Clara
Feminine · “clear”
Clara is overwhelmingly a girls’ name — 300,524 girls against 1,016 boys since 1880. See Clara as a boy name
Clara Schumann was on the road for sixty years. She gave her first public concert at nine, married a composer against her father's opposition after a lawsuit, raised eight children, kept the household solvent by touring while her husband was in an asylum, and went on performing into her seventies — and stopped composing at about forty because she had decided a woman could not.
How old is the name Clara?
Clara was already in use when US birth records began in 1880 — it is at least 145 years old. The typical Clara alive today was born around 1927, making them about 98 years old. About 108,000 people named Clara are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Clara most popular?
Clara peaked in 1885, reaching #7 nationally. Today it ranks #63, 56 places below that high. See the whole 1885 chart.
Where it comes from
From a Latin adjective meaning clear or bright to Clara
The story of Clara
She wrote in her diary that she had once believed she had creative gift, but had given up the idea: a woman must not wish to compose, and why should she expect to be the one to do it. She was nineteen when she wrote it. The music she did write — a concerto at fourteen, a piano trio, songs — went unplayed for a century and is now performed regularly. She also effectively invented the modern piano recital: playing from memory, alone on the platform, programs built around the composer rather than around the performer's tricks.
Meaning
clear, bright
The Latin adjective means clear in every sense the English word has: transparent, audible, obvious, famous. It gives English clarify, declare, clarion and clear itself. As a name it spread across Catholic Europe with a thirteenth-century saint and became enormous in nineteenth-century America, and it is now back in the top hundred after three generations away.
Cultural footprint
Clara Barton (b. 1821) — Founded the American Red Cross
Clara Schumann (b. 1819) — Piano virtuoso who premiered Brahms's music
Clara Bow (b. 1905) — The original "It girl" of silent film
Source: Wikidata — the one source on this page that is not an official agency.
How the name formed
- a Latin adjective meaning clear or bright
- a thirteenth-century saint spreads the name across Europe
- an enormous American wave at the end of the nineteenth century
- three generations out of use
- back in the top hundred in this century
Related forms: Chiara · Claire · Clara · Klara
Pronouncing Clara
KLAIR-uh
Two syllables, stress at the front. The first vowel divides the English-speaking world — KLAR-uh in Britain and Ireland, KLAIR-uh in most of America — and both are entirely correct.
Nicknames for Clara
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 girls named
- 19185,778 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #7reached in 1885
- Change vs 2022
- +41.0%3,601 in 2025, from 2,553
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.
Clara in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Chiara in Italian — same name
- Claire in French — same name
- Clara in Spanish — same name
- Klara in German — spelling variant
Strongest US states over the last decade: Texas, California, New York. International figures from Statistics Canada, National Records of Scotland, Office for National Statistics. Sources
Claras among us
people named Clara are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 girl in 446 born in 2025 was named Clara
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Is it right for you
What happens to a name after it peaks
Fashion outlook
Clara has held the top-100 across 7 different decades — it has never depended on fashion, and names like that read the same at any age.
A scored estimate from 146 years of naming cycles — not a prophecy. Great names outlive statistics. How this is scored
Where Clara is headed
Clara should hold steady through 2030 — the curve is flat, and flat curves are the most predictable kind.
High confidence — fitted on official counts through 2025.
A damped-trend projection of the official birth data — a sketch of momentum, not a promise. Every name's forecast, ranked.
Clara beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Clara in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US girls given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- It works without alteration in English, Spanish, German, Italian and Scandinavian.
- The meaning is clear, positive and easy to explain to a child.
- It is old enough to be beyond fashion and current enough not to sound like a costume.
- The first vowel is said two ways and she will hear both.
- It is rising fast, so it will be commoner among her contemporaries than in the record.
- Clara, Claire and Clare are close enough that all three will be substituted.
Nobody names a baby alone.
Put Clara to the vote.
Add it to a family vote or a couple’s swipe deck — the other person gets one card, a simple answer and room to say why. No app, no account for them.
Only the people you invite can see your list.
Already decided on Clara? Hide it among decoys and let them guess.
What they receive
Someone added a name to your list
Clara
Feminine · #63 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Claras are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 108,000 people named Clara are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Clara in 2025?
- Clara ranks #63 among US girl names in 2025, with 3,601 babies given the name.
- How common is the name Clara?
- About 1 in every 446 US girls born in 2025 was named Clara — 3,601 in all.
- Will my child share the name Clara with classmates?
- Clara will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Clara
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Ruby#64 · Maya#62 · Alice#65 · Iris#61 · Genesis#66 · Leilani#60 · Adeline#59 · Paisley#67
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Clara? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Clara and another name?
See them side by side — full stats, history and a gentle verdict.
Compare side by sideIn a hurry? Just pick a winner — one tap, no sign-up, and you see how everyone else voted.
Or jump into a head-to-head
Weighing a whole shortlist? Add the rest in the builder, or settle it with a bracket.
Cast your vote
Which one would you pick?
Your gut first, the numbers after — the split shows once you pick.
US figures from the Social Security Administration; international figures from national statistics agencies. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
No advertising trackers and no data sellinghow we handle your dataindependent and founder-run, about Name Battle