Clary
Clary was given to 6 girls in 2025, #13,562 among girls’ names; 485 Americans have been recorded with it since 1915 (Social Security Administration, published May 2026).
Girls and boys together; gaps are years SSA did not record (fewer than 5 births).
Births of Clary by year: SSA national baby-name file, 1880-2025, published May 8, 2026. SSA’s notes on the data.
What does Clary mean?
Wiktionary, Swedish section
Clary is “a female given name”
A 19th century variant of Klara, possibly also inspired by the French surname, connected with 19th century Swedish royalty.
Meaning: Wiktionary, Swedish section, as of Sep 25, 2026 (CC BY‑SA 4.0).
How popular is Clary?
#13,562 among girls’ names, 2025
Clary fell from #11,092 in 2015 to #13,562 in 2025 among girls’ names; its share of girls born fell from 5.0 to 3.7 per million.
20 babies in 1923, the peak
Clary peaked in 1923, when 20 babies were given it (14 girls, #2,490 among girls’ names). The 6 births of 2025 are 30% of that peak.
Births by sex.
| Year | Girls | Girls’ rank | Boys | Boys’ rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 6 | #13,562 | under 5 | |
| 2024 | 14 | #7,670 | under 5 | |
| 2023 | 5 | #15,695 | under 5 | |
| 2022 | 7 | #12,526 | under 5 | |
| 2021 | 10 | #9,708 | under 5 | |
| 2020 | 12 | #8,507 | under 5 | |
| 2019 | 14 | #7,822 | under 5 | |
| 2018 | 8 | #11,623 | under 5 | |
| 2017 | 18 | #6,596 | under 5 | |
| 2016 | 11 | #9,546 | under 5 |
Every recorded year (61)
| Year | Girls | Girls’ rank | Boys | Boys’ rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | 9 | #11,092 | under 5 | |
| 2014 | 12 | #9,102 | under 5 | |
| 2013 | 5 | #17,127 | under 5 | |
| 2012 | 6 | #15,385 | under 5 | |
| 2011 | 8 | #12,420 | under 5 | |
| 2010 | 9 | #11,464 | under 5 | |
| 2009 | 7 | #14,015 | under 5 | |
| 2008 | 7 | #14,165 | under 5 | |
| 2005 | 5 | #17,055 | under 5 | |
| 2003 | 5 | #16,302 | under 5 | |
| 2002 | 5 | #15,964 | under 5 | |
| 2000 | 5 | #15,548 | under 5 | |
| 1996 | 6 | #12,152 | under 5 | |
| 1993 | 5 | #13,910 | under 5 | |
| 1986 | 5 | #11,279 | under 5 | |
| 1982 | 6 | #9,457 | 5 | #6,538 |
| 1966 | under 5 | 7 | #3,290 | |
| 1964 | under 5 | 5 | #4,146 | |
| 1963 | under 5 | 5 | #4,138 | |
| 1962 | under 5 | 8 | #3,086 | |
| 1961 | 6 | #5,948 | under 5 | |
| 1957 | under 5 | 5 | #4,081 | |
| 1955 | 5 | #5,977 | under 5 | |
| 1954 | under 5 | 9 | #2,775 | |
| 1953 | 5 | #5,801 | 5 | #3,903 |
| 1952 | 7 | #4,566 | 5 | #3,827 |
| 1951 | under 5 | 5 | #3,804 | |
| 1950 | under 5 | 7 | #3,074 | |
| 1949 | 7 | #4,304 | under 5 | |
| 1948 | under 5 | 5 | #3,759 | |
| 1947 | under 5 | 8 | #2,910 | |
| 1946 | under 5 | 7 | #2,952 | |
| 1944 | 5 | #4,680 | 5 | #3,508 |
| 1943 | under 5 | 15 | #1,926 | |
| 1942 | 8 | #3,492 | 6 | #3,275 |
| 1941 | 8 | #3,296 | 5 | #3,579 |
| 1938 | under 5 | 7 | #2,911 | |
| 1937 | under 5 | 5 | #3,607 | |
| 1936 | 5 | #4,297 | under 5 | |
| 1934 | under 5 | 6 | #3,347 | |
| 1933 | 7 | #3,471 | under 5 | |
| 1930 | under 5 | 6 | #3,658 | |
| 1929 | 5 | #4,687 | under 5 | |
| 1928 | 5 | #4,840 | under 5 | |
| 1927 | under 5 | 9 | #2,946 | |
| 1924 | under 5 | 8 | #3,305 | |
| 1923 | 14 | #2,490 | 6 | #3,891 |
| 1921 | under 5 | 5 | #4,449 | |
| 1919 | 6 | #4,343 | under 5 | |
| 1917 | 5 | #4,711 | under 5 | |
| 1915 | under 5 | 8 | #2,865 |
Ranks: girls’ names and boys’ names ranked separately in each year’s SSA file; “under 5” is a year SSA did not list the name for that sex.
Is Clary a boy’s or a girl’s name?
Of the 485 Americans recorded as Clary, 64% are girls and 36% boys. In 2025 it went to 6 girls; SSA lists no boys with it that year (fewer than 5, or none).
Years with fewer than 20 babies given the name are left blank.
Girls and boys named Clary: the SSA national file counts each sex separately.
How many people are named Clary, and how old are they?
An estimated 317 Americans named Clary and born in the U.S. are alive in 2026 (65% of everyone recorded); the median is 17 years old and half are between 9 and 65. An estimate from SSA’s births and life tables, not a count.
The 2020 Census counted 588 people named Clary (423 women and girls, 165 men and boys). SSA’s births carried forward to Census day, April 1, 2020, predict 295 born in the U.S. The Census count is 2.0 times that prediction. Possible reasons: the Census counts people born abroad, whom SSA’s files leave out, and it records the name people give, which SSA may have recorded under another spelling or as part of a compound name.
Living estimate: SSA births carried forward with the survival rates in SSA’s cohort life tables (2024 Trustees Report) for each birth year and sex. How the estimate is made. Count: Census Bureau, first names in the 2020 Census (released April 14, 2026; names reported 100 or more times, with the Bureau’s disclosure-avoidance adjustment).
Names spelled alike
Of these 8 names spelled alike, given to 557,319 babies since 1880, Clary is the seventh most given (<1% of them). In 2025 it was given to 6 of their 7,599 babies (<1%), the sixth most given that year.
Spelled alike: names in the SSA national file with the same pattern of letters and sounds and at most two letters apart, and Wiktionary’s listed forms; births since 1880 and in 2025, and each name’s peak year, from the SSA national file, published May 8, 2026. Some are separate names, not spellings of one.
More about Clary and names like it
- Compare Clary and ClaraBirths, ranks, peak and the living estimate side by side.
- The most given names of the 1920sClary peaked in 1923.
- South Carolina’s most given namesThe state where SSA recorded the most babies named Clary since 1910.
- Swedish namesWiktionary’s origin for Clary: every such name, by how often it is given.
- The top names of 1923The year the most babies were named Clary.
- The names of Generation AlphaMost people named Clary alive today were born 2013-2025.
- Names starting with CMost given first.