| Pronunciation | /ˈklɛər/ |
|---|---|
| Gender | Unisex |
| Language(s) | English; French |
| Origin | |
| Word/name | French |
| Meaning | "clear", "bright" |
| Region of origin | France |
| Other names | |
| Variant form(s) | Clair Clare |
| Related names | Clare, Clara, Clarissa, Clarisse, Clarice, Sinclair, Saint Clair |
Claire or Clair /ˈklɛər/ is a given name of French origin. The word means clear in French in its feminine form.
Its popularity in the United Kingdom peaked during the 1970s and 1980s; in 1974 it was the second most popular female first name and in 1984 was still sixth, but by 1997 it had fallen out of the top 100 after several years of sharply declining popularity.
The name was traditionally considered male, specifically when spelt Clair; however, it is now commonly used as a female name and is usually spelled Claire.
Women
Actresses
- Claire Adams (1898–1978), Canadian actress
- Claire Bloom (born 1931), English actress
- Claire Coffee (born 1980), American actress
- Claire Corlett (born 1999), Canadian actress
- Claire Cox (born 1975), British actress
- Claire Danes (born 1979), American actress
- Claire Dodd (1911–1973), American actress
- Claire Forlani (born 1972), English actress
- Claire Foy (born 1984), English actress
- Claire Holt (born 1988), Australian actress
- Claire Lacombe (1765–1826), French actress
- Claire Sweeney (born 1971), English actress, singer, and television personality
- Claire Trevor (1910–2000), American actress
Politics
- Claire Baker (born 1971), British politician
- Claire Bouchet (born 1954), French politician
- Claire Coutinho (born 1985), British politician
- Claire Fox (born 1960), British journalist, writer and politician
- Claire Guichard (born 1967), French politician
- Claire Guion-Firmin (born 1957), French politician
- Claire IsaBelle (born 1962), Canadian politician
- Claire Janowski, American retired politician from Connecticut
- Claire Johnson, Canadian politician
- Claire Kerrane (born 1992), Irish Sinn Féin politician
- Claire Martens (born 1987), Dutch politician
- Claire McCaskill (born 1953), American politician from Missouri
- Claire Perry O'Neill (born 1964), British businesswoman and former politician
- Claire O'Petit (born 1949), French politician
- Claire Pitollat (born 1979), French politician
- Claire Sugden (born 1986), British politician
- Claire Rattée, Canadian politician
- Claire Shulman (1926–2020), American politician
- Claire Valdez, American politician
- Claire Ward (born 1972), British politician
Royalty and aristorcacy
- Claire-Clémence de Maillé-Brézé (1628–1694), French noblewoman and wife of Louis, Grand Condé
- Princess Claire of Belgium (born 1974)
Sports
- Claire Backhouse-Sharpe (born 1958), Canadian badminton player
- Claire Butorac (born 1999), American ice hockey player
- Claire Calvert (born 1988), English ballet dancer
- Claire Curzan (born 2004), American competitive swimmer and Olympian
- Clair DeGeorge (born 1999), American ice hockey player
- Claire Donahue (born 1989), American swimmer
- Claire Emslie (born 1994), Scottish footballer
- Claire Fahey (born 1991), British real tennis player
- Claire Johnstone (born 1982), Scottish football goalkeeper
- Claire Lovett (1910–2005), Canadian badminton and tennis player
- Claire Weinstein (born 2007), American Olympic medalist freestyle swimmer
Other
- Claire Adjiman, French academic
- Claire Armitstead, British journalist
- Claire Boucher (born 1988), Canadian musician better known by her stage name Grimes
- Claire Bouilhac (born 1970), French bande dessinée illustrator, scriptwriter, and colorist
- Claire Buffie (born 1986), American photographer
- Claire Byrne (born 1975), Irish journalist and television presenter
- Claire Chazal (born 1956), French journalist
- Claire Clairmont (1798–1879), stepsister of Mary Shelley and mother of Allegra
- Claire Cottrill (born 1998), American musician known by her stage name Clairo
