Clara

Spellings & scripts●

Locally spelled Klara in HU Hungary, CZ Czechia, PL Poland and 4 more, Клара in RU Russia, KZ Kazakhstan, UA Ukraine and 1 more, Kali in IN India, ID Indonesia, MY Malaysia and קלרה in IL Israel.

Spellings marked ● are how people bearing the name write it in our records; ○ marks a model's transliteration. Click a spelling to open its page.

Meaning & origin●

Attested across 14 languages in the etymology graph.

Languages●

Language is read off each record's context, not declared by the bearer; a share is of all records for this spelling.

Other names spelled this way◐

Clara is also recorded as 7 other names, grouped separately because the records behind them do not connect to the one described above.

• English given name1.6M records spelled Clara43 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in United States, Brazil, United Kingdom, Netherlands

  Languages: English, German, Danish

  Also written Clarà, Clará, Cĺara, Clára, Claera

• French given name625K records spelled Clara5 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in France, United States, Belgium, Spain

  Also written Clãrã, Clärä, Clarà

• Catalan given name51K records spelled Clara3 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in Spain, Andorra

  Also written Clarà, Clará

• a separate given name33K records spelled Clara3 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in United States, United Kingdom, Spain, Italy

  Also written Clarà, Clará

• Indonesian given name18K records spelled Clara3 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in Indonesia, United States, Philippines, Malaysia

  Languages: Indonesian, Malay

  Also written 'Clara

• Finnish given name8.2K records spelled Clara4 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in Finland, Hungary, United States, Peru

  Languages: Finnish, Hungarian, Estonian

  Also written Clarã

• Korean given name2.8K records spelled Clara3 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in United States, South Korea, United Kingdom, Canada

  Also written 클라라, Clarà

69 further groups record this spelling and are not listed here.

Grouping is the name graph's, not a register's: two spellings join a group when the evidence links them, so a group is a claim about the records rather than about the people.

Other recorded senses●

Clara is also recorded in 5 other lexicons, as a different name or as an ordinary word. These are senses of the spelling, not of the name above.

• In Portuguese, a female given name, equivalent to English Clara or Claire

  as a word·kaikki.org Wiktionary extract (IPA + transliterations)

• In French, Du latin clarus, « clair, lumineux, brillant ». Fête: 11 août (sainte Claire).

  as a name·Dictionnaire généalogique des prénoms

• In French, Du latin clarus, « clair, illustre ».

  as a name·Le grand guide des prénoms (Enfant - Education)

• In French, Latin clara, 'clear, bright, famous'.

  as a name·Le grand guide des prénoms (Enfant - Education)

• In German, from Latin clarus 'bright, famous'

  as a name·Deutsche Namenkunde: Unsere Familiennamen nach ihrer Entstehung und Bedeutung

Ordered by how much of this spelling's record each language holds, so a sense from a language the name is barely used in sits last rather than first.

Over time●

US SSA — National Baby Names (1880–present) — 146 years between 1880–2025. One register's own figures, never a sum across registers: two registers counting the same people would double them.

Notable people with this name●

• Isabella Clara Eugenia of Spainb. 1566ESInfanta of Spain, Archduchess of Austria (1566-1633)
• Clara Schumannb. 1819DEGerman musician and composer (1819–1896)
• Clara Bartonb. 1821USAmerican Civil War nurse (1821–1912)
• Clara Zetkinb. 1857DECommunist activist, and advocate for women's rights (1857–1933)
• Clara Haskilb. 1895CHRomanian-Swiss classical pianist (1895-1960)
• Clara Bowb. 1905USAmerican actress (1905–1965)
• Clara Calamaib. 1909ITItalian actress (1909-1998)
• Clara Rockmoreb. 1911USRussian-American musician (1911-1998)
• Clara Petaccib. 1912ITmistress of the Italian dictator Benito Mussolini (1912–1948)
• Patti Pageb. 1927USnot in their usual nameAmerican country-pop singer (1927–2013)

The ten people covered by the most Wikipedia language editions — a proxy for cross-cultural notability, which favours historical and Western figures over equally prominent contemporary ones — shown by birth year. Source: Wikidata (CC0).

Evidence●

Register rows as of the 2026-09-12 data build · 1,820 rows in the corpus for this spelling.

Frequently asked questions

How common is the name Clara?

We estimate roughly 593 thousand people bear Clara (counting its spellings and scripts) across 14 countries in our records.

In which country does Clara have the most bearers?

Clara is most frequently recorded in Argentina, where it is most often spelled clara.

Where is Clara most common?

Measured as a share of residents rather than as a count, Clara is densest in the Czechia — about 1 in 135 people — even though Argentina holds more of our records for it.

How common is Clara compared with other names?

In Argentina, Clara is the 231st most common given name of 517,176 given names recorded there.

Is Clara a male or female name?

Clara is a female name in our records. Opposite-gender entries fall within the cross-gender noise we measure in the source data, so we don't report them as usage.

What does the name Clara mean?

Recorded meaning: From Latin clarus, meaning “clear”/“bright”; Spanish form of Claire.