Claire names range from the classic Clara to elaborate Clarimond to modern possibilities like Clarity and Sinclair.
In my Italian family, children were traditionally named after their grandparents. When you reached girl or boy #3, it was time to move on names from great-aunts and great-uncles.
The result? Those big families with lots of cousins named Tony.
As it happens, we’re light on Tonys, but rich in Claire names.
Chiara Offreduccio, better known as Saint Clare of Assisi, is remembered as one of the first followers of Saint Francis. Chiara is the Italian form of Clara, which becomes Claire in French and Clare in English. Though every form of the name can be heard across the Western world.
Forms of Chiara and Clare are all over my family tree, from my mother to my daughter.
In the US, we’ve alternated between Claire and Clare. At present, Claire ranks in the Top 100, ahead of Clara and well ahead of Clare.
But what if you like the sound, but long for something a little more elaborate? Or maybe a creative spin on a traditional choice?
It turns out there are tons of Claire names, from the spare to the frilly, the modern to the antique.
Read on for all of the Clara-Claire names.
CLAIRE
Trim, tailored, and frills-free, Claire feels steadily popular, but not overused. Today’s parents grew up with Claire Danes, and we’re still watching her in award-winning Showtimes series Homeland. Clare and Clair are options, too. All come directly from the Latin clarus – clear or bright. Though Clare can also be an Irish place name and surname, as in County Clare, and an English one, too, from the Suffolk town. And just for fun, there’s an early B-52s single, “Planet Claire.”
CLARA
You might think of The Nutcracker’s Clara, or flapper extraordinaire Clara Bow. But the name dates even farther back. It’s the feminine form of Clarus, worn by several early saints. And the thirteenth century Italian saint boosted her name across Europe, in several forms – including the Latin Clara. This name became a Top Ten favorite in the late 1800s, but remains just outside of the US Top 100 now.
CHIARA
The Italian form of the name brings to mind a host of international options. There’s the Irish Ciara, with a completely separate origin and meaning. Kiara and company could be re-spellings of either, or just a whole new name. It’s elaborate, impeccably Italian, and probably easier to wear than, say, Elettra or Fiammetta.
CHIARINA
Americans usually think of nicknames as shorter – Ellie for Eleanor, Lou from Lucille. But many languages elaborate names, adding syllables to create diminutive forms. Chiarina comes from Chiara plus -ina, an ending that transforms the name into “little Claire.” It’s not something you’ll hear in the US, but it has meaning for my family, so I’m listing it here. (My family turned Chairina into Clarina, though the current bearer of the name much prefers to be Clare.)
CLARENCIA
Speaking of elaborations, Clarencia probably comes from Clarence, though it seems possible that Clarencia predates the masculine form. There’s a small port in Chile called Caleta Clarencia. A medieval state known as Achaea once claimed Clarencia as its capital. Today it stands in Greece, and is known as Glarentza, but antique coins still bear the inscription “DE CLARENCIA.” Pretty obscure, I suppose, but still a lovely, beguiling sound.
CLARETTE, CLARETTA
Another rarity, Clarette languished even in the age of Annette. But it’s quite close to Scarlett, and -ette names are enjoying a renaissance today. So perhaps there’s a chance for this elaboration.
CLARIBEL
Clarabelle screams cow, thanks to Walt Disney. The character debuted way back in 1928, and appears just enough over the years to remind us. It’s also one of the faithful coaches in Thomas the Tank Engine – spelled Clarabel, and a clown from 1950s children’s television staple, Howdy Doody. And yet it’s a smoosh of Clare and Belle, giving this name the meaning bright and beautiful. In our age of Isabella and Annabelle, surely some spelling of this name could appeal. Clarabella, maybe?
CLARICE
A handful of names are cemented in our collective memory from just one scene. There’s Marlon Brando’s passionate Stella, of course. And then there’s Anthony Hopkins’ bone-chilling Clarice. Hopkins played serial killer Hannibal Lechter in the 1991 big screen adaptation of the bestselling novel; Jodie Foster was heroic FBI agent Clarice Starling. Both roles – and names – are unforgettable. But I don’t think it should doom Clarice. Back in 1964’s Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, Clarice was Rudolph’s girlfriend. And it appeared in the US Top 1000 most years into the 1960s. It’s the kind of name everyone recognizes, but no one is using. One another association: the University of Maryland’s is home to The Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center, known simply as The Clarice.
