Clair

femaleStatistical record

What official birth registration shows about Clair: which national registrars published it, in which years, and how its recorded position changed.

No researched meaning, origin or pronunciation yet — what that means.

Clair: Recorded since 1964, it reached #237 in 1988, and it was last ranked in 2002.

2registrars recorded it
38times a registrar ranked it
39years from first to last
#237highest recorded position
8groupings it qualifies for

Region

Falling

among girls in England and Wales · 1996–2002

View as table

England and Wales · Girls rank by year
Year	Rank
1996	#1914
1997	#2152
1998	#3142
1999	#3225
2001	#2023
2002	#3409

VerifiedSource: Office for National Statistics — Baby Names in England and Wales.Confidence: high.

See all England and Wales names · Source: Office for National Statistics — Baby Names in England and Wales

What the data shows

FallingEngland and Wales · Girls

Recorded in official data among girls in Republic of Ireland in 32 of the 37 years from 1964 to 2000.

In 1997: #496 among girls in Republic of Ireland, #2152 among girls in England and Wales.

Official data from 2 national registrars across 2 regions, 1964–2002 · Office for National Statistics. Data sources

Popularity journey

First recorded1964
First recorded at #327 among girls in Republic of Ireland in 1964 — the earliest year that source publishes this name, not necessarily the earliest it was used.
Republic of Ireland · Girls
Highest recorded1964–2000
Highest recorded position: #237 among girls in Republic of Ireland, in 1988 (recorded 1964–2000).
Republic of Ireland · Girls
Most recent2002
Most recently recorded at #3409 among girls in England and Wales, in 2002.
England and Wales · Girls

Clair appears in 2 of the published lists Namewise holds. The longest record is Republic of Ireland · Girls, which has ranked it in 32 years beginning in 1964, and has registered 307 births with the name.

Clair across 2 official records

Each registrar publishes its own list, so these figures are read down a row, never across one. A position in one country is not comparable with a position in another, and Namewise never combines them into a single ranking. The birth counts do not compare across rows either, for a different reason: England and Wales registers roughly thirty times as many births a year as Northern Ireland, so a larger total says which registrar recorded it as much as how widely the name was given.

Clair's first, highest and most recent recorded position in each official list, with the number of births each registrar registered with the name and its largest single year
Published list	First recorded	Highest	Most recent	Years recorded	Births registered	Most in one year
Republic of Ireland · Girls	#327 (1964)	#237 (1988)	#536 (2000)	32 of 37	307 (1964–2000)	18 (1979)
England and Wales · Girls	#1914 (1996)	#1914 (1996)	#3409 (2002)	6 of 7	35 (1996–2002)	8 (1996)

Clair by decade in Republic of Ireland · Girls

Births registered with the name in each decade of this one list, with the number of years the list covers in that decade. Bars are scaled on births a year, which is the figure that compares between decades — a decade the list only partly covers has a smaller total without being a quieter decade. Figures belong to this registrar alone and do not carry to another.

Births registered with Clair in Republic of Ireland · Girls, by decade, with years covered and the average per year
Decade	Births registered	Years covered	A year
1960s	26	5 of 10	5
1970s	109	10 of 10	11
1980sbusiest	139	10 of 10	14
1990s	30	6 of 10	5
2000s	3	1 of 10	3

Across Republic of Ireland · Girls, the 1980s were its busiest decade, averaging 14 births a year.

See the names Republic of Irelandhas recorded the most births with →

Clair appears in

Groupings this name qualifies for under their own stated rules, from the same official statistics shown above.

Popularity data

Official popularity data is available for 2 regions, from 1964 to 2002. Highest recorded position: #237 in Republic of Ireland in 1988.

