ninan.org

Clara

Girls' name · Early 20th-century perennial

Living in the US
~108,000 survival-weighted estimate
2025 rank
#63 among girls
Births in 2025
3,601 301,540 since 1880
Typical age
23 years, median

Clara popularity over time

Clara rank by birth year, 1880–2025Clara ranked #12 in 1880 and #63 in 2025. Its best rank in the period was #7, in 1885.#10#100#63best #7 in 188518901920195019802010
Rank among US baby names by birth year, 1880–2025. Lower is more popular; the scale is logarithmic so the top of the chart is not compressed.

1918 is the peak year for Clara, with 5,800 births. It appears in the very first year SSA covers, 1880. Clara has spent 66 years inside the national top 100.

The 2025 position is #63, on 3,601 births. Year on year the rank improved by 15.

Babies named Clara per yearPeaks at 5,800 births in 1918.5,800 in 1918018901920195019802010
Recorded US births by year. The peak is labelled; the axis starts at zero.

How many people are named Clara?

An estimated 108,000 living Americans are called Clara. SSA has recorded 301,540 births under the name since 1880.

This is a survival-weighted estimate, not a headcount: every recorded birth year is multiplied by the chance someone born that year is still alive, using the SSA period life table. How the estimate works.

How old is the average Clara?

The typical living Clara is 23 years old. More of them were born in the 2010s than in any other decade. By the site’s era rules that makes Clara a early 20th-century perennial name.

Your Clara

Ages of living people named ClaraHalf of living Claras are older than 23 and half younger.median 23020406080100
Estimated living bearers by age today. Each bar is a birth year, weighted by the chance someone born then is still alive.

Where Clara is most common

The name is concentrated in South Dakota, at 3.3× the national rate. District of Columbia, Vermont and Montana follow.

Where Clara is used more than average5 states use the name Clara more than the national average.Alaska: not over-representedAKMaine: not over-representedMEVermont: 2.7× the national rateVTNew Hampshire: not over-representedNHWashington: not over-representedWAIdaho: not over-representedIDMontana: 2.6× the national rateMTNorth Dakota: 2.6× the national rateNDMinnesota: not over-representedMNIllinois: not over-representedILWisconsin: not over-representedWIMichigan: not over-representedMINew York: not over-representedNYOregon: not over-representedORNevada: not over-representedNVWyoming: not over-representedWYSouth Dakota: 3.3× the national rateSDIowa: not over-representedIAIndiana: not over-representedINOhio: not over-representedOHPennsylvania: not over-representedPANew Jersey: not over-representedNJConnecticut: not over-representedCTRhode Island: not over-representedRICalifornia: not over-representedCAUtah: not over-representedUTColorado: not over-representedCONebraska: not over-representedNEMissouri: not over-representedMOKentucky: not over-representedKYWest Virginia: not over-representedWVVirginia: not over-representedVAMaryland: not over-representedMDDelaware: not over-representedDEMassachusetts: not over-representedMAArizona: not over-representedAZNew Mexico: not over-representedNMKansas: not over-representedKSArkansas: not over-representedARTennessee: not over-representedTNNorth Carolina: not over-representedNCSouth Carolina: not over-representedSCDistrict of Columbia: 3.3× the national rateDCOklahoma: not over-representedOKLouisiana: not over-representedLAMississippi: not over-representedMSAlabama: not over-representedALGeorgia: not over-representedGAHawaii: not over-representedHITexas: not over-representedTXFlorida: not over-representedFL
Same as national3× or more
Location quotient, 2016–2025. Shaded states use the name more than the country does, relative to their own births. Exact figures are in the table below.
States where Clara is over-represented, 2016–2025. The location quotient compares the state's share of the name with the national share.
StateBirthsvs national rate
South Dakota 187 3.3×
District of Columbia 175 3.3×
Vermont 55 2.7×
Montana 139 2.6×
North Dakota 141 2.6×

Clara in England and Wales

ONS recorded 610 births named Clara in 2025, ranking it #77.

Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Counts below three are suppressed by ONS.

Where the name Clara comes from

Latin clāra, feminine of clārus (“bright, shining, clear”), a post-classical name made famous by the 13th century Saint Clara (Clare) of Assisi. Doublet of Clare, Claire.

Etymology summarised from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0. Wiktionary entry.

Notable people named Clara

Ordered by how many Wikipedia language editions have an article about them — a measure of reach, not of importance.
NameKnown forYearsEditions
Clara Zetkin Communist activist, and advocate for women's rights 1857–1933 107
Clara Schumann German musician and composer 1819–1896 81
Clara Bow American actress 1905–1965 59
Clara Petacci mistress of the Italian dictator Benito Mussolini 1912–1945 52
Clara Barton American Civil War nurse 1821–1912 50
Clara Immerwahr German chemist 1870–1915 44
Clara Campoamor Spanish politician, feminist 1888–1972 35
Clara Morgane French singer, model and TV host; former pornographic actress 1981 33
Photo credits (8)

People and dates from Wikidata (CC0), limited to those with an English Wikipedia article who are known by this name as their first name.

Names similar to Clara

Matched by sound and spelling inside this dataset, then ordered by total recorded births. This is not a claim about shared etymology.

Same feel, less common

The same matches, limited to names given at most half as often as Clara was in 2025.

Related pages

Get this data

Every number on this page is available as JSON: /api/name/clara.json. Free to use with attribution (CC BY 4.0).