Claire Name Meaning, Origin, Popularity, Girl Names Like Claire

Claire Name Origin: French
Pronunciation: clair
See what 16 people think about Claire

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Claire Name Meaning

Claire is a French name meaning “clear and bright.” A form of Clara, Claire is often used as a middle name in the U.S. though she has been a Top 100 girl name since the late 1990s.

Claire is the definition of French style, petite and chic with her one-syllable sound. She doesn’t need ruffles like Isabella or Victoria to be elegant, holding her ground quite nicely despite her tiny size. Her minimalistic feel leaves her relatively free of nicknames, though Claire-Bear is an irresistible cutesy choice some parents can’t help loving.

While Claire is short and sweet, she has an artistic side thanks in part to her French feel. She’s a name easily associated with the arts and it wouldn’t be all that far-fetched to see a little Claire dabbling in painting or sculpting. She’s also saintly with Saint Clare the patron saint of television and good weather.

Claire has had quite the run in Hollywood, appearing in television and movies alike. Recently she’s appear in quite a few action roles like Claire Dearing in Jurassic World and Claire Temple in Daredevil, challenging her girly roots and cementing her as a worthy name contender in the eyes of many.

She does have alternative spellings in Clare and Clair, but Claire remains the most popular choice in the U.S. Other one syllable showstoppers include Maeve, Faye, and Nell.

Claire Name Popularity

How popular is the name Claire? Here’s everything we know.

Year	Rank	# Births	% Births
1910	—	224	0.0636%
1911	—	272	0.073%
1912	—	386	0.0765%
1913	—	430	0.0758%
1914	—	521	0.0748%
1915	—	769	0.0846%
1916	—	785	0.0813%
1917	—	883	0.0883%
1918	—	1,036	0.0965%
1919	—	886	0.0846%
1920	—	981	0.0882%
1921	—	1,169	0.1021%
1922	—	1,294	0.1161%
1923	—	1,352	0.1207%
1924	—	1,539	0.1325%
1925	—	1,459	0.1291%
1926	—	1,641	0.1492%
1927	—	1,810	0.1635%
1928	—	1,681	0.1571%
1929	—	1,638	0.1581%
1930	—	1,611	0.1542%
1931	—	1,575	0.1596%
1932	—	1,451	0.1469%
1933	—	1,339	0.1437%
1934	—	1,259	0.1302%
1935	—	1,082	0.1113%
1936	—	1,035	0.1074%
1937	—	897	0.091%
1938	—	1,032	0.1008%
1939	—	885	0.087%
1940	—	901	0.0848%
1941	—	925	0.0822%
1942	—	992	0.0786%
1943	—	961	0.0736%
1944	—	969	0.0782%
1945	—	877	0.0719%
1946	—	1,069	0.0724%
1947	—	1,150	0.0689%
1948	—	971	0.0608%
1949	—	1,045	0.065%
1950	—	997	0.0619%
1951	—	1,013	0.0597%
1952	—	1,039	0.0595%
1953	—	1,054	0.0596%
1954	—	981	0.0537%
1955	—	969	0.0527%
1956	—	957	0.0507%
1957	—	997	0.0518%
1958	—	929	0.0492%
1959	—	965	0.0508%
1960	—	858	0.0453%
1961	—	774	0.041%
1962	—	767	0.0418%
1963	—	639	0.0356%
1964	—	563	0.032%
1965	—	491	0.03%
1966	—	457	0.0293%
1967	—	346	0.0228%
1968	—	298	0.0198%
1969	—	334	0.0217%
1970	—	295	0.0185%
1971	—	239	0.0159%
1972	—	227	0.0167%
1973	—	361	0.0278%
1974	—	324	0.0249%
1975	—	348	0.0271%
1976	—	322	0.025%
1977	—	441	0.0327%
1978	—	439	0.0327%
1979	—	494	0.035%
1980	—	523	0.0358%
1981	—	656	0.0446%
1982	—	778	0.0521%
1983	—	834	0.0565%
1984	—	961	0.0646%
1985	—	1,161	0.0765%
1986	—	1,284	0.0851%
1987	—	1,310	0.0858%
1988	—	1,417	0.0909%
1989	—	1,657	0.1027%
1990	—	1,829	0.1103%
1991	—	1,793	0.11%
1992	—	1,931	0.121%
1993	—	1,875	0.1203%
1994	—	2,162	0.1409%
1995	—	2,472	0.164%
1996	—	2,719	0.1816%
1997	—	3,029	0.2048%
1998	—	3,633	0.2427%
1999	—	3,726	0.2488%
2000	—	3,708	0.2427%
2001	—	3,641	0.2416%
2002	—	3,399	0.2268%
2003	—	3,563	0.2342%
2004	—	3,329	0.2184%
2005	—	3,282	0.2147%
2006	—	4,006	0.2558%
2007	—	4,608	0.2921%
2008	—	4,590	0.297%
2009	—	4,824	0.3228%
2010	—	4,911	0.3408%
2011	—	4,896	0.3436%
2012	—	4,944	0.3469%
2013	—	4,656	0.327%
2014	—	5,012	0.344%
2015	—	4,827	0.3317%
2016	—	5,207	0.3611%
2017	—	4,683	0.3355%
2018	—	4,379	0.3187%
2019	—	4,111	0.3037%
2020	—	3,711	0.2915%
2021	—	3,450	0.2822%
2022	—	3,357	0.2545%
2023	—	3,189	0.2464%

