Clare

Where Clare comes from

Medieval English vernacular form of Clara, from the Latin clara, feminine of clarus (“bright, shining, clear”), a post-classical name made famous by the 13th century Saint Clara of Assisi. In Oxfordshire, from Clarora, a clay slope.
— Wiktionary's entry for Clare
  • Latin
  • 2 syllables
  • Vowel-ended
Along the way
  1. 1880
    First SSA year
    Already #435 among girls — 15 babies in the first year on record.
  2. 1884
    Peak, #320
    38 babies named Clare — more than any year before or since.
  3. 1903
    Clare Boothe Luce born
    American writer, politician, ambassador, journalist and anti-Communist activist
  4. 1911
    Clare Hollingworth born
    British journalist
In the dictionary
  • A unisex given name from Latin, more often spelled Claire from the 20th century onward.
  • A male given name transferred from the surname, of quite uncommon usage.
Namesakes
  • Clare Hollingworth · British journalist, 1911–2017
  • Clare Boothe Luce · American writer, politician, ambassador, journalist and anti-Communist activist, 1903–1987
  • Clare Daly · Irish independent politician, born 1968
  • Clare Kramer · American actress, born 1974
  • Clare Torry · British singer, born 1947

Sources: the origin note and dictionary entry are quoted from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0); the namesakes come from Wikidata (CC0); the milestones are worked out from the SSA record.