Claire

What Claire means

Variant of Clare, meaning “bright, shining, clear”

spelling variant of the English Clare || Medieval English vernacular form of Clara, from the Latin clara, feminine of clarus (“bright, shining, clear”), a post-classical name made famous by the 13th century Saint Clara of Assisi.

Source: Wiktionary, “Claire” (revision 92412725) and “Clare” (revision 92164074), CC BY-SA 4.0. Quoted from the etymology; we don’t write our own.

How popular is Claire?

US: Falling: down from #49 in 2015. England & Wales: Falling: down from #984 in 2015.

Biggest US share so far: 2016, when 5,216 girls got the name (#40 that year). First in the US records in 1880.

How common

• About 1 in 461 baby girls in the US in 2025
• About 1 in 11,012 baby girls in England and Wales in 2025
• About 1 in 5,964 baby girls in Scotland in 2025

“1 in N” divides by all listed births for that sex. The US list leaves out names given to fewer than 5 babies, and the UK lists leave out names given to 2 or fewer, so the real figure is a little rarer than shown.

Where in the US

Most popular in VT (10.27 per 1,000 girls), WY (7.4 per 1,000 girls), DC (5.45 per 1,000 girls) in 2025.

SSA state data, 2025. Share of all listed girls born in each state.

US vs UK

Claire is #68 in the US and #1362 in England & Wales (2025).

Same sex as this page (girls). SSA (US), ONS (England and Wales), NRS (Scotland).

Boy or girl?

In 2025, 99.9+% of US babies named Claire were girls.

Counts below the publishing threshold (US 5, UK 3) are not included.

How to say it

IPA from Wiktionary.

Other spellings parents chose in 2025

• Clare283 US · 3 E&W
• Klaire56 US
• Clair29 US
• Klair6 US

Names that sound the same and differ by a letter or two, with baby counts for the same sex. US and E&W counts.

Spelling variants on Wiktionary

• Clare
• Clair
• Klaire
• Klair
• Klare

Listed as alternative forms on Wiktionary.

If you like Claire

Girls

• Maddison#438Editor’s note Down from #310 in 2015 to #438 in 2025 in the US
• Kinley#691Editor’s note Cooling off in the US: #235 in 2015, #691 in 2025
• Reagan#248“descendant of Riagán”^*
• Mckinley#712Editor’s note First shows up in US records in 1978, with 5 babies
• Raegan#505Editor’s note First shows up in US records in 1963, with 9 babies
• Madelyn#70Editor’s note Down from #59 in 2015 to #70 in 2025 in the US

For a brother

• Parker#102From a surname for “a gamekeeper”^*
• Mason#39From a surname for “a stonemason”^*
• Jackson#36Editor’s note Down from #17 in 2015 to #36 in 2025 in the US. About 1 in 260 US boys in the 2025 records
• Jax#342Editor’s note First shows up in US records in 1995, with 5 babies
• Carter#45“son of Arthur”^*
• Zane#324Variant of Zayn, meaning “beauty”^*

Picked from the US top 1,000 in 2025: names Wiktionary also files under French, From a surname, whose US popularity since 1990 rose and fell most like Claire’s. Rank is US 2025.