Clare
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Meaning
“'clear, bright, famous', from Latin clarus”
Clare's name day is August 11, the feast of Saint Clare of Assisi in the Roman calendar of saints.
The story
Clare is the Latin clarus, clear and bright, and the name's great bearer chose her path at eighteen: Clare of Assisi slipped away from her family's house on a March night in 1212 to join Francis, gave up everything, and founded the order the world calls the Poor Clares. Seven centuries later the Church handed her a patronage nobody could have predicted: in 1958 Pius XII declared her the patron saint of television, because near the end of her life she was said to have seen and heard, from her sickbed, a Christmas mass celebrated far across Assisi. In US records Clare has kept the steadiest of profiles, present in every decade, never crowding the top, with a gentle rise since the 2000s as parents rediscover the spelling without the i. It is the quietest kind of name: one syllable, one meaning, bright and clear, exactly as advertised.
Clare's name family
One shared root links 6 names across 2 languages.
Shared root: from Latin clarus "clear, bright, famous", sainted by Clare of Assisi
The constellation
More branches
How popular is Clare around the world?
In the United States, 1,735 babies were named Clare between 2020 and 2025. In South Australia, 3 girls were registered as Clare in 2017.
Clare is on the official records of the United States, South Australia, Ireland, Canada, England and Wales, Spain and Brazil.
United States
1 in 13,000
In the United States, 1,735 babies were named Clare between 2020 and 2025.
Shape drawn from US Social Security baby-name records. Clare peaked in the 2000s and the 2020s in nearly equal measure. In US birth records Clare has stayed between 1,114 and 4,396 births in every decade since the 1950s: a name everyone knows and few children get.
Births with a Social Security record. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration
South Australia
1 in 6,1002017
In South Australia, 3 girls were registered as Clare in 2017.
share of that year’s name registrations
Births registered in South Australia (not all of Australia) by first name and year of registration, 1944–2017, from the state’s Births, Deaths and Marriages registry, which publishes every name down to a single birth in capitals; a spelling its export repeats inside a year is counted once, and from 2018 only a top 100 is published, so the series ends at 2017. Source: Consumer and Business Services (South Australia), popular baby names
Ireland
1 in 14,000
In Ireland, 4 girls named Clare were born in 2025, the 718th most common name among girls that year.
share of that year’s name registrations
Exact registered spellings from Irish vital statistics; any name under 3 in a year is withheld at source, and accented spellings (fadas) are recorded reliably only from 2018. Source: Central Statistics Office (Ireland), Irish babies' names
Canada
1 in 15,000
In Canada, 25 girls named Clare were born in 2024, ranked 1,050th among girls that year.
share of that year’s name registrations
First given names from provincial and territorial vital statistics across Canada; any name-sex-year under 5 is excluded at source, and small Quebec counts carry a randomized adjustment made at source. Shares divide by Statistics Canada’s count of live births for the year; the 2024 count is preliminary. Source: Statistics Canada, first names at birth (table 17-10-0147-01)
England and Wales
1 in 200,000
In England and Wales, 3 girls named Clare were born in 2025, ranked 5,927th among girls that year.
share of that year’s name registrations
Birth registrations in England and Wales (not the whole UK); exact spellings are counted separately, and any spelling under 3 in a year is withheld at source. Source: Office for National Statistics, baby names in England and Wales
Spain
1 in 470,000
In Spain, 96 residents are named Clare, ranked 8,015th among women, with a mean age of 50.3 years.
Residents of Spain on 1 January 2025. Spain publishes how old a name’s living bearers are, not a birth series, so there is no year chart. Source: INE (Spain), Censo de Población anual, 1 January 2025
Brazil
1 in 1M
At the 2022 census, 112 people in Brazil were named Clare, ranked 38,089th, with a median age of 42.
Among people named Clare living in Brazil at the 2022 census, more were born in the 1960s than in any other decade.
people alive at the 2022 census, by decade of birth
People alive and resident in Brazil at the 2022 census, a living-population count, not births; names under 20 are withheld at source. Source: IBGE, Censo Demográfico 2022
Montevideo City
last on record 1983
Clare is not on the 2011 record for Montevideo, whose registry withholds nothing, so the spelling was not given there that year.
The count never rose above 1 in a year, too few to chart.
Births in the department of Montevideo (not all of Uruguay) by first name and year of birth, 1940–2011, from the city’s civil registry, which writes names in capitals, almost always without accents; counted as spelling groups (accent and punctuation variants merged), nothing is withheld at source, and 2012 is excluded as a partial year. Source: Servicio de Registro Civil, Intendencia de Montevideo, Partidas de Registro Civil de Montevideo (Licencia de Datos Abiertos - Uruguay); 2012 dropped as partial
New South Wales
outside the top 100
Clare is not in the 2025 top 100 for New South Wales.
share of that year’s top-100 registrations
New South Wales (not all of Australia) publishes only each year’s 100 most popular names per sex, so a missing year means below that top 100, not rare. Source: NSW Registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages, popular baby names
New Zealand
last on record 1998
Clare is not on the 2025 record for New Zealand, where names under 10 in a year are excluded at source.
share of that year’s name registrations
First given names from New Zealand birth registrations, grouped by registration year; any name under 10 in a year is excluded at source. Shares divide by Stats NZ’s count of births registered to mothers living in New Zealand, under 1% below the registry’s own count. Source: Department of Internal Affairs (New Zealand), baby name popularity over time
Scotland
last on record 2009
Clare is not on the 2024 record for Scotland, where spellings under 3 in total are suppressed at source.
share of that year’s name registrations
Births registered in Scotland; different spellings count separately but accents are merged at source, and any spelling under 3 in total is suppressed. Source: National Records of Scotland, babies' first names
Not on the record in Mexico City, Argentina, Puerto Rico and Poland: those registries withhold small counts, so rare uses may sit below their floors.
Not on the Chile record: nametree keeps spellings that reached 5 registrations in some year, so rarer uses are not shown. Not on the France record: nametree keeps spellings that reached 20 births in some year, so rarer uses are not shown. Not on the Austria record for 1984 to 2025: Statistik Austria publishes every first name down to a single birth, so this name was not given there in those years (before 2010 the record covers babies with Austrian citizenship only). Not on Norway’s list: Statistics Norway lists only first names carried by 200 or more living people, so rarer names are not shown.
When you meet Clare
Most people given the name Clare in the United States were born between 1960 and 2019. The Clare you meet today is most often in her 20s or 30s.
Estimated from US Social Security birth registrations and typical lifespans; a rough guide, not a rule.
Keep exploring
Saint names for babies and confirmation · Familiar but never popular
The Clare deep dive
Whether you’re naming a baby or exploring your own name’s history, this is a personal letter, not a list: where Clare truly comes from, how it traveled, and what a century of records reveals. If you have grown a tree on nametree, it also considers how Clare fits with your family’s names and surname.
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