Clara

Clara meaning

Clara is a Christian and international girl's name of Latin origin.

Clear, bright, shining; also famous, illustrious

Clara is the feminine of the Latin adjective clārus. Lewis and Short's Latin dictionary gives it first as clear, bright and shining, used of light, stars and the sky; then as clear and loud, of a voice; and figuratively as famous or illustrious, a word the Romans used as a title of honour for distinguished men. It is not a biblical name. In Christian use it recalls Saint Clare of Assisi (Chiara in Italian), one of the first followers of Saint Francis, who founded the order of nuns known as the Poor Clares; in 1958 the Pope named her patron saint of television. Name lists give "bright" or "clear", as in the Latin.

Source: Lewis & Short, A Latin Dictionary (1879), s.v. clarus · entry clarus · See the entry · checked 25 Oct 2026

References: Lewis & Short, clarus (alatius.com) · Britannica, St. Clare of Assisi

Famous namesakes

• Saint Clare of Assisi, founder of the Poor Clares

Popularity abroad

• #63 United States, girls 2025 (up 15 from 78 in 2024)
  US Social Security Administration
• #77 England and Wales, girls 2025
  Office for National Statistics

Official birth registrations. India publishes no national name statistics.

Spellings

Clara · Clare · Klara

Related names

Also meaning light

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