Clara

Fact-checked by Rebekah Wahlberg

Written by Sarah Bradley

In this article

Clara name meaning and origin

What does Clara mean?

"Clear," "bright," and "famous"

Clara name origin:

Latin

Clara is the feminine version of the Latin name Clarus, which means "clear, "bright," and "famous." It's in the same family of names as Clare, Claire, and Clair – all come from the same Latin root.

Clara has been a favorite baby girl name for quite some time. In fact, it was the 19th most popular name in the U.S. way back in the year 1900, according to the Social Security Administration, though its rankings have changed quite a bit over the last century.

It's never reached quite the same popularity as it had at the turn of the 20th century, but Clara stayed in the top 100 until 1937. For the last 10 years, Clara has hovered right around No. 100, sitting just outside the top 100 at number 110 in 2022.

Sources:

Hanks P., et al. 2016. A Dictionary of First Names. Oxford University Press. https://www.oxfordreference.com/display/10.1093/acref/9780198610601.001.0001/acref-9780198610601-e-7197?rskey=x5WfmM&result=1421

U.S. Social Security Administration. Undated. Popular Baby Names. https://www.ssa.gov/oact/babynames/

Popularity over time

Data not available

Clara in pop culture

Name	Description
Clara	Main character in Tchaikovsky's The Nutcracker
Clara Brereton	Character in Jane Austen's unfinished novel Sanditon
Clara Clayton	Character in the Back to the Future Part III, played by Mary Steenburgen
Clara Durrant	Character in the novel Jacob's Room by Virginia Woolf
Clara Oswald	Character on the British TV series Doctor Who, played by Jenna Coleman
Clara del Valle Trueba	Main character in Isabel Allende's 1982 novel The House of the Spirits

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Famous people named Clara

Name	Description
Clara Barton	American nurse and humanitarian
Clara Bow	American silent film actress whose fame and role in the 1927 film It created the phrase "It Girl"
Clara Chung	American singer/songwriter also known as Clara C
Clara Haskil	Romanian classical pianist
Clara Kimball Young	American silent film actress
Clara Luper	American civil rights leader who protested segregation
Clara Mulholland	Irish writer
Clara Ng	Indonesian writer
Clara Paget	British actress and model

Names similar to Clara

like Clara? What about:

Common sibling names

Sisters

Brothers

Baby name lists including Clara

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