CLARIMOND
Like Claribel, this is a smoosh name. In this case, it’s the Latin clarus with the Germanic mund – bright protector, maybe? Or it could come from the Occitan Esclarmonde – light of the world, a name from medieval legend. There’s a Massenet opera by the name, too, the tale of an empress and sorceress.
CLARINDA
Edmund Spenser, that great inventor of dramatic names, created Clarinda for his sixteenth century epic, The Faerie Queene. It has a long history of sparing use in the US, though it seems near extinction in the last decade or so.
CLARION
Unlike many of the Claire names, Clarion feels unisex. It also sounds more modern than antique. It’s a musical term, in the company of Aria. Clarion originally referred to a small trumpet, again from the Latin clarus. A clarion call demands action. That makes this part-musical, part-virtue name.
CLARISSA
Frilly, feminine Clarissa was boosted by Melissa Joan Hart’s late 1980s Nickelodeon hit, Clarissa Explains It All. But it sounds vintage, and indeed, the name was first made famous by a late eighteenth century novel – in which virtuous Clarissa suffers mightily. Still, I think this name sounds romantic, resilient, and just a little bit different today. And if you’re a fan of popular YA series The Mortal Instruments, then this name might feel all-out heroic.
CLARITY
Felicity, Amity, and Verity all feel at home on Plymouth Rock. But Clarity carries a modern vibe. That’s partly because the name was virtually unheard of in the US before the 1970s. It’s also true, though, that Clarity seems like a modern virtue. It suggests clear thinking, or perhaps vision – which makes this an especially clever choice for a 2020 baby. File it with Serenity, another meaning-rich choice for a daughter today.
CLARY
Nearly any of these names might shorten to Clary, but it might bring to mind the main character from The Mortal Instruments. She’s called Clary throughout the series, but her given name is the pretty Clarissa.
KLARA
Klara could be a Kardashian-inspired spin on Clara. But most often, it’s simply the preferred spelling in Germany, as well as Scandinavia and many Slavic countries.
MARY CLARE, MARIE CLAIRE, MARIA CLARA
Double Claire names occur in many languages. The magazine Marie Claire makes the French version familiar, but all of these – and more – are heard across time and languages.
SINCLAIR
Looking for a tailored, unisex spin on Claire names, but not willing to go quite as far as Clarion? Sinclair means Saint Claire. It brings to mind American author Sinclair Lewis, which makes it feel masculine. But in our age of Harper, Riley, and Addison, I think this works every bit as well for a daughter.
What are your favorite Claire names?
First published on April 9, 2012, I wrote the original version for my mother, Clare. It was substantially revised and re-posted on October 3, 2014 for her namesake’s sixth birthday, and again, on April 6, 2020, this name for my mom’s birthday.
My family history has male lineage of Clair. My brother being the last. In today’s age he has landed so many job opportunities because of it. It has been a great conversation starter when he introduces himself to others. Surprisingly, he never really got picked on in grade school because of it.
I love Claire. It’s only recently that the Clar to rhyme with star pronunciation of Clara told hold in Britain. Opera singer Dame Clara Butt gave her name to a tulip bulb, always pronounced Dame Clair-uh Butt by my English mother, a keen gardener, and everyone else. This older pronunciation of Clara in Britain is also heard in the 1954 movie “Aunt Clara” starring Margaret Rutherford.
Interesting, Jonquil – thank you!
One of my daughters has Claire as her middle name. Her first is a Welsh name that starts with M and ends with th. I LOVE how her first and middle sound together! If she has a daughter, she has said she wants to name her Claire.
Of the various Claire variants, I like Clarice and Chiara the best.
Unfortunately a childhood friend ruined the name Claire and all other Claire names for me and Clarabelle screams “cow”. Otherwise I do think it is a good name, though nor for me.
Clarence is the only Claire name I like and I have been trying to convince my husband to use it as first name for our next boy. He prefers it in the middle so we’ll see what we end up with…
Hahaha! The opening of this post is so relatable!! I actually come from one of those Tony-heavy families! Lol.
I guess I never realized how many varying forms of Claire there are, but they were all so fascinating to read about. I love Clara the most. But I also love Chiara and quite like Claire/Clare. Clarimond intrigues me, but it’s probably not one I’d ever consider using myself.
Great post!
Thanks, Emma!
