How rare is the name Clara?

109,248 people in the United States have the first name Clara, about 1 in 2,765. It ranks #519 of 53,615 first names in the 2020 Census.

first name

CLARA

#519

of 53,615 first names recorded in the 2020 Census

People
109,248
About
1 in 2,765
This common or more
59.2%
Who bears it

Of the 109,248 people named Clara, 59% reported their origin as White, 23.3% as Hispanic or Latino and 10.9% as Black. Virtually all are female (99.9%). These count how people described themselves on the 2020 Census, not where the name comes from.

Clara peaked in 1918, when 5,800 babies got the name.

Births per year, SSA records 1880–2025
18802025
Peak year
1918
Births that year
5,800
In 2025*
3,601 ▼38%
Recorded as
almost entirely female

At least 301,540 babies have been given the name since 1880. Years SSA withheld, because fewer than 5 were born, are skipped rather than drawn as zero. * 2025 is the newest year published and it undercounts: a card application is filed some time after a birth.

Clara by decade

Among all names given to American babies, its best decade was the 1890s, when it ranked #19. The largest share of babies named Clara, 35.1%, were born between 1901 and 1927, the Greatest Generation's birth years.

1880s#2217,800
1890s#1925,545
1900s#3324,013
1910s#7044,502
1920s#9848,392
1930s#14431,872
1940s#26520,104
1950s#42912,800
1960s#6596,515
1970s#9823,295
1980s#9983,686
1990s#7946,271
2000s#51912,794
2010s#27226,674
2020s#22417,277
Before 190115.3%
Greatest Generation 1901–2735.1%
Silent Generation 1928–4517.5%
Baby boom 1946–648%
Generation X 1965–802%
Millennials 1981–962.4%
Generation Z 1997–127.1%
2013 and later12.5%

Rank counts both sexes together, among every name SSA recorded that decade; the number under it is births. The 2020s run only to 2025. Generation years follow Pew Research Center, which has not named a generation after 2012.

Where Clara is most common

Compared with all babies born in each state since 1910, Clara has been most common in Mississippi (2.3×), Alabama (2×), and North Dakota (1.9×), and least common in Nevada (0.39×).

230,735 births recorded by state, 1910–2025. 2× means twice as common as nationally. States with fewer than 30 such births are left blank, and SSA withholds any year with fewer than 5 in a state, so small states read low.

Either side of Clara

#517 Cecilia · 109,389#518 Norman · 109,382#520 Grant · 109,200#521 Brayden · 109,062

Spelled almost the same

8 first names in the 2020 Census spelled within a letter or two of Clara, most common first.

#1,377 Clare · 25,764#7,379 Claira · 2,074#17,586 Claro · 624#18,362 Clary · 588#21,351 Clora · 476#39,517 Claria · 191#44,846 Clar · 153#47,684 Clari · 136

Also a last name

As a last name, Clara ranks #18,832 of 156,621, with 1,445 people. See Clara as a last name

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