Cleve \c-le-ve\ as a boy's name is a variant of Cleveland (Old English) and Clive (Old English), and the meaning of Cleve is "land of cliffs, hilly area, cliff, slope". The baby name Cleve sounds like Cleeve and Clyve. Other similar baby names are Clete, Clare, Clem, Cleon, Cleo, Clevon, Clyde and Olave. View a list of the 2 names that reference Cleve.