Cline
A surname with several possible roots, most often linked either to a small “cline”/slope or to Irish forms such as Kilcline.
The #684 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 6,143 Americans shares it.
Etymology
This surname has more than one plausible origin. In English records it may be a spelling variant of Clive or Clyne, ultimately tied to Old English or Middle English words for a bank, slope, or hillside. In Irish contexts, it can reflect anglicized forms associated with Kilcline and related Gaelic names, while some bearers may also come from German surnames written Klein or Cline in American records. Because the name appears in different regions with different spellings, a single origin cannot be assumed for every family.
History
The name is found in medieval English records in forms such as de la Clive and atte Cline, showing early use as a place-based surname. Later, it appears in Irish surname lists and in Anglicized North American records, where immigration and spelling simplification helped stabilize the modern form Cline. In the United States it became fairly common, but not from one single ancestral line.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
Early English records show both de la Clive and atte Cline, suggesting the surname could arise from the same landscape term in more than one spelling tradition.
From the historical record
“3Cliff(q.v.);M.E. drt«-cli£f. Jolin BUG Cline (u for i^, co. Soms., Edw. Ill : Kirby'.Qaem. p. Si. Gilbertde la Clive.co. Devon, 1173. A.”
— A Dictionary of English and Welsh Surnames, with special American instances