Claire
Top 1000
About Claire
Claire, luminous, simple, and strong, is one of those special names that is familiar yet distinctive, feminine but not frilly, combining historical depth with a modern edge. And though Claire is enjoying revived popularity, it will never be seen as trendy. Claire is also a great middle name choice.
Claire is the French form of Clara, a feminine derivation of the Latin masculine name Clarus. The French word for "clear," Claire's meaning, is clair, and was traditionally a male name. Now, the spelling is used mainly for girls, along with Clare, and occasionally Klaire or Klare.
Claire is usually seen as the French spelling of the name, while the equally appropriate Clare is English and Clair is French too. Clara, once seen as a stuffier version, has lately gained some fashion edge, primarily because it has more vintage charm and is somewhat more unusual. The Italian Chiara is another recommended choice.
Famous women named Claire include the medieval Saint Clare of Assisi (who was made the patron saint of television in 1958 because of her reputed power to see events at a distance), writer Clare Booth Luce, silent screen siren Clara Bow, and actresses Claire Bloom and Claire Danes.
There have been countless fictional Claires as well, including ideal mom Clair Huxtable, Molly Ringwald's character in The Breakfast Club, Clare Kendry in Nella Larsen's novel Passing, and characters in House of Cards, Lost, Six Feet Under, Modern Family, and the Outlander series.
Pronounced KLAIR.
As of October 2026, Claire ranked #68 in US births in 2025 SSA, peaked at #40 in 2016, Nameberry popularity #18.
Editor: Pamela Redmond
Sources: US popularity data is from the Social Security Administration. Meanings and origins are from Nameberry's name references.
Popularity & trends
Data table
| Year | US rank | Births | Per million |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | #44 | 5,015 | 2,807.4 |
| 2015 | #49 | 4,837 | 2,709.7 |
| 2016 | #40 | 5,216 | 2,943.5 |
| 2017 | #49 | 4,702 | 2,723.5 |
| 2018 | #50 | 4,405 | 2,589.5 |
| 2019 | #55 | 4,130 | 2,460.7 |
| 2020 | #58 | 3,837 | 2,373.6 |
| 2021 | #59 | 3,703 | 2,256.7 |
| 2022 | #66 | 3,380 | 2,060.8 |
| 2023 | #67 | 3,199 | 1,993.7 |
| 2024 | #67 | 3,329 | 2,054.7 |
| 2025 | #68 | 3,487 | 2,169.5 |
World rankings
Similar names
These 20 names were selected by our users looking for other names like Claire.
- Madeline
- Sophie
- Caroline
- Audrey
- Grace
- Abigail
- Eliza
- Anna
- Eva
- Ella
- Julia
- Emma
- Lucy
- Elizabeth
- Hannah
- Juliet
- Lillian
- Isabel
- Chloe
- Emily
Claire on lists
Famous Claires
- Claire Catherine Danes
American actress
- Claire Rhiannon Holt
Australian actress
- Claire Foy
English actress
- Claire Cook
American novelist
- (Lauren) Claire Skinner
English actress
- Claire Denis
French film director
- Claire Trevor
American actress
- Claire Gibault
French politician
- Claire Labine
American soap opera writer and producer
- Claire Lee Chennault
male American military aviator
- Claire Conner McCaskill
U.S. Senator from Missouri
- Claire Shipman
American TV journalist
- Claire McDowell
American silent film actress
- Claire Elizabeth Coffee
American actress
- Claire Antonia Forlani
English actress
- Claire Victoria Marshall
English broadcast journalist
- Claire Messud
American novelist
- Claire Titelman
American actress
- Claire Margaret Corlett
Canadian actress
- Claire Louise Evans
Miss Wales 2005
- Claire Robinson
American celebrity chef
- Claire Buffie
American photographer
- Claire Bloom (born Patricia Claire Blume)
English actress
- Claire Julien (born Claire Alys Pfister)
American actress
- Claire Elise Boucher
birth name of Canadian musician Grimes
- Claire Pettibone
American fashion designer
- Claire Alexandra Windsor
Countess of Ulster (nee Booth), physician and wife of Alexander Windsor, Earl of Ulster
- Claire Margareta Lademacher
Princess of Luxembourg, German bioethics researcher
- Claire Louise Coombs
Princess of Belgium, English land surveyor and wife of Prince Laurent
- (Hazel) Claire Weekes
Australian physician and author
- Claire Yiu
Hong Kong actress
- Claire Etcherelli
French novelist
- Claire Harris
Canadian poet
- Claire Hodgkins
American violinist
- Claire Hooper
Australian comedienne
- Claire Martin
Canadian novelist
- Claire Martin
English jazz singer
- Claire Berenice Rayner
English journalist and advice columnist
- Claire Yarlett
American actress
- Claire Engler
American actress
- Claire Zulkey
American novelist
- Claire Louise Rutter
English operatic soprano
- (Ronnie) Claire Edwards
American actress
- Claire Platt
daughter of American actor Oliver Platt
- Claire Lauren Rafferty
English football player
- Claire Anne Richards
English singer with pop group Steps
- Claire Erica Meiland
Dutch reality star
Claire in pop culture
- Claire Standish
character in movie "The Breakfast Club"
- Claire Bennet
character on TV's 'Heroes'
- Claire Novak
character on TV's "Supernatural"
- Claire Montgomery
character in movie "Go"
- Claire Fisher
character on TV's 'Six Feet Under'
- Claire Littleton
character on TV's 'Lost'
- Claire Kincaid
character on TV's "Law & Order"
- Claire Dunphy
character on TV's 'Modern Family'
- Claire Redfield
character in the 'Resident Evil' video game series
- Claire Danvers
character in "Morganville Vampires" by Rachel Caine
- Claire Underwood
character on TV's "House of Cards"
- Claire Saunders
character on TV's "Dollhouse"
- Claire Richards
character in Janet Fitch's "White Oleander"
- Claire Keats
character on TV's "NCIS: Red"
- Claire Lyons
character in "The Clique" series
- Claire de Valecourt
character in G. A. Henty's, St. Bartholomew's Eve
- Claire Kyle
character on TV's "My Wife and Kids"
- Claire Jackman
character on TV's "Jekyll"
- Claire Pike
character in "The Baby,Sitters Club" series
- Claire Abshire
character in Audrey Niffenegger's "The Time Traveler's Wife"
- Claire Elizabeth Fraser
character in Diana Gabaldon's 'Outlander' series
- Claire Foster
character in "Does My Head Look Big in This?" by Randa Abdel,Fattah
- Claire Ellery
main character in video game "Strange Cases: The Secrets of Grey Mist Lake"
- Claire Farron aka Lightning
main character in video game "Final Fantasy XIII"
- Claire Setilan
character in video game "Magna Carta 2"
- Claire Foley
character in the Professor Layton video game series
- "Planet Claire
" song by the The B,52's
- Marie Claire
women's magazine
- Claire's
chain jewelry and accessory store
- Claire Green
character on TVs "Promised Land"
- Claire Conyers
character in G. A. Henty's, Orange and Green
- Claire Dearing
character in film "Jurassic World"
- Claire Densmore
character from the "Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children" series
- Claire
character from the "Hidden"
- Claire
character in short story collection "Solegasm" by author Tina Tirrell
- Claire
character in Lois Lowry's book "Son"
- Clare Edwards
character from TV series "Degrassi: The Next Generation"
- Claire Nuñez
character in the Netflix series "Trollhunters"
- Claire Miller
character in TV series "Lizzie McGuire"
- Claire McLeod
character in Australian Tv Series "McLeod's Daughters"