My (not Italian) husband was always wondering why I didn’t have an Uncle Tony. 🙂 Funny how some family traditions work out that way … though if my grandparents were alive, I imagine they’d start rattling off Tonys in our extended family …
Because I know the history of the name, I am very particular of the spelling. I love seeing the name on a boy but then I hear people make comments of “isn’t it a girls name,” not recognizing that it was a boys name originally and adapted to a female form. The name has a multitude of beautiful male and female spellings. As long people are open to the great history of the name the more range it has. My favorite version are: Claribeau, Esclarmonde, Clarimonde.
Could the nickname “Claire” be used for “Clara,” spelling and all, or would that cause confusion? I am so torn because I like the formal name “Clara” since it fits better with middle names and our last name, but I’m pretty sure I’d want to actually call our daughter “Claire,” with an “i” in it, as I’ve always loved that name. Is that doable? I’m inclined to think it would be confusing . . .
Y’know, I think you CAN do anything you want. But do I think people would be confused by Clara-nickname-Claire? Yes. Even Clara-called-Clare might be confusing. Now, Clara called Clary/Clari seems natural. And if you name her Clara, and write Clara on everything BUT call her Claire in real life – and think of it with an ‘i’ as you say it – that’s probably workable.
You could opt for an even longer form of the name – Clarice, Clarissa? Marie-Claire, Mary Claire? But I might be inclined – in this case – to just use Claire.
Clara nicknamed Claire seems fine to me, a natural abbreviation when spoken out loud. It’s only to see it written that might throw folks. But plenty of nicknames have a non intuitive spellings, and if you use a traditional spelling, at least it won’t be misspelled often.
Clarity is already on my list (it and Verity are my favourite virtue names), and I’m going to have to add Clarion as well. What a great name! It reminds me of Marion (for obvious reasons), which I also love, but the hard “C” at the beginning of Clarion really makes it pop.
Oh, of course – Clarion and Marion. Excellent point, and makes her even more wearable!
Clarity has been on my list for years, and I love Clara for its flapper charms. There’s a tea room on the Royal Mile in Edinburgh called Clarinda’s, which I always thought was a pretty, grandmotherly name. I wouldn’t use Clarrie as a nickname for any of them, though, because of the connection with Clarrie Grundy, one of the main characters in long-running agricultural radio soap opera, The Archers: if Clara is 20s glamour, Clarrie is silage and milking (oh, talking of milking, I think Claribel is perfectly viable, though I understand it is a bit too ‘cow’ for some people!).
Lilac, thanks for the note about Clarinda’s – it does sound like the perfect name for a tea room! And agreed on Claribel.
Queen Clarion is the queen of the fairies in the new tinkerbell movies!
“Clarette was seldom heard. The same goes for Claretta.”
Perhaps too many overtures of claret wine.
Good point, Sara!
Chiara is my favorite here! Such a gorgeous name, so soft and elegant. There’s a little four year-old Chiara in our neighborhood (not Italian, but her mother studied abroad in Italy and fell in love with the name.)
(Great story about ‘Chiara’ . . . Reverend Mother Dolores Hart, a prioress at a Benedictine convent in Connecticut, played St. Clare in the 1961 film “Francis of Assisi,” and met Pope John XXIII during filming. She introduced herself as the actress playing Clare, and he responded, “No, you ARE Chiara.” This was several years before she became a nun.)
My second cousin just named his new baby girl Klara, and it struck me as so fresh… big brothers are Boden and Henrick. I love the look and sound of Clara (or Klara) and Claire – such lovely names.
I actually know someone who named her little girl Clarion! It took some getting used to but it feels nice after a while.
I also had a flute teacher who named her daughter Clair, admitting that at one point they did consider having her middle name Annette before choosing a family name.
Clair Annette – took me a sec to get it, but oh my goodness!
And you know a Clarion? That totally makes my day!
I think I would like Chiara a lot more if chiari malformation didn’t run in my family. Also, in regards to Clara, there’s Clara Oswald on Doctor Who! The Doctor’s companions almost always give their names a popularity boost in the UK.
Of course! The Impossible Girl! 🙂
I love Claire and Clare. My husband’s family is from County Clare and that’s an appealing call-back. (Much nicer than the towns MY family is from, lawlz….) but I don’t know if the authenticity of Clare is worth always being spelt wrong because I suspect most people would write down Claire?
