Claire Name Meaning & Origin
Claire
Origin of the name Claire:
Derived from the Latin clārus (bright, clear, famous). Clare is a common name throughout Europe and the British Isles, its popularity once due in part to the fame of St. Clare of Assisi (c. 1193 - 1253). The Italian nun who founded the order of the Poor Clares.
From A World of Baby Names by Teresa Norman.
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US Popularity of Claire Over Time

Sister & Brother Names
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Name Lists Featuring Claire
- Australian Girls Names: Most Popular Names for Girls in Australia (New South Wales) 2014
- Australian Girls Names: Most Popular Names for Girls in Australia (Victoria) 2014
- Canadian Girls Names: Most Popular Names for Girls in Canada (Alberta) 2014
- Canadian Girls Names: Most Popular Names for Girls in Canada (Saskatchewan) 2014
- Australian Girls Names: Most Popular Names for Girls in Australia (Victoria), 2010
- Canadian Girls Names: Most Popular Names for Girls in Canada (Alberta), 2010
- Canadian Girls Names: Most Popular Names for Girls in Canada (Alberta) for 2012
- Canadian Girls Names: Most Popular Names for Girls in Canada (Nova Scotia) 2014
- Australian Girls Names: Most Popular Names for Girls in Australia (New South Wales) for 2012
- Australian Girls Names: Most Popular Names for Girls in Australia (Victoria) for 2012
- Irish Girls Names: Most Popular Names for Girls in the Republic of Ireland
- Canadian Girls Names: Most Popular Names for Girls in Canada (Alberta)
- Canadian Girls Names: Most Popular Names for Girls in Canada (Saskatchewan)
- Australian Girls Names: Most Popular Names for Girls in Australia (New South Wales)
- Australian Girls Names: Most Popular Names for Girls in Australia (Victoria)
- Australian Girls Names: Most Popular Names for Girls in Australia (Queensland)
Contribute your knowledge to the name Claire
- Comments and insights on the name Claire
- Personal experiences with the name Claire
I LOVE my name and I always have! I was born in 1983 in San Francisco. Growing up I never met another Claire, so I was always the only one, which I loved, although it was disappointing never being able to find souvenir keychains or mugs with my name. But now the name Claire is booming, which is great because it's beautiful, but I loved growing up as the only Claire. Now I know all these little baby Claires; I like having a 30-year head start! Spelling downside: people often leave off the e or i.
Just a response to the above comment: my name is Claire and I'm in high school, which means there are a lot of Claires around my age, but you STILL can't find souvenir keychains or mugs with the name. They always have Craig, for some reason, but never Claire.
My husband is French and I am American. Claire is meaningful and popular in both French and English, so we named our daughter Claire with an "e" at the end, which gives it the English edge. Our Claire loves her name, and so does both sides of our family.
My daughter was born in 1985, and we named her Clare (without the "i"). I guess we did it to be a bit different. The name has definitely grown in popularity over the years! When Clare was about 10, she started helping a mom in the neighborhood with her three children, all under the age of 2. As her experience with them grew and she matured, Clare became the family babysitter and traveled with them on their vacations. In the mid-1990s, mom became pregnant with 4th child, and they so dearly loved my Clare and her name, they asked if they could name their daughter Clare Elisabeth. Of course, we said "YES," what an honor for us. The 2nd Clare has grown up to be as awesome as the "original" Clare!
We wanted to name our daughter Claire, but we love having longer names that can be shortened for our kids...so we named her Clarissa and we call her Claire. We both really love her name. She was born in 2010.
My husband and I are originally from Germany, but we have lived in the States for the last 15-plus years. Our 3 kids were born here, and we chose Claire because it's meaningful in English & German (Clara).
Our German family calls her Clärchen.I have a 17-year-old son (Drew) who calls my 12-year-old daughter (Claire) Squirt. It's the cutest thing! And then Claire calls her 14 year old brother (Elliott) Yettow. I don't know where she gets it but it's so adorable, but not how he almost attacks her. Eh, that's how brotherly-sisterly love I guess.
- Nicknames for Claire
ClaireBear, Clarabella, Cay, Clairy, Eclaire, Clay, Clarisse, Lairy,Clairechen
My Claire has flaming red hair - We call her RedHairy Clairy
When our older son first met his baby sister Claire he decided that the sounds she made sounded like little kitten sounds. So we have ALWAYS called her "Claire Cat". She also just so happens to be obsessed with cats :)
I've been called Clarabelle, ClaireBear, CareBear, Clarrissa. Some of my family is from Spain and they call me Clara and Clarita. My best friend calls me Clairey
- Meanings and history of the name Claire
Bright or clear, also distinguished
- Famous real-life people named Claire
Claire Boucher(Grimes), Canadian artist, musician, and singer-songwriter
Claire Danes, American actress
Claire Holt, Australian actress
Claire Foy, English actress
Claire Skinner, English actress
Claire Trevor, American actress
Claire Lee Chennault (male), American military aviator
Claire McCaskill, United States senator
Claire McDowell, American actress of the silent era
Claire Coffee, American actress
Claire Reid, child YouTuber- Claire in song, story & screen
Claire Danvers, main character in the Morganville Vampire books
Claire Bennet, character on the TV show "Heroes"
Claire Dunphy, character on the TV show "Modern Family"
Claire Fisher, character from HBO series "Six Feet Under"
Claire Kincaid, character on "Law and Order"
Claire Littleton, character on TV show "Lost"
Claire Standish, character in movie "The Breakfast Club"
Claire McCleod, McLeods Daughters
"Claire", song by Gilbert O'Sullivan
"Oh Claire", song by Cheap Trick
Claire Novak, character on "Supernatural", Jimmy Novak (castiel's vessels) daughter
"Planet Claire", song by B-52s
Claire Lyons in "The Clique" series
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Claire Elizabeth Beauchamp Randall Fraser, protagonist in Diana Gabaldon's Outlander series of novels
"Clair de la lune" is a song by Claude Debussy
Claire- Wedding Crashers
Claire huxtable in "The Cosby Show" (1984-1992)
Claire Redfield is the one of the main characters in Resident Evil series.
Claire is the name of Gabe's mother in Lois Lowry's novel "Son", part of the Giver Series