Clair's recorded popularity observations by year, region and administrative category, including rank, registered births, source confidence and when each region's data was last reviewed.
Year	Region	Category	Rank	Births registered	Confidence	Status
2002	England and Wales	female	#3409	4	High	Verified
2001	England and Wales	female	#2023	8	High	Verified
1999	England and Wales	female	#3225	4	High	Verified
1998	England and Wales	female	#3142	4	High	Verified
1997	England and Wales	female	#2152	7	High	Verified
1996	England and Wales	female	#1914	8	High	Verified
2000	Republic of Ireland	female	#536	3	High	Verified
1997	Republic of Ireland	female	#496	4	High	Verified
1994	Republic of Ireland	female	#502	3	High	Verified
1993	Republic of Ireland	female	#516	3	High	Verified
1992	Republic of Ireland	female	#391	6	High	Verified
1991	Republic of Ireland	female	#319	9	High	Verified
1990	Republic of Ireland	female	#409	5	High	Verified
1989	Republic of Ireland	female	#377	6	High	Verified
1988	Republic of Ireland	female	#237	16	High	Verified
1987	Republic of Ireland	female	#239	17	High	Verified
1986	Republic of Ireland	female	#240	16	High	Verified
1985	Republic of Ireland	female	#250	15	High	Verified
1984	Republic of Ireland	female	#308	10	High	Verified
1983	Republic of Ireland	female	#260	15	High	Verified
1982	Republic of Ireland	female	#272	15	High	Verified
1981	Republic of Ireland	female	#272	14	High	Verified
1980	Republic of Ireland	female	#274	15	High	Verified
1979	Republic of Ireland	female	#243	18	High	Verified
1978	Republic of Ireland	female	#244	17	High	Verified
1977	Republic of Ireland	female	#329	9	High	Verified
1976	Republic of Ireland	female	#298	10	High	Verified
1975	Republic of Ireland	female	#243	15	High	Verified
1974	Republic of Ireland	female	#255	15	High	Verified
1973	Republic of Ireland	female	#349	7	High	Verified
1972	Republic of Ireland	female	#332	7	High	Verified
1971	Republic of Ireland	female	#326	7	High	Verified
1970	Republic of Ireland	female	#396	4	High	Verified
1969	Republic of Ireland	female	#351	5	High	Verified
1968	Republic of Ireland	female	#357	4	High	Verified
1966	Republic of Ireland	female	#344	4	High	Verified
1965	Republic of Ireland	female	#238	9	High	Verified
1964	Republic of Ireland	female	#327	4	High	Verified

England and Wales hub — collected by Office for National Statistics
Republic of Ireland hub — collected by CSO Ireland

See methodology and data sources for how popularity data is collected and what "confidence" means.

What the record shows

Recorded by 2 registrars between 1964 and 2002, ranked in 37 years of that period.

Its highest recorded position is #237, first reached in 1988.

Its largest count from any one registrar is 18 births, registered in Republic of Ireland in 1979.

Its record falls into 3 separate stretches, with a longest absence of 1 year.

A second registrar first ranked it in 1996, and 32 years separate the first registrar to record it from the last.

Every figure here is counted from the seven official registrars Namewise holds. A position is only ever a place within the list that published it, and a record that thins or stops is a fact about what registrars printed — never about how many children received the name.

Where to go next

Records with a comparable body of evidence, so the catalogue can be read outward from this one. Each group states the rule it was selected by.

Next in the catalogue

The records either side of this one alphabetically.

Cjay · #2470, 16y
Claes · #315, 29y
Claire · #10, 66y
Clara · #32, 63y

A comparable record

Records held by the same 2 registrars, over a similar number of ranked years, whose highest position is closest to this one. A similar body of evidence — never a claim that the names themselves are alike.

Serine · #237, 37y
Mika · #238, 33y
Emlyn · #240, 35y
Galina · #241, 39y

Also first recorded in the 1960s

Records whose earliest ranking in Namewise's registrar data also falls between 1960 and 1969.

Bernice · #236, 59y
Bridie · #238, 51y
Catharina · #238, 50y
Derval · #236, 23y

Clair was ranked #237 in Republic of Ireland · Girls in 1988. These are the names immediately either side of it on that published list — a fact about the registrar's own output, not a similarity judgement.

