Head to head · Girls' names
Claire vs Genesis
#68 vs #66 in 2025
Genesis is a whisker ahead (#66 vs #68 in 2025), but the curves point different ways: Genesis is holding its place on the charts, Claire is stepping back from its peak.
Cast your vote
Which one would you pick?
Your gut first, the numbers after — the split shows once you pick.
The tale of the tape
On the charts, Claire leads 3 measures of 6; Genesis leads 2.
Ranks, counts and years are measured in the official US birth record; the classroom and living figures are estimates computed from it. The dot marks the side each measure favours on the charts — more common, not better.
What the records say
146 years of US births, drawn on one scale
Two curves, one scale
Who owned which decade
- 1880s: Claire #304, Genesis — — Claire higher
- 1890s: Claire #275, Genesis — — Claire higher
- 1900s: Claire #236, Genesis — — Claire higher
- 1910s: Claire #208, Genesis — — Claire higher
- 1920s: Claire #158, Genesis — — Claire higher
- 1930s: Claire #163, Genesis — — Claire higher
- 1940s: Claire #210, Genesis — — Claire higher
- 1950s: Claire #261, Genesis — — Claire higher
- 1960s: Claire #406, Genesis #6371 — Claire higher
- 1970s: Claire #486, Genesis #3354 — Claire higher
- 1980s: Claire #255, Genesis #1544 — Claire higher
- 1990s: Claire #132, Genesis #348 — Claire higher
- 2000s: Claire #82, Genesis #174 — Claire higher
- 2010s: Claire #49, Genesis #64 — Claire higher
- 2020s: Claire #64, Genesis #63 — Genesis higher
Claire stood higher in 14 of 15 decades; Genesis took the 2020s.
Rank by decade
| Decade | Claire | Genesis |
|---|---|---|
| 1880s | #304 | — |
| 1890s | #275 | — |
| 1900s | #236 | — |
| 1910s | #208 | — |
| 1920s | #158 | — |
| 1930s | #163 | — |
| 1940s | #210 | — |
| 1950s | #261 | — |
| 1960s | #406 | #6371 |
| 1970s | #486 | #3354 |
| 1980s | #255 | #1544 |
| 1990s | #132 | #348 |
| 2000s | #82 | #174 |
| 2010s | #49 | #64 |
| 2020s | #64 | #63 |
Average national rank across each decade. A dash means the name sat outside the recorded top of that decade.
Around the world
Claire
- Canada#55
Genesis
Not charting outside the US.
National statistics offices, latest published year.
The names themselves
Meaning, roots, sound and the people who carried each
Where each name comes from
Claire
bright, clear
From a Latin adjective that meant clear or bright and then, by an easy extension, famous. The name and the words clarity and declare all descend from it, which makes the sense unusually easy to demonstrate.
clarus → Clare → Claire
How it traveled
There is a large Irish Clare that has nothing to do with any of this. County Clare takes its name from an Irish word meaning a flat place or a plank — most likely a board bridge across a river at Clarecastle — and the resemblance to the personal name is a complete coincidence of spelling.
Genesis
origin, birth, coming into being
From Greek génesis, 'origin' or 'birth'. The Greek translators of the Hebrew scriptures used it as the title of the first book, rendering the Hebrew opening word bereshit, 'in the beginning'; Latin and then English kept the Greek title unchanged.
génesis (Greek) → Genesis (Latin) → Genesis (English) → Génesis (Spanish)
How it traveled
The word traveled long before the name did. Greek génesis meant origin or coming-into-being; the Septuagint translators applied it as the title of the Bible's first book, the Latin Vulgate kept it, and English inherited it whole, which is why the spelling has never needed adjusting in any of those languages.
Where a reading is contested the note says so — this page does not turn a guess into a fact. The chain is each name's recorded forms, oldest first; the story is its opening, told in full on the name's own page.
Out loud, and in short
Claire
KLAIR
One syllable. The i changes nothing audible in English, though French gives the vowel a slightly different quality that American speakers do not reproduce.
- Clairey — An affectionate ending added; used in childhood more than after it.
- Cee — The initial alone; short, plain and shared with a great many names.
Genesis
JEN-uh-sis
Stress on the first syllable, exactly as the book title is read aloud in English. Spanish speakers say it JEH-neh-sees, with the accent written in: Génesis.
- Gen — The most common everyday clip, used informally by family and friends.
- Genny — Informal, sometimes written Jenny; overlaps in sound with the unrelated name Jenny.
- Gigi — Playful and informal; also stands alone as a given name in French and Italian usage.
- Nessa — Drawn from the end of the name; used informally, and independently a name of its own.
- Also Sisi.
