Girls' name · since 1880

Claire

Claire has 211,919 recorded births since 1880 in federal Social Security data, most heavily in 2016 -- full year-by-year trend, decade aggregates, and state rankings follow.

#186 of 72,339
all-time among girls
#68 of 17,297
2025 SSA year
211,919
born since 1880
2010s
peak decade

Yes -- Claire is the #68 most popular girls' name in the U.S. today, with 211,919 recorded since 1880.

Claire has 211,919 recorded births among girls since 1880, per the U.S. Social Security Administration, ranked #68 as of the latest data, more common than 99.6% of girls, busiest in the 2010s -- see the year-by-year trends, decade totals, and state-level distribution below, all drawn directly from SSA birth-registration files spanning 1880 to 2025.

  • #186 of 72,339 all-time among girls
  • #68 of 17,297 2025 SSA year
  • 211,919 born since 1880
  • 2010s peak decade

Data updated Aug 2026

The verdict

According to the U.S. Social Security Administration, Claire ranks #186 of 72,339 girls' names by all-time recorded births (highest first) and #68 of 17,297 among girls' names in 2025. 211,919 born since 1880, peaking in the 2010s.

#186 of 72,339
all-time among girls
#68 of 17,297
2025 SSA year
211,919
born since 1880
2010s
peak decade
0%100%Median name50%99.6%
Claire vs. every other girls name in current SSA rankings
Upper archive tier
All-time archive position

Claire's 211,919 recorded births place it above 99.74% of the 72,339 girls names in the full SSA archive.

51 jurisdictions
State-record footprint

51 jurisdictions carry state-level records, led by California.

How Claire compares

211,919 Top 2% higher than 98% of 17,297 names currently given to girls

Based on all-time total births among currently-ranked girls names. Names with fewer occurrences are grouped into wider buckets on the right.

Source U.S. Social Security Administration, national baby name data

How the numbers stack up

Claire's all-time total is 564x the median girls name, and Olivia still leads by a wide margin.

Metric Claire Median girls name (Kyann) #1 girls name (Olivia)
All-time total births 211,919 376 567,345
Peak-year births 5,216 21 19,840

Claire's usage pattern, beyond the headline number

Splitting Claire's full recorded timeline at 1953, 76% of its total births fall in the more recent half of the record versus 24% in the earlier half -- usage has skewed toward the present, not a one-decade spike. Its quietest year on record was 1880, with just 21 recorded births -- worth weighing against the 2016 peak of 5,216 to see the full range of the name's swing in popularity.

Claire popularity over time - girls

Annual U.S. births registered with the Social Security Administration · 1880–2025

Top 100 girls' name
Peak year (2016)
5,216
Annual births at peak, across 146 years of records
02,0004,0006,000 188018991918193719561975199420132025 3,487

Claire popularity over time - boys

2,204 total births recorded since 1885 (Claire as boys' name)

Unisex variant - 2,204 births
020406080 188519031915192719391951196819982021 5

Claire by decade

2010s is the heaviest window (47,728 births, 23% of the file).

2010s was Claire's strongest decade.

47,728 babies received the name during that ten-year window, about 23% of all-time use.

Claire births by decade

Total births in each ten-year window

births

What this shows Peak: 2010s at 47,728 births (23% of all-time use).

Source U.S. Social Security Administration · Baby Names As of August 2026

How Claire compares to similarly-sized names

Years in SSA records vs. share of all-time use concentrated in the single peak year, among 15 girls names closest to Claire's total volume

Claire vs 15 similarly-sized girls names Scatter plot of 16 data points. 2%3%4%5%6%7% 80100120140160 New & already peakedOld name, single-era peakNew & still diversifyingLong history, steady all along Years in SSA records % of total births in the single peak year -138, 2.9%-146, 6.1%-146, 2.6%-144, 2.8%-146, 2.7%-120, 3.8%-116, 5.3%-146, 2.4%-146, 2.6%-146, 2.8%-146, 2.5%-146, 3.2%-133, 3.1%-146, 2.6%-88, 4.4%Claire-146, 2.5%Claire
Claire vs 15 similarly-sized girls names

Claire by state

Where Claire concentrates geographically, total births since 1880

Geographically diffuse
Top 8 states by recorded births for the name Claire
Rank State Visual share Births Share of total
#1 California
19,359 9.1%
#2 New York
18,721 8.8%
#3 Massachusetts
14,019 6.6%
#4 Pennsylvania
12,097 5.7%
#5 Texas
11,774 5.6%
#6 Illinois
9,439 4.5%
#7 Ohio
8,567 4.0%
#8 New Jersey
8,214 3.9%
California share of Claire's total US births 9.1%
Even split

19,359 of 211,919 births nationwide. Compared to a flat distribution across 51 reporting states.

Claire appears in 51 states. Explore state details →

Frequently Asked Questions

How popular is the name Claire?
Claire has been given to 211,919 babies in the U.S. since 1880, according to SSA data. Its archive ordinal is #186 of 72,339 among girls' names (total births, highest first). Among girls in 2025, it is #68 of 17,297. 5,216 babies were born in 2016, its single highest year.
Where does Claire sit in the SSA name archive?
According to the U.S. Social Security Administration, Claire ranks #186 of 72,339 girls' names by all-time recorded births (highest first) and #68 of 17,297 among girls' names in 2025. All-time ordinal matches browse popularity (total births DESC); the current ordinal uses the 2025 SSA file. See /methodology#corpus-placement.
When was Claire most popular?
Claire was most popular in the 2010s decade with 47,728 total births. The single peak year was 2016.
Where is Claire most popular?
The top states for the name Claire are California (19,359 births), New York (18,721 births), Massachusetts (14,019 births).
How long has the name Claire been used?
Claire has been recorded in Social Security data since 1880, spanning 146 years of data through 2025.
What names are similar to Claire?
Names with a similar sound or spelling include Clara, Claudia, Clarissa, Clare, and 4 more. These share a common prefix and are also used for girls.

What to do with Claire's data

  • Claire's usage has stayed within range of its 2010s decade-level peak (47,728 total births) through the 2020s (20,945) -- a comparatively stable name, not a fading trend.
  • California records the most Claires (19,359 births) -- see the full state breakdown if geography matters to your decision. California names

Figures reflect SSA-reported births only; see the methodology above for the privacy-suppression floor.

Keep exploring Claire

Nearby Names Like Claire

Names with a similar sound, spelling, or feel to Claire

Names with a similar popularity rank to Claire

Nationwide names with similar peak year or record span

Two nationwide peer axes for Claire: closest SSA peak year, and closest first→latest record span. Distinct from the spelling and current-rank neighborhoods above.

Peak year is the single SSA year with the most births for that name; record span is first-to-latest year in the national files, not a recommendation or shared origin claim.

Data Sources

Data as of August 2026. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration (SSA).

According to the Social Security Administration, this profile draws directly from the agency's public-use baby-name files (updated June 2026). See our methodology for the full extraction, aggregation, and privacy-suppression rules.

Primary: Source: U.S. Social Security Administration, Baby Names from Social Security Card Applications, National Data, 1880–2025 (ssa.gov/oact/babynames).

State-level: Source: U.S. Social Security Administration, Baby Names, State-Level Files (namesbystate.zip).

Name Almanac is rendered directly from the Social Security Administration's public baby-name files, no number is typed in by an editor. This profile for Claire draws directly on SSA national and state-level files, no figure is typed in by an editor. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error. Data current as of August 2026.