Clara

What Clara means

Means “bright, shining, clear”

Learned borrowing from Latin clāra, feminine of clārus (“bright, shining, clear”), a post-classical name made famous by the 13th century Saint Clara (Clare) of Assisi.

Source: Wiktionary, “Clara” (revision 93670599), CC BY-SA 4.0. Quoted from the etymology; we don’t write our own.

How popular is Clara?

US: Rising: up from #98 in 2015. England & Wales: Rising: up from #91 in 2015.

Biggest US share so far: 1885, when 1,910 girls got the name (#7 that year). First in the US records in 1880.

How common

• About 1 in 446 baby girls in the US in 2025
• About 1 in 415 baby girls in England and Wales in 2025
• About 1 in 351 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 (11.29 per 1,000 girls), ND (8.15 per 1,000 girls), NE (7.61 per 1,000 girls) in 2025.

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

US vs UK

Clara is #63 in the US and #77 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 Clara 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

• Klara112 US · 51 E&W
• Claira110 US
• Klaira17 US
• Clarah7 US
• Clary6 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.

If you like Clara

Girls

• Lucille#237Editor’s note Peaked in the US in 1920, with 7,989 babies; 1,314 in 2025
• Valentina#35Same root as Valentine, meaning “strong, healthy”^*
• Vivian#70possibly “alive”^*
• Lucy#24“light”^*
• Camilla#361Editor’s note Up from #374 in 2015 to #361 in 2025 in the US
• Zara#212“flower”^*

For a brother

• Atticus#281“the Attic, the Athenian, a cognomen”^*
• Lucas#10Editor’s note Up from #16 in 2015 to #10 in 2025 in the US. About 1 in 170 US boys in the 2025 records
• Roman#42Editor’s note Climbing fast in the US: #102 in 2015, #42 in 2025
• Azariah#472“Yah Has Helped”^*
• Titus#358“honorable”^*
• Bennett#40Form of Benedict, meaning “blessed, well spoken of”^*

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