Clara — #78 US girls' name
296,898 babies named Clara in U.S. Social Security records since 1880, with the highest year being 1918. Year-by-year trend, decade aggregates, and state-level rankings drawn from federal birth data.
More common than 99.6% of names given to girls today.
16% of everyone ever named Clara was born in this single decade.
5,778 babies were named Clara in 1918 — its busiest year on record.
What the Data Says About Clara
The Social Security Administration has registered 296,898 babies named Clara between 1880 and 2024, spanning 145 consecutive years of U.S. birth records. As a girl's name, Clara currently holds the #78 rank among girls for 2024. The name reached its historical peak in 1918, when 5,778 babies received it in a single year.
Decade-level aggregation shows that Clara performed strongest in the 1920s, accumulating 48,183 births during that ten-year window. Across the 15 decades of recorded activity, Clara shows a clear decline from its mid-century high. Geographically, the name is most concentrated in Texas, which accounts for 15,012 births — the largest state-level total in the dataset — followed by New York and Pennsylvania. In total, SSA state-level files list Clara in 51 of the 51 U.S. reporting jurisdictions.
No etymological entry is currently available for Clara in our reference dataset. These figures derive from SSA's annual national and state-level name files, which include any name appearing at least five times in a given year or state-year; names below that threshold are suppressed for privacy and therefore excluded from the totals shown here. The 296,898 total represents a lower bound — actual usage may be higher in years or states where the count fell below the disclosure floor. This page is provided for informational and research purposes only and does not constitute personal, legal, or naming advice.
Clara at a glance
Top 100 girls' namePeak year
Current rank
Active since
Clara popularity over time — girls
Annual U.S. births registered with the Social Security Administration · 2024–1880
- Peak year (1918)
- 5,778
- Annual births at peak — across 145 years of records
Currently ranks #78 among girls.
296,898 total births across 145 years of SSA records. Peaked in 1918 with 5,778 births in a single year.
Clara popularity over time — boys
1,016 total births recorded since 1880 (Clara as boys' name)
Unisex use remains the minority pattern
The boys' variant of Clara accounts for 0% of total recorded use across both genders.
Clara by decade
Total births in each ten-year window — peak vs trough at a glance
- Peak decade
- 1920s
- 48,183 births that decade — 16% of Clara's all-time total
Clara decade highlights
- Peak decade 48,183 births
- Runner-up 44,346 births
- Modern era share 2010s + 2020s
- Decades tracked with recorded births
1920s was Clara's strongest decade
48,183 babies received the name during that ten-year window — about 16% of all-time use.
Clara by state
Where Clara concentrates geographically — total births since 1880
| Rank | State | Visual share | Births | Share of total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| #1 | Texas | | 15,012 | 5.1% |
| #2 | New York | | 13,349 | 4.5% |
| #3 | Pennsylvania | | 12,982 | 4.4% |
| #4 | Ohio | | 10,851 | 3.7% |
| #5 | North Carolina | | 10,602 | 3.6% |
| #6 | California | | 10,222 | 3.4% |
| #7 | Illinois | | 9,382 | 3.2% |
| #8 | Georgia | | 9,119 | 3.1% |
15,012 of 296,898 births nationwide. Compared to a flat distribution across 51 reporting states.
Top 5 states
- Texas 5.1% of nationwide
- New York 4.5% of nationwide
- Pennsylvania 4.4% of nationwide
- Ohio 3.7% of nationwide
- North Carolina 3.6% of nationwide
Recorded in 51 of 51 SSA jurisdictions
Texas accounts for 5.1% of all recorded births nationwide — a relatively diffuse profile for this name.
Clara appears in 51 states. Explore state details →
Frequently Asked Questions
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Keep exploring Clara
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Data Sources
Data as of 2024. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration (SSA).
Primary: Source: U.S. Social Security Administration, Baby Names from Social Security Card Applications — National Data, 1880–2024 (ssa.gov/oact/babynames). National-level data includes all names with 5 or more occurrences in a given year.
State-level: Source: U.S. Social Security Administration, Baby Names — State-Level Files (namesbystate.zip). Includes all names with 5 or more occurrences per state per year; rarer names are excluded for privacy.