Clancy
About Clancy
Clancy, one of the original crossover Irish surname names, is as energetic and appealing as ever — full of moxie, more distinctive than Casey, and also one of the less obvious of the red-headed names.
A literary namesake is Clancy Sigal, author of the autobiographical novel Going Away, and there is also the comical mid-century song, Clancy Lowered the Boom.
More common as a last name than a first, Clancy has gained fame via the Irish folk music group the Clancy Brothers, and one of the bestselling authors of all time, Tom Clancy, known for his espionage and techno thrillers.
As of October 2026, Clancy ranked #3592 in US births in 2025 SSA, peaked at #1734 in 1955, Nameberry popularity #636.
Editor's take: The name Clancy is a boy's name of Irish origin meaning "red-haired warrior".
Popularity & trends
Data table
| Year | US rank | Births | Per million |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | #3,467 | 31 | 16.1 |
| 2015 | #4,098 | 25 | 13 |
| 2016 | — | 0 | 0 |
| 2017 | #3,790 | 28 | 15.1 |
| 2018 | #4,776 | 20 | 11 |
| 2019 | #4,023 | 26 | 14.5 |
| 2020 | #4,446 | 22 | 12.7 |
| 2021 | #3,752 | 29 | 16.6 |
| 2022 | #4,733 | 21 | 12 |
| 2023 | #3,429 | 34 | 19.9 |
| 2024 | #3,220 | 37 | 21.5 |
| 2025 | #3,592 | 31 | 18.1 |
World rankings
Similar names
These 20 names were selected by our users looking for other names like Clancy.
- Abbott
- Redmond
- Wendell
- Whittaker
- Dewey
- Whitman
- Beaumont
- Quimby
- Elton
- Willis
- Bartlett
- Woodrow
- Hercule
- Ward
- Keats
- Cary
- Marlon
- Digby
- Tennyson
- Gulliver
Clancy on lists
Famous Clancys
- Clarence J. "Clancy" Brown III
American actor
- Clancy Sigal
American novelist
- Clancy Eccles
Jamaican ska and reggae singer
- Clancy Martin
Canadian philosopher
- Clarence Clifford "Clancy" Pendergast III
American football coach
- Clancy Edwards
American sprinter
- Tom Clancy
American novelist
- Paddy
Tom, Bobby, & Liam Clancy, Irish folksingers
Clancy in pop culture
- Clancy
free,spirited subject of the poem "Clancy of the Overflow," by Banjo Patterson, an iconic Australian bush poet
- Clancy Lass
George's dad on "Dead Like Me"
- Clancy Gray
character in Alexandra Bracken's "The Darkest Minds" trilogy
- Clancy Wiggum
police chief on Fox's "The Simpsons"
- Clancy Jarvis
character in the game "Resident Evil 7"
- Clancy Crew
character from Lauren Child's Ruby Redfort book series
- Jim Clancy
Melinda's husband on CBS' "Ghost Whisperer"
- Clancy
a fictional character created by band Twenty One Pilots, who attempts to escape a city called Dema.