Cline

♂ Boy

How to Pronounce Cline

Pronounced KLYNE /ˈklaɪn/High

Meaning: Cline is a surname pressed into service as a first name. It is an Americanized spelling of the German Klein, meaning small, carried by many families who anglicized the spelling and the pronunciation. As a given name it usually honours a family surname rather than the literal 'small'.Medium

In 30 seconds: Cline is a surname-name, an Americanized form of German Klein meaning 'small'. Given to boys, it stayed rare and hung on in records into recent decades (said KLYNE).

💕 Browse more names

Origin MediumGerman

MeaningCline is a surname pressed into service as a first name. It is an Americanized spelling of the German Klein, meaning small, carried by many families who anglicized the spelling and the pronunciation. As a given name it usually honours a family surname rather than the literal 'small'.

U.S. rank (2022)#11125 ↘ Falling

2022 U.S. births6 boys (0.00% of U.S. boys)

Peak year1932

Total births (all-time)≈ 857

Popularity in the U.S. · SSA data

U.S. births per year (Social Security Administration, 1880–present). Pink marker = peak year.

SSA data updated May 2026. How we source & verify this data.

History & Origin

Cline is an Americanized Klein, the German word for small, long common as a family name and occasionally lifted to the front as a given name honouring a grandparent or maternal line. The one-syllable snap of it fits the American taste for terse surname-names.

It was never a busy choice - a few dozen boys a year around its quiet high in the early nineteen-thirties - yet it kept a faint pulse in records all the way into the twenty-twenties. It shares its clipped sound with Cade, Clyde and Kline.

Did you know? Cline hides a small irony: as an anglicized Klein it literally means 'small', though the country singer Patsy Cline made the surname sound anything but.

Overall data confidence 60%

References - Cline / Klein — Americanized German Klein 'small'; surname used as given name

Variations

KlineKleinClyne

Nicknames

Cly

Famous Bearers

Famous bearers coming soon.

If you like Cline…

Clyde— a one-syllable vintage boy's name

Cade— a short modern surname-style name

Klein— the German parent spelling

Raine— lands in the same popularity range

Cord— lands in the same popularity range

Explore names like Cline

By themerare surname-name german

All themes →All meanings →All origins →

Frequently Asked

What does the name Cline mean?

It is a surname used as a first name, an Americanized form of German Klein, meaning 'small'.

How do you pronounce Cline?

It's said KLYNE /ˈklaɪn/, one syllable, rhyming with 'line'.

Is Cline a boy or girl name?

Cline is used as a boy's name.

Is Cline a popular name?

No, it has always been a rare surname-name, though it lingered faintly in records into the twenty-twenties.