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Data via SSA.gov.

Names Like Claire

If you like Claire, you’ll love these other names like Claire.

What names are variants of Claire?

Mix it up with these names that are a variation of the name Claire.

Name	Meaning	Origin
Ceara	Black; bright, famous	Latin
Cearra	Bright, famous	Latin
Cheeara	Bright, famous	Latin
Chiara	Bright, famous	Latin
Ciara	Black	Spanish
Ciarra	Black; bright, famous	Latin
Clair	Bright, famous	Latin
Claireen	Bright, famous	Latin
Clairene	Bright, famous	Latin
Claireta	Bright, famous	Latin
Clairette	Bright, famous	Latin
Clairey	Bright, famous	Latin
Clairice	Bright, famous	Latin
Clairinda	Bright, famous	Latin

Clairissa	Bright, famous	Latin
Clairita	Bright, famous	Latin
Clairy	Bright, famous	Latin
Clara	Bright and clear	Latin
Clarabel	Bright, famous	Latin
Clarabelle	Bright, famous	Latin
Clare	Bright, famous	Latin
Clarene	Bright, famous	Latin
Claresta	Bright, famous	Latin
Clareta	Bright, famous	Latin
Claretta	Bright, famous	Latin
Clarey	Bright, famous	Latin
Clari	Bright, famous	Latin
Claribel	Bright; beautiful	English
Claribella	Bright, famous	Latin

Claribelle	Bright, famous	Latin
Clarice	A variant form of Clara.	Latin
Clarie	Bright, famous	Latin
Clarinda	A variant form of Clara.	Latin
Clarine	Bright, famous	Latin
Clarisa	Bright, famous	Latin
Clarissa	Bright, famous	Latin
Clarisse	Bright, famous	Latin
Clarita	Bright, famous	Latin
Claritza	Bright, famous	Latin
Clarrie	Bright, famous	Latin
Clarry	Bright, famous	Latin
Clary	Bright, famous	Latin
Claryce	Bright, famous	Latin
Clayre	Bright, famous	Latin

Clayrette	Bright, famous	Latin
Clayrice	Bright, famous	Latin
Clayrinda	Bright, famous	Latin
Clayrissa	Bright, famous	Latin
Clerissa	Bright, famous	Latin
Cliara	Bright, famous	Latin
Clorinda	A heroine of Jerusalem Delivered, by the Italian poet Tasso, who described her as a maiden careless of her charms but ardent about military achievements.	Latin
Klaire	Bright, famous	Latin
Klara		Hungarian
Klaretta	Bright, famous	Latin
Klarissa	Bright, famous	Latin
Klaryce	Bright, famous	Latin
Klayre	Bright, famous	Latin
Kliara	Bright, famous	Latin
Klyara	Bright, famous	Latin

Seara	Bright, famous	Latin
Searra	Black; bright, famous	Latin

What names sound like Claire?

