# Claire (first name)

Source: https://namelineage.com/first-name/claire/  
Publisher: Name Lineage. US counts from the Social Security Administration; England and Wales counts from the Office for National Statistics; meaning and etymology from Wiktionary. Data updated 2026-11-11.

| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Usually given to | girls |
| Origin | French |
| Meaning | not recorded |
| Pronunciation | /ˈklɛɚ/, 1 syllable |
| Nicknames | none recorded |
| Variant spellings | Clare, Clair, Klaire, Klair, Klare |
| US babies named this | 214,123 since 1880 |
| Boys / girls in the US | 2,204 / 211,919 (99% girls) |
| Babies in England and Wales | 3,142, 1996 to 2025 |

## Etymology

Borrowed from French Claire, also a spelling variant of the English Clare.

## Popularity

The last 15 years of each series. A year is missing when too few babies were given the name for the agency to publish it: five in the US, three in England and Wales.

### United States, girls

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2011 | 4,900 | 50 |
| 2012 | 4,944 | 45 |
| 2013 | 4,661 | 50 |
| 2014 | 5,015 | 44 |
| 2015 | 4,837 | 49 |
| 2016 | 5,216 | 40 |
| 2017 | 4,702 | 49 |
| 2018 | 4,406 | 50 |
| 2019 | 4,130 | 55 |
| 2020 | 3,837 | 58 |
| 2021 | 3,704 | 59 |
| 2022 | 3,380 | 66 |
| 2023 | 3,200 | 68 |
| 2024 | 3,337 | 67 |
| 2025 | 3,487 | 68 |

### United States, boys

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 1986 | 10 | 4,176 |
| 1987 | 10 | 4,302 |
| 1988 | 7 | 5,868 |
| 1989 | 20 | 3,001 |
| 1990 | 11 | 4,722 |
| 1991 | 7 | 6,636 |
| 1993 | 5 | 8,947 |
| 1998 | 5 | 9,873 |
| 2004 | 11 | 6,601 |
| 2005 | 7 | 9,296 |
| 2007 | 7 | 9,956 |
| 2008 | 7 | 10,062 |
| 2009 | 7 | 10,067 |
| 2017 | 5 | 12,656 |
| 2021 | 5 | 12,486 |

### England and Wales, girls

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2011 | 45 | 817 |
| 2012 | 46 | 825 |
| 2013 | 43 | 865 |
| 2014 | 37 | 986 |
| 2015 | 36 | 984 |
| 2016 | 44 | 852 |
| 2017 | 41 | 915 |
| 2018 | 35 | 1,013 |
| 2019 | 44 | 838 |
| 2020 | 29 | 1,127 |
| 2021 | 35 | 983 |
| 2022 | 33 | 1,023 |
| 2023 | 25 | 1,288 |
| 2024 | 34 | 1,021 |
| 2025 | 23 | 1,362 |

## People named Claire

- Claire Danes, American actor (born 1979)
- Claire Holt, Australian actress (born 1988)
- Claire Foy, British actress (born 1984)
- Claire Trevor, American actress (1910–2000)
- Claire Forlani, British actress
- Claire Bloom, British actress (born 1931)
- Claire Denis, French film director (born 1946)
- Claire McCaskill, American politician (born 1953)
- Claire Corlett, Canadian actress
- Claire Voisin, French mathematician (born 1962)
- Claire Keim, French actress and singer
- Claire McDowell, actress (1877-1966)

## How to read these numbers

A count is babies registered with that name in that year, not people alive now, so a name common a century ago can have a large total and few recent births.