymology graph.

Languages●

Language is read off each record's context, not declared by the bearer; a share is of all records for this spelling.

Other names spelled this way◐

Claudius is also recorded as 4 other names, grouped separately because the records behind them do not connect to the one described above.

• English given name27K records spelled Claudius8 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in United States, Germany, Netherlands, United Kingdom

  Languages: English, German, Dutch

  Also written Claudiüs, Gelawdewos

• Portuguese given name3.5K records spelled Claudius107 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in Brazil, Argentina, Chile, Peru

  Languages: Portuguese, Spanish, Chinese

  Also written Claudio, Cláudio, Claúdio, Κλαουντιο, C'Laudio

• a separate given name887 records spelled Claudius2 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in United States, India, Switzerland, Sweden

  Also written Cláudius

• Italian given name324 records spelled Claudius13 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in Italy, United States, Philippines, Spain

  Also written Claudio, Cláudio, Clàudio, Clàùdìò, Clauďio

60 further groups record this spelling and are not listed here.

Grouping is the name graph's, not a register's: two spellings join a group when the evidence links them, so a group is a claim about the records rather than about the people.

Other recorded senses●

Claudius is also recorded in 5 other lexicons, as a different name or as an ordinary word. These are senses of the spelling, not of the name above.

• The Roman family name Claudius is traditionally thought to be derived from the Latin word "claudus," meaning "lame" or "crippled." This etymology is notable given that Emperor Claudius himself was known to have physical disabilities, including a limp.

  as a name·Biblical Names Compiled Database

• In German, ) Klaudius: männl. Vom., der auf einen römischen Geschlechtemamen zurückgeht. Die herkömmliche Ableitung von lat. daudus »hinkend, lahm« wird von der neueren Forschung abgelehnt. Man nimmt jetzt an, dass es sich bei Claudius ursprünglich wohl um einen Vornamen unbekannter Herkunft und Bedeutung han­ delt. In Deutschland kam Claudius als Name des römischen Kaisers Claudius (Tiberius

  as a name·DUDEN Lexikon der Vornamen

• In English, I. Roman emperor; pers. name

  as a name·Pronouncing Dictionary of Proper Names

• In German, from Latin claudus 'lame'

  as a name·Deutsche Namenkunde: Unsere Familiennamen nach ihrer Entstehung und Bedeutung

• In English, the lame one

  as a name·Baby names, 25,350 baby names nicknames for your family, friends pets, including the top 100 names, 2,000 most popular…

Ordered by how much of this spelling's record each language holds, so a sense from a language the name is barely used in sits last rather than first.

Over time●

US SSA — National Baby Names (1880–present) — 94 years between 1890–2025. One register's own figures, never a sum across registers: two registers counting the same people would double them.

Notable people with this name●

• Claudius Clavusb. 1388DKDanish geographer
• Claudius Amyandb. 1680FRFrench surgeon
• John Claudius Loudonb. 1783GBScottish botanist (1782-1843)
• Claudius James Richb. 1787FRBritish business agent, traveller and antiquarian (1787-1821)
• Ravacholb. 1859FRnot in their usual nameFrench anarchist (1859-1892)
• Claudius Regaudb. 1870FRFrench physician
• Claude Légerb. 1920CAnot in their usual nameCanadian politician (1920-2014)
• Labi Siffreb. 1945GBnot in their usual nameBritish poet, songwriter, musician, and singer
• Claudius Plägingb. 1975DEGerman writer
• Claudius Körberb. 1982DEGerman actor

The ten people covered by the most Wikipedia language editions — a proxy for cross-cultural notability, which favours historical and Western figures over equally prominent contemporary ones — shown by birth year. Source: Wikidata (CC0).

Evidence●

Register rows as of the 2026-09-12 data build · 212 rows in the corpus for this spelling.

Frequently asked questions

How common is the name Claudius?

We estimate roughly 447 thousand people bear Claudius (counting its spellings and scripts) across 8 countries in our records.

In which country does Claudius have the most bearers?

We estimate about 412 thousand people bear Claudius in France, more than in any other country in our records, where it is most often spelled claude.

Where is Claudius most common?

Claudius is densest in France, where the national register counts about 1 in 165 people carrying it.

How common is Claudius compared with other names?

In France, Claudius is the 18th most common given name of 711,207 given names recorded there.

Is Claudius a male or female name?

Claudius is a male name in our records. Opposite-gender entries fall within the cross-gender noise we measure in the source data, so we don't report them as usage.

What does the name Claudius mean?

Recorded meaning: Claudius is a strong, classic name of Latin origin with deep historical roots.