Clara

Where Clara comes from

Learned borrowing 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 and Claire.
— Wiktionary's entry for Clara
  • Latin
  • 2 syllables
  • Vowel-ended
Along the way
  1. 1819
    Clara Schumann born
    German musician and composer
  2. 1857
    Clara Zetkin born
    Communist activist, and advocate for women's rights
  3. 1880
    First SSA year
    Already #12 among girls — 1,226 babies in the first year on record.
  4. 1885
    Peak, #7
    1,910 babies named Clara — more than any year before or since.
  5. 2025
    The comeback
    Back to #63 after sinking to #594 in 1978.
In the dictionary
  • A female given name from Latin.
Namesakes
  • Clara Zetkin · Communist activist, and advocate for women's rights, 1857–1933
  • Clara Schumann · German musician and composer, 1819–1896
  • Clara Bow · American actress, 1905–1965
  • Clara Petacci · mistress of the Italian dictator Benito Mussolini, 1912–1945
  • Clara Barton · American Civil War nurse, 1821–1912

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.