Who has carried each name
Claire
Claire Danes (b. 1979) — Homeland's Emmy-winning star
Claire Foy (b. 1984) — The Crown's young Queen Elizabeth II
Genesis
No documented entry for Genesis yet.
Source: Wikidata — the one source on this page that is not an official agency.
Is it right for you
The differences that decide it, laid out by what you want
Choose by what you want
Choose Claire if you want…
- a name with fewer syllablesClaire is 1 syllable to Genesis's 3
- a name that charts abroad tooClaire is on the national lists of Canada
- a long American recordClaire was already in use when US records began in 1880
- a name that feels very nowClaire is stepping back from its peak
Choose Genesis if you want…
- a name with more sound in itGenesis runs 3 syllables, Claire 1
- plenty of nickname options5 recorded short forms — Gen, Genny and Gigi
- a newer arrivalGenesis entered the US charts in 1964
- a name that ages quietlyan estimated 40% chance of feeling dated by 2040, against 77% for Claire
Each line is a measured difference between the two names — a rank, a count, a recorded form — never a judgement of either. Save the one that answers your question; it lands on your shortlist.
The trade-offs, name by name
Claire
Strengths
- One syllable, unambiguous in sound, and recognized across Europe.
- The meaning is bright and positive and easy to demonstrate from ordinary English words.
- It has stayed in use continuously rather than arriving with a fashion.
To consider
- Clare is equally standard, so the spelling will be queried for life.
- It is currently common enough that a child may not be the only one.
- The record holds a few boys as well, and the boy is much the smaller side.
Genesis
Strengths
- Spelled and pronounced correctly on first encounter by almost anyone literate in English — the word is already in everyone's vocabulary.
- The meaning is transparent, not something a parent has to explain or look up.
- Crosses into Spanish with only an added accent mark, which matters in the regions where it is strongest.
To consider
- The name announces a scriptural connection whether or not you intend one. Some families want exactly that; others find strangers drawing conclusions about their beliefs from a birth announcement.
- Its life as a given name is genuinely recent, so a child will meet few adult Genesises — there is no older generation of namesakes to grow into, and some people still hear the British rock band first.
- Boys with this spelling are a small minority, so a boy named Genesis should expect the occasional assumption on a class list or form.
Documented properties of each name — how it spells, travels and shortens — not opinions about the child.
How each is likely to age
Claire
77%chance Claire feels dated by 2040
Claire is coming down from a big peak (#40 in 2016). This is the stretch of the cycle where a name starts to sound like the decade it ruled.
Genesis
40%chance Genesis feels dated by 2040
Genesis sits in the calm middle of the cycle — neither chasing a wave nor sliding off one. Middle-of-the-cycle names age slowly and predictably.
A reading of where each name sits on the long naming cycle — computed, not measured, and explained on the data page.
With your last name
Say both in full. The notes are facts about letters and sound — a rhyme, a shared initial, the monogram — not a verdict on either name.
Type a last name to hear Claire and Genesis in full.
Weighing the whole shortlist? Run the full comparison — up to eight names with your last name, initials, classroom projections and a printable report.
Decide together
Nobody names a baby alone
Still torn between Claire and Genesis?
Put both to the vote.
One link to your partner, your parents, your sister. Each of them gets the two names, a one-tap answer and room to say why — and every reply lands in one place.
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More than two in the running? Settle it with a bracket or run the full comparison with your last name.
More head-to-heads
Same measures, different pair. Sixty more are dealt daily in the arena.
Lists that carry both names
Every list here names both Claire and Genesis — the same style, ranked by the same records.
Claire or Genesis — the short answers
- Which is more popular, Claire or Genesis?
- Genesis, in 2025: Genesis ranked #66 with 3,527 babies; Claire ranked #68 with 3,487 babies.
- Which name is rising faster, Claire or Genesis?
- Neither is rising. Over the last five years Claire moved down 10 places; Genesis moved down 4 places.
- Which is the older name, Claire or Genesis?
- Claire was already in use when US records began in 1880; Genesis entered the US charts in 1964. On the American record, Claire is the older name.
- How many people are named Claire and Genesis?
- About 170,000 people named Claire are estimated to be alive in the US today. About 93,000 people named Genesis are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- Will there be other Claires or Genesiss in the classroom?
- Claire will almost certainly be the only one in school. Genesis will almost certainly be the only one in school.
US figures from the Social Security Administration, 1880–2025; international figures from national statistics agencies. Votes are battle voters on this site, not the birth record. Data & methodology
Keep playing
Sixty more head-to-heads are dealt in the arena every day — or line up Claire, Genesis and the rest of your shortlist with your last name in one printable report.
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