- Claire Cunningham (born 1977), Scottish choreographer
- Claire Cupples, Canadian microbiologist
- Claire dela Fuente (1958–2021), Filipino singer and businesswoman
- Claire Denis (born 1946), French film director and screenwriter
- Claire Etcherelli (1934–2023), French novelist
- Claire Falkenstein (1908-1997), American artist
- Claire Finkelstein, American professor at the University of Pennsylvania Law School
- Claire Hardaker (linguist) (born 1981), English forensic and corpus linguist
- Claire Hodgkins (1929–2011), American virtuoso violinist
- Claire Hooper (born 1976), Australian comedian
- Claire Ighodaro, British-born Nigerian chartered management accountant
- Claire Lomas (born 1980), British campaigner, fundraiser and former event rider
- Claire Martin, people of the same name:
- Claire Martin (1914–2014), pseudonym of Canadian author Claire Montreuil
- Claire Martin, British-born television weather presenter, now living in Canada
- Claire Martin (born 1967), British jazz singer
- Claire McCardell (1905–1958), American fashion designer
- Claire Moore, people of the same name:
- Claire Moore (born 1960), British singer and actress
- Claire Moore (born 1956), Australian politician
- Claire Julie de Nanteuil (1834–1897), French writer
- Claire Newell, Canadian travel expert and business woman
- Claire Rafferty (born 1989), English pundit and professional footballer
- Claire Rayner (1931–2010), English journalist and agony aunt
- Claire Richards (born 1977), English singer
- Claire Rutter (born 1976), English soprano
- Claire Saffitz (born 1986), pastry chef, Youtube personality, contributing editor to Bon Appétit
- Claire Skinner (born 1964), British actress
- Claire Smith, people of the same name:
- Claire Smith (archaeologist) (born 1957), Australian archaeologist
- Claire Smith (journalist) (born 1954), American sportswriter
- Claire Smith (equestrian) (born 1963), Canadian equestrian
- Claire Bidwell Smith (born 1978), American therapist and author
- Claire Elizabeth Smith (born 1970), British TV host, model and beauty pageant titleholder
- Claire Sterling (1919–1995), American author and journalist
- Claire Summers, Welsh news presenter
- Claire Tiltman (1977–1993), English murder victim
- Claire Vallée (born 1980), French chef
- Claire Waldoff (1884–1957), German singer
- Claire Wallace (1900/1906–1968), Canadian journalist and broadcaster
- Claire Williams, people of the same name:
- Claire Williams (born 1976), British motorsport executive and former deputy team principal of Williams Racing
- Claire Williams (born 1987), Welsh paralympian athlete
- Claire Woolterton (died 1981), American murder victim
Fictional characters
- Clair in the Pokémon universe
- Claire in the 2010 video game Professor Layton and the Lost Future
- Claire Bennet in the TV series Heroes
- Claire Dearing, protagonist in the movie Jurassic World
- Claire Dunphy in the TV series Modern Family
- Claire Farron, aka Lightning, protagonist in the video game Final Fantasy XIII and its second sequel Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII
- Dr. Claire Finn in the TV series The Orville
- Claire Fisher in the TV series Six Feet Under
- Claire Foley in the Professor Layton universe
- Claire Fraser, the heroine of the Outlander novel series and TV series
- Clair Huxtable in the TV series The Cosby Show
- Claire Kincaid in the TV series Law & Order
- Claire Kyle in the TV series My Wife and Kids
- Claire Littleton in the TV series Lost
- Claire Lowell, a character in the American sitcom television series Kate & Allie
- Claire Lyons in the novel series The Clique
- Claire Malloy in the eponymous novel series by Joan Hess
- Claire Novak in the TV series Supernatural
- Claire Nuñez, a main character in Trollhunters: Tales of Arcadia
- Claire Peacock in the TV series Coronation Street
- Claire Redfield in the video game series Resident Evil
