Clift
A surname usually from a cliff, cleft, or steep slope, sometimes treated as a variant of Cliff or Clifton.
The #7,789 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 72,544 Americans shares it.
Etymology
Clift is generally explained as a surname formed from a topographic word for a steep bank, cliff, or cleft. Older sources often connect it with Middle English clift or clefte, with the sense of a broken or steep place in the landscape. In some cases it may simply be a spelling or pronunciation variant of Cliff, and some writers also relate it loosely to place-names such as Clifton.
History
The name appears in English surname collections as a chiefly northern and midland form, especially in Yorkshire and nearby counties. It has long been treated as a straightforward topographic surname, and later surname writers note that it overlaps with or develops from Cliff. The spelling with -t is often described as an added sound rather than a separate root.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
Some 20th-century surname scholars specifically described Clift as Cliff with an excrescent -t, meaning the final -t may have been added in pronunciation before it became fixed in spelling.
From the historical record
“Forte. CLIFT. See Cliff. CLIFTON. Parishes, &c., in many coun- ties. The Cliftons of Clifton, co. Lancaster, have possessed that estate for more than six centuries. CLIINBIIE. A Scottish diminutive of Clement. CLII\IPSON. See Clement.”
— Patronymica Britannica: a dictionary of the family names of the United KingdomNotable people named Clift
- Montgomery Clift (1920–1966)
Sourced from Wikidata; linked to their Wikipedia page.