I’ve loved Claire for decades though. It’s so spare and simple and femme, it’s like Jane to me. It’s hard to find really wonderful great one-syllable names for girls.
Sinclair is the dippy idiot girl from Living Single to me, the one that was Queen Latifah’s character’s feeble-minded cousin.
My brother in laws name is Blair and I so loved the name Claire when we first got married.. Oh well, not going to be the name for my next girl.
I love Clara the most, lovely name. Clarissa isn’t bad either. Claire is a bit overrated, but decent moniker, and Clair, without the final -e, is a masculine name to me.
I know two Claras, both under the age of 4 so I definitely feel it’s rising. I love most of the Clare names but I think I prefer Clarissa. And I can’t believe I never thought of Clarity, it’s gorgeous!
I love Claire and Clara! It’s on my “names I love but can’t use” list because my in-laws have a cat named Clara Jane.
Claire is a family name on my mom’s side (aunt’s middle, sister’s middle, cousin’s first name) and my cousin on my dad’s side recently used Clara as a first name for her baby. I’ve always found Claire a bit filler in the middle name spot, but I’m loving its emergence as a first name.
If I had been a girl Claire would probably have been my middle name.
For boys, what about Clarence (admittedly a bit dated) or being adventurous, Clarion ?
I’m surprised you didn’t mention Clara Barton. That’s my major association. I really wanted to use Clara for my first but my sister in law beat me to the punch and named her daughter Clara two months before our Cecily was born! It was also the name of my husband’s great grandmother so it’s a family name.
Clair is actually the name of my uncle, my dad’s brother, so Claire has always had a sllightly masculine feel for me, even though I really like it.
Just a word to those thinking of using Claire, don’t use Elizabeth as a middle! 😉 All but one of the Claires I knoe have that in the middle, the other has Elise.
Funnily enough, my four year old uses Claribel for a lot of characters she names. It’s growing on me!
I’m a Claire, and I’d rather have the middle name Elizabeth than the clunky family surname I ended up with. I guess the shortness of the name makes parents think they have to balance it out, though.
I adore Clare, Claire, Clara, and Clarice! Clare/Claire is one of the few names I’d break my no-reusing-first-initials rule to use. Unfortunately, the Husband fails to see its loveliness.
I really love Clares! My mother has a friend named Claramae which I’ve always thought was rather cute, although I’d simplify the spelling to Clara Mae.
With namesakes like Upton Sinclair and Sinclair Lewis, I have trouble imaging Sinclair on girls… but it could be striking on a boy.
I like Berenice. Her feminine 4 syllables could make the next Beatrice or Isabella. I give her 10 years and she’ll take off again.
I love Claribel, Claire, and Clarity. <3
I love Clare – it’s the name of my 8 year old. We rarely meet anyone her age with that name but there are lots of Claires in the under 5 crowd.
We still love Clara, though it’s climbing-ness is bothering me. I’ve met a few little Claras in our area — but because of the family connection (Clara was my husband’s great aunt who introduced his grandparents and his parents) I think we’ll still use it.
It is important to me to use reasonably uncommon names, though, and I’m not sure Clara Joy is that anymore — and it will probably be even worse a couple years from now when we get around to having another child.
The other variants, though pretty, don’t feel like “our” name.
As the granddaughter (and great-granddaughter) of a Claire I have always loved the name. So much that I named my daughter Claire. The popularity rise made me stop for a moment (86 for the year of her birth), but we decided that as an old family name and honor name we were not willing to give it up.
Also, Sinclair is completely male to me. A great way to get to a masculine Clair.
I love Claire/Clair/Clare. I once worked for a lovely lady named Clair. I have only known one other Clare and she had a sister named Amber.
I also know a Clarista. It suits her and she is called Clare a fair bit.
I do love Clara, but the rest aren’t my style.
Oh, Clarimonde should ABSOLUTELY be here – thank you!
And Blaire is a good suggestion, too – I do like it, especially as Mary Blair.
Love Clara, Clarity and Sinclair 🙂
You seem to me missing Clarimonde, though. And sweet Clary.
My friend named her daughter Tamasin Clair, a clever way of honoring her mother, whose maiden name was Sinclair.
That is clever – and Tamasin is a great name.
What about Blaire? I had always thought of it as a modern spin on Claire, but I’m British and Claire has been a staple for years 🙂