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BabyNames
Girl name#144 of girl names

Clara

Pronounced K L AE1 R AH0 (ARPABET)

  • 2 syllables
  • Peaked 1918
  • 145 years in use
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How popular is Clara?

Clara is a girls' name, and has been in the record since the data starts in 1880. It has been given to 300,957 children — the 144th most common girls' name on record.

It peaked in 1918, went quiet for most of a century, and is climbing again. Its best single year was 1918, when 5,778 children were given it.

02,5005,0007,50010,00018901920195019802010
1918Girls: 5,778Boys: 22

Characteristics

  • 2 syllables
Phonetic detail
Pronunciations:
K L AE1 R AH0 · K L EH1 R AH0
Stress pattern:
10 · 10
Syllables:
2

Stress digits mark unstressed (0), primary (1) and secondary (2) syllables.

Names like Clara

Same first letter and syllable count, peaking around the same time.

Sibling names for Clara

Names from the same era with a matching rhythm but a different initial.

Frequently asked questions

How popular is the name Clara?
Clara ranks 144th among girls' names in US records, with 300,957 births since 1880. Over the past decade it accounts for 29,913.
Is Clara a unisex name?
No. Clara is recorded almost entirely as a girls' name; births to the other gender are too few to register as a share.
When was Clara most popular?
1918, when 5,778 children were given the name. It has been in use for 145 years and is still recorded as of 2024.