The story in the numbers

296,898 girls have been named Clara in the United States since 1880, according to Social Security records. The busiest single year was 1918, with 5,778 births — 0.50% of all girls recorded that year.

It is holding steady: its share of births has moved by less than half in either direction over ten years (rank 108 → 78).

Half of everyone given the name was born by 1927, and the 1920s alone account for 16%. It has spent 145 of 145 years in the top 1,000, 65 of them in the top 100 and 8 in the top 10.

It is overwhelmingly a girl’s name: 1,016 boys have also been given it, 0.34% of the total.

Rank among girls, year by year

By decade

Decade

girls named Clara

17,717

25,473

23,899

44,346

48,183

31,658

20,028

12,769

6,504

3,290

3,667

6,266

12,782

26,654

13,662

In 1918, its biggest year

Clara was the 43rd most given girl’s name that year. The top five girls’ names of 1918 were Mary, Helen, Dorothy, Margaret and Ruth. See all of 1918.

Names that rose and fell with Clara

Same sex, most similar popularity curve over 145 years, in five-year steps — the shape of the line, not the size.

Other spellings in the data

What this page does not tell you. The Social Security data records how many babies were given a name, not what the name means or where it comes from — so neither do we. Counts cover people with a Social Security number; names given to fewer than five babies in a year are withheld. More on the data.