Clare

What Clare means

Means “bright, shining, clear”

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

How popular is Clare?

US: Falling: down from #728 in 2015. England & Wales: Falling: down from #4103 in 2015.

Biggest US share so far: 1884, when 38 girls got the name (#320 that year). First in the US records in 1880.

How common

• About 1 in 5,679 baby girls in the US in 2025
• About 1 in 84,427 baby girls in England and Wales 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 MD (0.75 per 1,000 girls), MA (0.58 per 1,000 girls), KS (0.51 per 1,000 girls) in 2025.

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

US vs UK

Clare is #924 in the US and #5927 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 Clare 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

• Claire3,487 US · 23 E&W
• Klaire56 US
• Clair29 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 Clare

Girls

• Bailey#208“outer castle wall”^*
• Cassidy#541“descendant of Caiside”^*
• Mackenzie#228“son, descendant + of Coinneach”^*
• Hope#352Editor’s note Down from #225 in 2015 to #352 in 2025 in the US
• Sydney#348Variant of Sidney, meaning “wide + island”^*
• Mckenzie#576Editor’s note Peaked in the US in 2000, with 2,528 babies; 517 in 2025

For a brother

• Grant#228“big, large”^*
• Keaton#769possibly “hedge, enclosure + farmstead, settlement”^*
• Hunter#130From the word “hunter”^*
• Cameron#76“crooked, bent + nose”^*
• Gage#973Editor’s note Peaked in the US in 2003, with 2,939 babies; 235 in 2025
• Chase#192Editor’s note Peaked in the US in 2009, with 7,394 babies; 1,904 in 2025

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