Claire

Claire: name meaning, origin & popularity

Meaning: “clear, bright”
Origin: French
Say it: KLAIR · 1 syllable
Used for: Girls

French form of Clara, from Latin clarus meaning 'clear, bright, famous'. Widely used in French and English-speaking contexts.

French names English names Names meaning light Classic names International names

How popular is Claire?

20241,000 per million US babies

Drag the line or the slider to read any year. Values are per million US births recorded by Social Security. Records before about 1937 undercount births, so early peaks can look taller than they were.

Compare with another name

Babies named Claire in 20243,329

2024 rank#67 girls

Peak year2016

Total US babies since 1880210,623

Claire has been fairly stable over the last fifteen years.

Names like Claire

Variants, related forms and names with the same roots.

Claraclear, bright, famous · Latin
Kiarabright, clear · Italian
Clarissabright, clear · Latin
Chiaraclear; bright · Italian
Clairabright; clear · Latin
Klaraclear, bright · Latin
Clairclear; bright · French
Charlottefree man · French

Claire questions

What does the name Claire mean?

Claire means "clear, bright". It comes from French. French form of Clara, from Latin clarus meaning 'clear, bright, famous'. Widely used in French and English-speaking contexts.

Is Claire a boy or girl name?

Claire is mainly a girl's name in US records (99% of uses since 1880).

How popular is Claire?

3,329 US babies were named Claire in 2024. Its peak year was 2016.

How do you pronounce Claire?

Claire is usually pronounced KLAIR.

Birth counts: US Social Security Administration national data, 1880–2024 (names given to 5+ babies of a sex in a year). How we write meanings.