Clair
Masculine · “bright”
Clair is given to both — 12,041 boys and 4,310 girls since 1880. See Clair as a girl nameSee other names given to both
Clair is the French spelling of a Latin word that means bright, clear and famous all at once — three senses that Latin kept together and English has since separated.
How old is the name Clair?
Clair was already in use when US birth records began in 1880 — it is at least 145 years old. The typical Clair alive today was born around 1928, making them about 97 years old. About 2,700 people named Clair are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Clair most popular?
Clair peaked in 1913, reaching #288 nationally. See the whole 1913 chart.
Where it comes from
From clarus to Clair
The story of Clair
Clarus was a Roman name and became a saint's name through several early bearers, and France produced Clair for men and Claire for women — a distinction the language still maintains. English-speaking countries borrowed both without keeping the distinction. Clair appears in American registers for boys through the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, peaking around 1918, with feminine use running alongside.
Meaning
bright, clear, famous
From the Latin clarus, which carried all three senses with no separation between them. Clair is the French masculine; Claire is the feminine. The English words 'clear', 'clarity' and 'declare' are all the same root.
How the name formed
- clarus
- Clarus
- Clair
Related forms: Clair · Claire · Chiaro · Clare
Pronouncing Clair
KLAIR
One syllable. Clair, Claire and Clare are all said identically in English.
Nicknames for Clair
Moderate
What the data says
146 years of official birth records
The long climb, and where it stands now
The same years in position rather than babies
- First recorded
- 1880
- Most boys named
- 1923356 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #288reached in 1913
- Change vs 2011
- 0.0%5 in 2020, from 5
Rank is a position, a count is a headcount, and they move independently — a name can hold its rank while the number of babies behind it falls. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration.
Clair in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Clair in French — same name
- Claire in French — related form
- Chiaro in Italian — related form
- Clare in English — spelling variant
Clairs among us
people named Clair are estimated to be alive in the US today
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Is it right for you
Questions parents actually ask
Fashion outlook
Clair has already lived its whole cycle: it rose, had its era, and has stepped off the charts. The fashion question is behind it — what lies ahead is the waiting room where revivals begin, once a name's first generation has grown distant enough for it to sound fresh again.
Based on 146 years of naming cycles. How we read them
The trade-off
- The meaning is transparent and unusually rich, carrying three senses at once.
- In French it is the genuine masculine form, which gives the spelling a real basis.
- One syllable, clean, and never mispronounced.
- In English the name reads as feminine to nearly everyone.
- Three spellings are established and none of them settles the sex.
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What they receive
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Clair
Masculine
Frequently asked
- How many Clairs are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 2,700 people named Clair are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Clair in 2025?
- Clair is rarely given in the US today — it does not rank in the top 2000 boy names.
- Will my child share the name Clair with classmates?
- Clair will almost certainly be the only one in school.
More C names
The most-given names starting with C, all years combined.
Charles#48 · Christopher#68 · Carl#1132 · Christian#96 · Caleb#58 · Cameron#76 · Carlos#150 · Clarence#1499
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Clair? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Clair and another name?
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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