Clair
A feminine name of French origin meaning "clear, bright, or light".
Name Census estimates that about 5,840 living Americans carry the first name Clair. It appears on both sides of the gender split, with 73.8% of registrations being male. The average person named Clair today is around 56 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Clair births was 1923 (405 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Clair. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
For a British comparison, Name Census UK has a UK baby-name profile for Clair with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Clair started out as a boys' name but over the decades crossed over and is now given to girls far more often.
People living today
5.8K
~ 1 in 58,691 Americans
Peak year
1923
405 babies that year
Average age
56
years old
2020 SSA rank
#4,568
Tracked since 1880
Census
Clair in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 7,344 people with the first name Clair, which placed it at #3,030 in the published first-name tables. This is a snapshot of people who already had the name at the time of the Census.
The SSA sections elsewhere on this page answer a different question: how often parents gave the name to babies over time. The "people living today" figure on this page is different again: it is a current estimate built from SSA birth records and age-based survival rates, so the two numbers are not expected to match exactly.
2020 Census rank
#3,030
National first-name rank
People counted
7.3K
7,344 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
2.4
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
87.0% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Clair
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Clair is White at 87.0%. The next largest groups are Black (4.3%) and Hispanic (2.8%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Clair described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given name, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown so the breakdown is easy to read across every published category. Because the 2020 Census first-name file also includes raw headcounts for each group, Name Census can show those alongside the percentages in the legend and hover tooltip.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the name Clair at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White87.0% · 6,392
- Black or African American4.3% · 314
- Hispanic or Latino2.8% · 208
- Asian and Pacific Islander2.7% · 201
- Two or more races2.7% · 197
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.4% · 32
Gender
Gender distribution for Clair
Clair is one of the more evenly split names in the SSA data. Of the 16,322 total registrations, 12,041 (73.8%) were male and 4,281 (26.2%) were female.
Clair as a male name
- Ranked #12,397 in 2020
- 5 male births in 2020
- Peak: 1923 (356 births)
Clair as a female name
- Ranked #4,568 in 2024
- 30 female births in 2024
- Peak: 1991 (66 births)
2020 Census snapshot
The 2020 Census sex table shows Clair on both sides of the split. Of the 7,343 people counted with this name, 3,438 were male (46.8%) and 3,905 were female (53.2%).
Popularity
Clair: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Clair from the 1880s through to the 2020s, spanning 15 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1920s, with 3,539 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1920s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Clair by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Clair during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Clairs live
The SSA's state-level files cover 30 states and territories. Pennsylvania, Iowa, Ohio recorded the most babies named Clair, while North Carolina, Kentucky, Mississippi recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 315 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Clair
The name Clair has its origins in the Latin word "clarus", which means "clear" or "bright". It first appeared in ancient Rome and was used as a descriptive term for someone with a clear complexion or bright appearance.
This name gained popularity during the Middle Ages, particularly in France and England. In France, it was spelled "Claire" and was often given to children born into noble families, as it was seen as a name of distinction and grace.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Clair can be found in the writings of St. Clare of Assisi, an Italian nun who lived in the 13th century. She was a close friend of St. Francis of Assisi and founded the Order of Poor Ladies, later known as the Poor Clares.
Another notable figure with the name Clair was Claire of Rimini, an Italian noblewoman from the 14th century who was renowned for her beauty and intelligence. She was the subject of several poems and literary works during her lifetime.
In the 16th century, Clair was used as a masculine name, as evidenced by the life of Clair Tiffany, an English explorer and adventurer who traveled to the New World and documented his experiences in a book published in 1589.
The name Clair gained further prominence in the 19th century with the birth of Clair de Lune, a French composer and pianist born in 1838. His famous piano suite of the same name is considered a masterpiece of Romantic music.
Another notable figure with the name Clair was Clair Boothe Luce, an American author, diplomat, and politician who served as the U.S. Ambassador to Italy from 1953 to 1956. She was born in 1903 and was known for her wit and intelligence.
Throughout history, the name Clair has been associated with qualities such as clarity, brightness, and intelligence, making it a popular choice for both boys and girls.
People
Clair + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Clair as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with C
Other first names starting with C with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Clair: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Clair?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 5,840 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Clair going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 58,691 US residents.
Is Clair a common name?
We classify Clair as "Rare". It ranks above 96.8% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 16,322 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Clair most popular?
The single biggest year for Clair was 1923, when 405 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Clair is about 56 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Clair in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 7,344 people with the name Clair, or 2.43 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #3,030 in the national Census ranking for first names.
Why is the Census count different from the living estimate?
Because they measure different things. The Census figure is a count of people who had the name Clair in 2020. The living estimate aims to answer a current question instead: how many people with the name are alive today, based on SSA birth records and age-based survival rates. Since one number is a 2020 snapshot and the other is a present-day estimate, they are not expected to be identical.
What does the Census say about the gender split for Clair?
The 2020 Census sex table shows Clair on both sides of the split. Of the 7,343 people counted with this name, 3,438 were male (46.8%) and 3,905 were female (53.2%). The Census view is a snapshot of people living with the name in 2020, while the SSA section above tracks births across time.
What does the Census say about the background of people named Clair?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Clair is White at 87.0%. The next largest groups are Black (4.3%) and Hispanic (2.8%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself. The percentages in the chart above come from self-reported race and Hispanic-origin responses in the 2020 Census.
Which group reports the name Clair most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Clair in the 2020 Census, accounting for 87.0% (6,392 people in the published table).
Why can the Census sex total and race total differ slightly?
The Census Bureau published separate 2020 tables for sex and for race/Hispanic origin, and the released figures can differ slightly because of privacy protection in the public files. That is why this page treats the gender section and the race/origin section as two related snapshots instead of forcing them into one identical total.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only includes names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files have no Census demographic snapshot. When that happens, the SSA trend, gender history, and state sections still appear, but the 2020 Census demographic sections are omitted.
What does the SSA popularity chart show?
The chart tracks births, not the number of people alive with the name today. Each point shows how many babies were given the name Clair in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Clair a male name?
Yes, 73.8% of people registered as Clair in the SSA data are male. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Is Clair still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Clair in 2024, and the page above shows its latest-year rank where available. A name can be well past its peak and still remain in steady use, especially if it built up a large population over earlier decades.
Why can a name have a lot of living bearers even if it is not trendy now?
Because living-bearer counts and current baby-name popularity measure different things. A name like Clair can build up a very large population over many decades, even if fewer parents are choosing it now than they did at its peak.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.
How many people have Clair as a first name?
For a quick modern take, check how many people have the name Clair on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org.