- Claire Riesen in the TV series Dominion
- Claire Setilan, an antagonist in the video game Magna Carta 2
- Claire Standish in the film The Breakfast Club
- Claire Temple in the TV series Daredevil
- Claire Underwood in the TV series House of Cards
- Claire Wheeler, Greek Council President in the Pixar film Monsters University
- Claire Kagenou (クレア・カゲノー, Kurea Kagenō) from the light novel, manga and anime The Eminence in Shadow
- Claire, the main protagonist of an animation based on the song Basics in Behavior
Men
- Clair du Dauphiné (c. 590–660), Catholic French abbot
- Clair of Nantes, was the first bishop of Nantes, France in the late 3rd century
- Claire Allen (1853–1942), American architect
- Claire Alexander (born 1945), Canadian professional ice hockey player
- Claire Ball (1941–2019), American attorney and politician
- Clair Bee (1896–1983), American basketball coach and sports novelist
- Claire B. Bird (1868–1954), American lawyer
- Clair Branch (1937–2022), American football player
- Claire Brésolles (1929–2018), French runner
- Clair Alan Brown (1903–1982), American botanist
- Clair Burgener (1921–2006), American politician
- Clair A. Callan (1920–2005), American politician
- Lt. Gen. Claire Lee Chennault (1893–1958), American aviator, commander of the Flying Tigers
- Clair Cline (1917–2010), American carpenter and cabinetmaker, World War II veteran
- Claire Cribbs (1912–1985), American basketball player and high school coach
- Clair Carlton Criss (1879–1952), American businessman
- Clair W. Ditchy (1891–1967), American architect
- Claire Dunn (1915–1996), American football coach
- Claire Egtvedt (1892–1975), American airplane designer
- Clair Engle (1911–1964), American politician and senator
- Clair Finch (1911–1976), American lawyer and politician
- Claire Frye (1899–1971), American college football player
- Clair George (1930–2011), veteran officer of the Central Intelligence Agency
- Clair F. Gill (born 1943), United States Army general
- Clair L. Gleason (1923–1986), American sports coach and college athletics administrator
- Clair Goodblood (1929–1951), US Army soldier
- Claire Goodwin (1891–1972), American baseball player
- Clair Huffaker (1926–1990), American author
- Claire E. Hutchin Jr. (1916–1980), United States Army lieutenant general
- Clair Aubrey Huston, American postage stamp designer
- Clair Kenamore (1875–1935), American journalist
- Claire Konold (1938–2024), American politician
- Claire Lawrence (born 1939), Canadian musician with the band Chilliwack and music producer
- Clair Maxwell (1890–1957), American journalist
- Clair McCollough (1904–1995), American broadcasting executive
- Clair Omar Musser (1901–1998), American marimba player
- Clair Nelson (1940–2019), American politician, farmer, and businessman
- Clair Cameron Patterson (1922–1995), American geochemist, developer of the lead-lead isotopic dating method who calculated the age of the Earth as 4.55 billion years
- Clair E. Robb (1905–1965), American judge
- Clair Roddewig (1903–1975), American attorney
- Claire L. Straith (1891–1958), American plastic surgeon
- Clair S. Tappaan (1878–1932), American lawyer, professor, and jurist
- Clair Tisseur (1827–1896), French architect
- Clair H. Voss (1920–1999), American lawyer and judge
- Clair Warner (1903–1970), American-born Canadian football player and executive
- Clair Wilcox (1898–1970), American economist
- Clair Ysebaert (born 1950), Belgian politician
- Clair Zimmerman (born 1956), American professional stock car racing driver
Fictional character
- Claire Stanfield, in the light novel series Baccano!
See also
References
- Levinson, Sarena. "Claire" Archived 2008-09-16 at the Wayback Machine, Wiki.Name, accessed August 8, 2010
- Merrimam Webster entry
- WordReference.com
- BabyNames.co.uk
- Behind the Name - Clair
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