# Clare (surname)

Source: https://namelineage.com/surname/clare/  
Publisher: Name Lineage. Counts from the US Census Bureau; origin and etymology from Wiktionary; bearers from Wikidata. Data updated 2026-11-11.

A surname from Old English derived from Old English clǣġ (“clay”) as an occupational name for a worker in clay.

| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Origin | not recorded |
| Type | occupational, named after the work an ancestor did |
| People in the US (2010 Census) | 4,309 |
| US rank (2010) | 7,702 of 162,253 |
| How often | about 1 in every 71,651 people |
| Change since 2000 | +2.9% (4,189 in 2000) |
| Pronunciation | /klɛɚ/, 1 syllable |
| Variant spellings | none recorded |

## Etymology

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. In Oxfordshire, from Clarora, a clay slope.

## Who carries it

Share of people named Clare in the 2010 US Census by the Census's own race and ethnicity groups. The Census suppresses a share when the count behind it is small.

| Group | Share |
|---|---|
| White (not Hispanic) | 82% |
| Black (not Hispanic) | 10% |
| Hispanic or Latino (any race) | 4.1% |
| Asian and Pacific Islander | 1.7% |
| American Indian and Alaska Native | 0.4% |
| Two or more races | 1.3% |

## Where

Wikidata records people named Clare in the United Kingdom and Australia.

## People named Clare

- Dustin Clare, Australian actor
- Mary Clare, British actress (1894-1970)
- Diane Clare, British actress (1938-2013)

## Similar surnames

Cleary, Clary, Clair, Calero, Clear, Claar, Collar, Clore, Claire, Cloer, Clara, Claro.

## How to read these numbers

A Census count is people alive and counted in 2010, not births, and names occurring fewer than 100 times are not published at all. Ethnicity shares are the Census's own categories.