Clara#237
Colleen#237
Cora#237
Fionnuala#237
Brona#252
Jenny#252
Karina#252
Monica#252

Clair and the names beside it

Two names in the same published list are measured on the same scale, in the same year, by the same registrar — so these are positions that genuinely passed each other, not a similarity judgement. Drawn from the 2,577 names with a recorded popularity standing (common, familiar, uncommon), so a name outside that set could have passed Clair without appearing here.

Clair moved ahead of

Cheryl
In 2000 they stood at #3225 and #1393 in England and Wales · Girls; by 2001 that had become #2023 and #3262.
Debra
In 2000 they stood at #3225 and #2189 in England and Wales · Girls; by 2001 that had become #2023 and #2226.
Jan
In 1975 they stood at #327 and #327 in Republic of Ireland · Girls; by 1976 that had become #298 and #497.
Jude
In 1973 they stood at #349 and #349 in Republic of Ireland · Girls; by 1974 that had become #255 and #340.

Moved ahead of Clair

Amalie
In 2001 they stood at #2023 and #3998 in England and Wales · Girls; by 2002 that had become #3409 and #938.
Jayden
In 1997 they stood at #2152 and #2411 in England and Wales · Girls; by 1998 that had become #3142 and #1823.
Shea
In 1997 they stood at #2152 and #2738 in England and Wales · Girls; by 1998 that had become #3142 and #1823.
Cameron
In 1996 they stood at #1914 and #2350 in England and Wales · Girls; by 1997 that had become #2152 and #983.

Moved the opposite way to Clair

Aisling
Between 1964 and 2000 in Republic of Ireland · Girls, Clair went from #327 to #536 while Aisling went from #154 to #25.
Alexandra
Between 1964 and 2000 in Republic of Ireland · Girls, Clair went from #327 to #536 while Alexandra went from #222 to #87.
Alison
Between 1964 and 2000 in Republic of Ireland · Girls, Clair went from #327 to #536 while Alison went from #146 to #62.
Aoife
Between 1964 and 2000 in Republic of Ireland · Girls, Clair went from #327 to #536 while Aoife went from #206 to #1.

Moved the same way as Clair

Angela
Between 1964 and 2000 in Republic of Ireland · Girls, Clair went from #327 to #536 and Angela from #24 to #303.
Anita
Between 1964 and 2000 in Republic of Ireland · Girls, Clair went from #327 to #536 and Anita from #130 to #413.
Ann
Between 1964 and 2000 in Republic of Ireland · Girls, Clair went from #327 to #536 and Ann from #4 to #148.
Anne
Between 1964 and 2000 in Republic of Ireland · Girls, Clair went from #327 to #536 and Anne from #5 to #179.

What's not yet available

Meaning
Origin
Pronunciation
Nicknames and spelling variants

Absence from this list does not mean the name isn't genuinely meaningful or widely used — only that Namewise hasn't sourced and reviewed that content yet. Absence from a specific year or geography above does not prove zero use there either; official statistics only publish names above a minimum threshold.

Official popularity data is available for 2 regions, from 1964 to 2002. Highest recorded position: #237 in Republic of Ireland in 1988. Source data last verified 2026-07-25.

Clair

Clair at a glance

What the data shows

Popularity journey

Clair across 2 official records

Clair by decade in Republic of Ireland · Girls

Clair appears in

Popularity data

What the record shows

Where to go next

Next in the catalogue

A comparable record

Also first recorded in the 1960s

Names published alongside Clair

Clair and the names beside it

Clair moved ahead of

Moved ahead of Clair

Moved the opposite way to Clair

Moved the same way as Clair

Clair at a glance

Clair across 2 official records

Clair by decade in Republic of Ireland · Girls

Clair appears in

What the record shows

Where to go next

Next in the catalogue

A comparable record

Also first recorded in the 1960s

Names published alongside Clair

Clair and the names beside it

Clair moved ahead of

Moved ahead of Clair

Moved the opposite way to Clair

Moved the same way as Clair