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Name Lineage

    The surname Clare

    An occupational surname, carried by 4,309 people in the United States.

    Pronounced /klɛɚ/ 1 syllable Soundex C460 Also a first name

    Clare: #7,702 of 162,253 surnames in the 2010 US Census #1Smith#160,975Doriott#10Martinez#100Jimenez#1,000Archer Clare #7,702, 4,309 people Clare: #7,702 of 162,253 surnames in the 2010 US Census #1Smith#160,975Doriott#100Jimenez Clare #7,702, 4,309 people
    Every surname held by 100 or more people in the 2010 US Census, most common on the left (162,253 in all). Clare is more common than 95.3% of them.

    Origin

    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.

    Clare is an occupational surname: named after the work an ancestor did.

    Origin from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0).

    How common it is

    2010 US Census

    There were 4,309 people named Clare in the United States in 2010, about 1 in every 71,651 Americans. That is up 2.9% since 2000, when the Census counted 4,189.

    #7,702
    rank among US surnames
    4,309
    people in 2010
    1.5
    per 100,000 Americans
    +2.9%
    change since 2000 (was #7,328)
    RankSurnamePeople1 in
    #7,697Mote4,31371,585
    #7,698Tabb4,31271,601
    #7,701Delreal4,31171,618
    #7,702Chua4,30971,651
    #7,707Weisman4,30871,668

    Who is named Clare

    Race and Hispanic origin as people reported it in the 2010 Census

    82% of people named Clare identified as white (not Hispanic), 10% as Black (not Hispanic) and 4.1% as Hispanic or Latino (any race).

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

    Compare: most common surnames among white Americans.

    Famous Clares

    3 notable people on Wikidata, most written-about first

    • Dustin Clare
      Australian actor, born 1982
    • Mary Clare
      British actress (1894-1970)
    • Diane Clare
      British actress (1938-2013)

    Notable Clares come mostly from the United Kingdom (2) and Australia (1).

    Spellings and sound-alikes

    Useful when a record has your ancestor under another spelling

    Surnames that sound like Clare

    Clare has the Soundex code C460, the code US census indexes have used since the 1930s. Every surname with code C460.

    Questions

    Where does the surname Clare come from?
    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.
    How common is the surname Clare?
    4,309 people in the United States had the surname Clare in the 2010 Census, about 1 in every 71,651 Americans. It ranked 7,702nd of 162,253 surnames.
    What ethnicity is the surname Clare?
    In the 2010 Census, 82% of people named Clare identified as white (not Hispanic), and 10% as Black (not Hispanic).
    Who is the most famous person named Clare?
    Dustin Clare, Australian actor, followed by Mary Clare.
    Where is the surname Clare most common?
    Wikidata records people named Clare in the United Kingdom and Australia.
    How do you pronounce Clare?
    Clare is /klɛɚ/, one syllable.
    What type of surname is Clare?
    Clare is an occupational surname, named after the work an ancestor did.
    Is the surname Clare getting more or less common?
    More common. 4,189 people carried it in the 2000 Census and 4,309 in 2010, up 2.9%.
    Is Clare also a first name?
    Yes. Clare is used as a first name as well as a surname; its first-name page has the meaning and how many babies were given it.