How Many People Are Named Clair?
An estimated 5,840 people in the United States have the first name Clair. It is used for both genders, with 73.8% male. The average bearer is 56 years old, and Clair peaked in popularity in 1923 with 405 births that year.
Below you will find a full statistical profile of Clair as a first name in the United States, including gender data, a year-by-year popularity timeline going back to 1880, a decade breakdown, and state-by-state birth registrations. You can also check how many people share the full name Clair paired with any surname.
Key Insights
- Clair has undergone a significant gender shift. Originally given predominantly to boys, it is now more commonly a girls' name.
Estimated Living Americans
5,840
About 1 in 58,691 people in the U.S.
Rarity
Rare
Predicted Gender
Male
73.8% confidence
Average Age
56
years old
Peak Year
1923
405 births
Total Registered
16,322
since 1880
Gender Distribution for Clair
Clair is a genuinely unisex name, used for both males (73.8%) and females (26.2%). Out of 16,322 total births registered, 12,041 were male and 4,281 were female.
Clair as a male name
Ranked #12,397 in 2020
5 male births in 2020
Peak: 1923 (356 births)
Clair as a female name
Ranked #4,568 in 2024
30 female births in 2024
Peak: 1991 (66 births)
Clair: Popularity Over Time
SSA records for Clair span from the 1880s to the 2020s, covering 15 decades of naming data. The most popular decade for this name was the 1920s, when 3,539 babies were registered. Clair has declined significantly from its peak in the 1920s. Recent registrations are a fraction of what they were at the name's height.
Clair by Decade
How has Clair tracked across different eras? The table below groups all SSA birth registrations into 10-year periods, with separate male and female counts. The colored bar shows each decade's share relative to the peak.
| Decade | Total | Male | Female | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1880s | 166 | 156 | 10 | |
| 1890s | 352 | 295 | 57 | |
| 1900s | 489 | 397 | 92 | |
| 1910s | 2,458 | 2,212 | 246 | |
| 1920s | 3,539 | 3,169 | 370 | |
| 1930s | 2,609 | 2,319 | 290 | |
| 1940s | 1,862 | 1,541 | 321 | |
| 1950s | 1,437 | 1,061 | 376 | |
| 1960s | 776 | 513 | 263 | |
| 1970s | 405 | 199 | 206 | |
| 1980s | 542 | 110 | 432 | |
| 1990s | 578 | 42 | 536 | |
| 2000s | 528 | 12 | 516 | |
| 2010s | 443 | 10 | 433 | |
| 2020s | 138 | 5 | 133 | |
Clair by State
Birth registrations for Clair span all 30 states and territories in the SSA database. The highest counts are in Pennsylvania, Iowa, Ohio. The lowest are in North Carolina, Kentucky, Mississippi. On average, about 315 Clairs were registered per state.
Clair + Last Name Combinations
How many people share a full name with Clair as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Names Similar to Clair
Other first names starting with C with a similar number of bearers.
Clair: Questions and Answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Clair?
We estimate approximately 5,840 people named Clair are alive in the United States today. This is based on SSA birth records from 1880 to 2024, adjusted for mortality using CDC life tables. About 1 in 58,691 Americans share this first name.
Is Clair a common name?
Clair is classified as "Rare" and is more popular than 96.8% of all first names in the SSA database. A total of 16,322 births have been registered with this name since 1880.
When was Clair most popular?
Clair reached peak popularity in 1923, when 405 babies were given this name. The average age of a living person named Clair is approximately 56 years old, reflecting when the name was most commonly given.
Is Clair a male name?
Clair is predominantly male. 73.8% of people with this name are male. See the gender breakdown above for full details.
How many Clair Smiths are there?
To find how many people share a specific full name, we combine first name and surname frequencies. Try: Clair Smith, Clair Johnson, Clair Williams. You can also search any combination on our homepage.
Where does this data come from?
Our estimates use Social Security Administration birth records (1880 to 2024), adjusted for survival using CDC 2023 life tables broken down by sex. The U.S. population figure (342,754,338) is from the Census Bureau's July 2025 estimate. Full methodology.
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