Updated June 9, 2019 Share: Boy name origins & meanings Hebrew : Faithful; dog; boldOld English : Land near the hill Boy name variations Caleb Cale Cal Cliff Colby Cleveland Clive Cleavon Cleaveland Cleavland Cleon Clevon How Popular Is The Name Cleve Family name origins & meanings English : habitational name from any of the numerous minor places, for example in Devon, Gloucestershire, and Oxfordshire, named Cleeve or Cleve ‘(place) at the cliff’, from the dative case clife of Old English clif ‘slope’, ‘cliff’. Compare Cliff.Americanized spelling of Kleve.