Asteroid 8452, Clay, was discovered on November 27, 1978 at the Harvard College Observatory's Agassiz Station in Harvard, Massachusetts. It has a period of 3 years, 269 days.
It was named after Landon T. Clay, a businessman and Harvard graduate, and his wife Lavinia Clay, supporters of Harvard University and the Smithsonian Institution, astronomy, conservation biology and mathematics. They helped found the Clay Mathematical Institute.
Landon and Lavinia Clay
The meaning of asteroid Clay seems to be what its name might suggest: clay, easily molded, material as opposed to spiritual. It might also have to do with promoting or teaching mathematics.