If you like how Claire sounds, you might also like these names that sound like Claire.

Name	Meaning	Origin
Blair	Plain, field	Scottish
Blaire	Plain, field	Scottish
Chloe	Green sprout	Greek
Cleo	“The celebrated one,” from the Greek kleo, make known or famous.	Greek
Clover	“She who clings lovingly.” From a Germanic base meaning “to adhere.” An allusion to the adhesive property of clover sap.	English
Maren	Star of the sea	Latin

What names are similar to Claire?

Find a name that’s like Claire, but just a little bit different.

Name	Meaning	Origin
Ava	To live	Latin
Charlotte	Free man	French
Emma	Whole or universal	German
Grace	Gracious one	English
Lillian	Lily flower	English
Lily	Lily flower	English
Natalie	Christmas Day	French

Nora	Honorable one	Latin
Olivia	Olive tree	Latin
Sadie	Princess	Hebrew

Lists With Claire

Find inspiration in these baby girl name lists featuring the name Claire.

Siblings of Claire

Mamas with kids named Claire also have kids with these names.

Name	Meaning	Origin	Popularity	Other Gender
Sara	Princess	Hebrew
Emily	To excel	Latin

Share Your Thoughts

16 Comments

Joanna Apr 27 at 10:32 am

I picked Claire because it was a soft name, very fitting for my second child. I don’t like how many different spellings there are which made it hard to decide. I think it’s sweet, and classic.

Reply
Marissa Sep 20 at 12:14 pm

We’ve never had a personal tie or significance of any particular kind to the names we’ve found for our kids but go off of flow from the other kids’ names and how much we like the name. We love Claire and the sweet, timeless, femininity to it and have so sweetly nicknamed her our little Claire bear ? ?

Reply
Claire Jan 31 at 5:43 pm

I am in 4th grade and my name really suits me im a very bright student and I never lie

Reply
Ashley Jan 14 at 10:12 am

No nicknames, no short versions. Means Bright & Shining

Reply
Shayne Dec 23 at 1:01 pm

I love the meaning–clear, bright and pure. It’s classic and timeless, easy to pronounce, hard to misspell and has strong European roots. It wasn’t a family name but we wanted something that tied back to our ancestry but wasn’t too “old” sounding or too trendy.

Reply
gracie Nov 2 at 9:38 am

i love this name because it reminds me of my friend claire who passed away the last year of primary school, she was an amazing friend and person and i want to honor her memory by naming my child after her somehow, i came up wih rylee claire and i think it sounds lovely together

Reply
Claire Jun 23 at 8:18 am

My husband had a dream soon after we got married that we had a baby girl and named her Claire. I loved how sweet and simple the name was. So 3.5 years later we have our first baby (whose gender we didn’t find out until birth) and it was a GIRL. We knew it was meant to be!

Reply
Krystle Jun 1 at 5:07 am

Claire is a timeless classic beauty. I was not decided on the name until I met her and looked at her for a few days. I had several I loved but she was a Claire!

Reply
Claire Apr 7 at 12:50 pm

I didn’t know the meaning of my name but now I know it and am very proud and thankful to my parents & family

Reply
Troi Jan 5 at 11:51 am

My mother help me pick her name and it fits her.

Reply
Raquel Dec 28 at 4:26 pm

A beautiful name, it sounds like innocence and purity. Strong and feminine

Reply
Nicole Apr 14 at 10:33 am

Named after one of my favorite literary characters, we picked Claire for a name since it was classic and simple to spell. We knew we wanted a name that was shorter since our last name is a long complicated one. Claire definitely fit the bill! And her nickname couldn’t be any cuter… Claire Bear!!

Reply
- Claire Jun 16 at 7:36 pm
  
  They call me clairebear too
  
  Reply
  - Claire Jan 31 at 5:44 pm
    
    Same here
    
    Reply
Samantha Apr 13 at 4:28 pm

I wanted a short classic name that can’t be shortened into a nickname. I dislike when people shorten my name. I also love the meaning “clear/bright”. She’s definitely a very smart girl.

Reply
Scarlett Apr 11 at 12:50 pm

We chose Claire because it meant “bright” and we knew she would bring brightness to our lives.

Reply

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