Clive is an English surname turned first name that comes from the Old English clif and means "cliff" or "slope", originally for someone who lived by one. It has a crisp British sound, worn by the author C. S. Lewis, whose first name was Clive, and by the actor Clive Owen. Clive has always been rare in the United States; it reached number 1791 in 2016 and stands at number 2398 in 2025.