Clara

Latin

"bright, clear"

Clara Origin and Meaning

The name Clara is a girl's name of Latin origin meaning "bright, clear".

Clara is a strong, lovely girls' name that's always ranked among the US Top 1000 girl names but has been climbing since the turn of this century. It now ranks right around Number 100, making it a modern classic that's neither too popular nor unfamiliar.

Long relegated to an Olde World backwater, the European-flavored Clara was long less fashionable than sleeker sister Claire. Now, though the vintage chic Clara is still less popular, it's arguably the more stylish of the two names.

Clara was a Top 10 name in the 1880's, at one time associated with the silent screen 'It Girl,' Clara Bow, and before that with German musician and composer Clara Schumann and Red Cross founder Clara Barton, who was born Clarissa.

Clara is beloved for her leading role in The Nutcracker ballet and as Heidi's invalid friend. Actor Ewan McGregor was an early celebrity adopter of the name for one of his daughters.

Other Clara variations you might want to consider include Clarissa and Clarina, though Clarabelle seems still fit mainly for cows.

Clara Rank in US Top 1000

# 99 in the US

Clara Rank in Nameberry Top 1000

# 11 on Nameberry

Clara Popularity

• 99 US 2023
• 11 Nameberry 2025
• 31 Canada 2023
• 75 Future 2028
• 90 England 2023
• 137 Scotland 2023
• 67 Ireland 2023
• 98 Australia 2020
• 99 New Zealand 2023
• 83 France 2023
• 12 Germany 2024
• 45 Spain 2023
• 12 Portugal 2022
• 20 Sweden 2022
• 12 Denmark 2023
• 49 Belgium 2023
• 47 Switzerland 2023
• 49 Austria 2023
• 83 Chile 2021

20 Names Similar to Clara

These 20 names were selected by our users that were looking for other names like Clara.

• Cora
• Alice
• Claire
• Eleanor
• Charlotte
• Nora
• Amelia
• Eloise
• Hazel
• Violet
• Eliza
• Josephine
• Adelaide
• Lucy
• Audrey
• Beatrice
• Juliet
• Caroline
• Jane
• Genevieve

Famous People Named Clara

• Clara Francisca Nunes Brazilian samba singer
• Clara Gordon Bow American actress
• Clara Ellen Butt English operatic contralto
• Clara Read English actress
• Clara Josephine (Wieck) Schumann German composer and pianist
• Clara Louise Maass American nurse
• Clarissa Harlowe "Clara" Barton American pioneering nurse
• Clara Hamilton Harris American socialite
• Clara Blandick American actress
• Clara Alonso Spanish model
• Clara Langhorne Clemens American contralto
• Clara Chung American guitarist and singer
• Clara Mae Shepard Luper American civil rights leader
• Clara Hughes Canadian Olympic cyclist and speed skater
• Clara Haskil Romanian pianist
• Clara Lee (Sung min), British,South Korean actress and model
• Clara Edwards American pianist and composer
• Isabella Clara Eugenia sovereign of the Spanish Netherlands
• Clara Muhammad American wife of Nation of Islam leader Elijah Muhammad
• Clara Ward American gospel singer of The Ward Singers
• Clara Driscoll American philanthropist
• Clara Hagopian Jobs mother Steve Jobs
• Clara Lukasiak younger sister of reality TV personality Chloe Lukasiak of TV's "Dance Moms"
• Clara Balzary (b. 1988) daughter of musician Flea of the Red Hot Chili Peppers
• Clara Mathilde McGregor (b. 1996) daughter of actor Ewan McGregor
• Clara Enola Wire (b. 2002) daughter of musician Nicky Wire of the Manic Street Preachers
• Clara Thomas (b. 2009) daughter of TV journalist Nina Hossain and Stuart Thomas
• Clara Saltykova (b. 2012) daughter of actors Inga Strelkova,Ooldina and Vitaly Saltykov
• Clara Esquerdo Spanish rhythmic gymnast
• Clara Elizabeth So (b. 2016) daughter of actress Anna Chlumsky and Shaun So
• Clara Jane Griffiths (b. 2018) daughter of YouTube vloggers Emily & Beau Griffiths of 'A Griffiths Life Vlogs'
• Clara Eloise Jordan (b. 2019) daughter of American actor and singer Jeremy Jordan & American actress, singer, and dancer Ashley Spencer
• Clara Rockmore Lithuanian musician
• Clara Schumann German pianist and composer
• Clara Webb Butcher Mother of singers Loretta Lynn and Crystal Gayle

Clara in Pop Culture

• Clara Stahlbaum main character in ballet The Nutcracker
• Clara Clayton Brown character in movie "Back to the Future Part III"
• Clara Dudley character in "The Haunting of Hill House"
• Clara a character in musical "Passion"
• Clara Boden character in White Teeth by Zadie Smith
• Clara Allen character in Larry McMurtry's "Lonesome Dove"
• Clara Durrant character in Virginia Woolf's "Jacob's Room"
• Clara Bishop character in Royals book series by Geneva Lee
• Princess Clara character in animated TV series "Drawn Together"
• Clara Gardner main character in the Unearthly series
• Clara Beane character in The Guild web series
• Clara character in Bob Dylan's 1975 film "Renaldo and Clara"
• Clara character in E. T. A. Hoffmann's "Der Sandmann"
• Clara Belle character in the video game "MySims"
• Clara Varner a main character in "The Long, Hot Summer"
• Clara Oswald a companion on TV's "Doctor Who"
• Clara Radley character from The Radleys by Matt Haig
• Clara a character from the British TV series "The Paradise"
• Clara Edwards character on "The Andy Griffith Show"
• Clara Cluck member of Mickey Mouse's original farmyard gang
• Clara Sesemann character in book/movie "Heidi"
• Aunt Clara character on TV's "Bewitched"
• María Clara de los Santos main character in "Noli Me Tangere" by José Rizal
• Clara Wheeler character on TV miniseries "Into the West"
• Clara Callen mother of G Callen on TV's "NCIS: Los Angeles"
• Clara Buhalmet character in "Fran Bow"
• "Clara" song by progressive bluegrass band Punch Brothers
• Clara Drosselmayer main character in animated movie "Barbie in the Nutcracker"
• Clara Nightingale character in Miraculous: Tales of Ladybug and Cat Noir
• Clara Johnson main character of opera,musical "The Light in the Piazza"
• Clara Spanish Vocaloid