Cliff is the short form of Clifford, an English surname and place name meaning "ford by the cliff", and it also stands on its own as the plain English word for a steep rock face. It had its heyday in the mid-20th century, when Cliff Robertson and Cliff Richard were household names. As a given name in the United States Cliff stood at number 3088 in 2000, reached number 2667 in 2020 and ranks number 2895 in 2025 with 43 births.