Head to head · Girls' names
Claire vs Paisley
#68 vs #67 in 2025 · both stepping back from its peak
Paisley is a whisker ahead (#67 vs #68 in 2025) and both are stepping back from its peak. The records will not split these two — sound, story and your own last name will.
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; Paisley 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, Paisley — — Claire higher
- 1890s: Claire #275, Paisley — — Claire higher
- 1900s: Claire #236, Paisley — — Claire higher
- 1910s: Claire #208, Paisley — — Claire higher
- 1920s: Claire #158, Paisley — — Claire higher
- 1930s: Claire #163, Paisley — — Claire higher
- 1940s: Claire #210, Paisley — — Claire higher
- 1950s: Claire #261, Paisley — — Claire higher
- 1960s: Claire #406, Paisley #6117 — Claire higher
- 1970s: Claire #486, Paisley #6806 — Claire higher
- 1980s: Claire #255, Paisley #5366 — Claire higher
- 1990s: Claire #132, Paisley #2166 — Claire higher
- 2000s: Claire #82, Paisley #1169 — Claire higher
- 2010s: Claire #49, Paisley #91 — Claire higher
- 2020s: Claire #64, Paisley #56 — Paisley higher
Claire stood higher in 14 of 15 decades; Paisley took the 2020s.
Rank by decade
| Decade | Claire | Paisley |
|---|---|---|
| 1880s | #304 | — |
| 1890s | #275 | — |
| 1900s | #236 | — |
| 1910s | #208 | — |
| 1920s | #158 | — |
| 1930s | #163 | — |
| 1940s | #210 | — |
| 1950s | #261 | — |
| 1960s | #406 | #6117 |
| 1970s | #486 | #6806 |
| 1980s | #255 | #5366 |
| 1990s | #132 | #2166 |
| 2000s | #82 | #1169 |
| 2010s | #49 | #91 |
| 2020s | #64 | #56 |
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
Paisley
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.
Paisley
Most likely 'church' — from a Brittonic word drawn from Latin basilica
The place appears in twelfth-century records as Passeleth. The leading reading traces it to a Brittonic *passeleg, borrowed from Latin basilica, 'major church' — fitting for a settlement that grew around an abbey. A competing proposal reads it as Old English elements meaning something like 'pasture clearing'. Neither has fully won out, and as a given name Paisley carries the town and the fabric far more than any etymology.
Passeleth → Paisley (Renfrewshire place name) → Paisley (Scottish surname) → Paisley (given name)
How it traveled
The name is Scottish and geographical before it is anything else: a burgh west of Glasgow, home to a Cluniac priory founded in the 1160s that later became Paisley Abbey. From the place came a habitational surname, carried by families who left Scotland for North America and Ulster.
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.
Paisley
PAYZ-lee
Stress on the first syllable. The s is voiced, as in the fabric — PAYZ, not PAYSS — and this is settled in both American and Scottish usage.
- Pais — The most common informal clip, usually spelled Pais or Paise and pronounced PAYZ; strictly a household nickname, not used on its own.
- Paisy — An affectionate diminutive within families; also seen as Paizy. No standing as an independent given name.
- Lee — Drawn from the second syllable. Stands alone as a given name and surname in its own right, so it reads as a separate name rather than a short form.
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
Paisley
No documented entry for Paisley 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 Paisley's 2
- 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
Choose Paisley if you want…
- a name with more sound in itPaisley runs 2 syllables, Claire 1
- a newer arrivalPaisley entered the US charts in 1966
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.
Paisley
Strengths
- The spelling is backed by a dictionary word and a real Scottish town, so most people can write it after hearing it once.
- Two syllables, first-syllable stress, no sounds that trouble English speakers of any age.
- A documented record stretching back to twelfth-century Scottish charters, unusually long for a name this new to American nurseries.
To consider
- The fabric association is immediate and permanent. Many people will picture a shawl or a necktie before they think of a person.
- Rival spellings — Paisleigh, Paislee, Paizley — are in circulation, so she may be asked which one she is even though hers is the standard form.
- The name's wave is very recent and still cresting downward, which means nearly every Paisley she meets will be roughly her own age.
Documented properties of each name — how it spells, travels and shortens — not opinions about the child.
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 Paisley 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 Paisley?
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
- Distinctly American names
- America's top 100 names right now
- Generation Alpha names (born 2013 onward)
- all guides
Every list here names both Claire and Paisley — the same style, ranked by the same records.
Claire or Paisley — the short answers
- Which is more popular, Claire or Paisley?
- Paisley, in 2025: Paisley ranked #67 with 3,508 babies; Claire ranked #68 with 3,487 babies.
- Which name is rising faster, Claire or Paisley?
- Neither is rising. Over the last five years Claire moved down 10 places; Paisley moved down 18 places.
- Which is the older name, Claire or Paisley?
- Claire was already in use when US records began in 1880; Paisley entered the US charts in 1966. On the American record, Claire is the older name.
- How many people are named Claire and Paisley?
- About 170,000 people named Claire are estimated to be alive in the US today. About 65,000 people named Paisley are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- Will there be other Claires or Paisleys in the classroom?
- Claire will almost certainly be the only one in school. Paisley 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
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