How popular is the baby name Clara in the United States right now? How popular was it historically? Use the popularity graph and data table below to find out! Plus, see all the blog posts that mention the name Clara.

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Popularity of the baby name Clara


Posts that mention the name Clara

Loretta Lynn named her baby after Patsy Cline

Country singer Loretta Lynn (1932-2022)
Loretta Lynn

In mid-1961, up-and-coming country singer Loretta Lynn moved to Nashville and met established country singer Patsy Cline.

Cline quickly became both a friend and a mentor to Lynn. In her 1976 memoir, Lynn explained:

She taught me a lot of things about show business, like how to go on to a stage and how to get off. She even bought me a lot of clothes. Many times when she bought something for herself, she would buy me the same thing. […] She even bought curtains and drapes for my house because I was too broke to buy them.

In March of 1963, at the height of her career, Patsy Cline died in a plane crash in Camden, Tennessee.

The following year, Loretta Lynn and her husband welcomed their last two children — twin girls. One was named Peggy Jean after Lynn’s sister Peggy Sue, the other was named Patsy Eileen after Patsy Cline.

I named my daughter after Patsy. That’s how much she meant to me. When I had my twins the year after Patsy died, I named them Peggy and Patsy. If only Patsy had been there for that. She’d have liked it.

Loretta Lynn’s four older children were named Betty Sue, Jack Benny, Ernest Ray, and Clara Marie.

P.S. Patsy Cline’s birth name was Virginia Patterson Hensley.

Sources:

Image: Adapted from LorettaLynn1960s (public domain)

Top baby names in Germany, 2024

Flag of Germany
Flag of Germany

Last year, the European country of Germany welcomed 677,100 babies.

What were the most popular names among these babies?

Germany doesn’t release official baby name rankings, so we don’t know for sure. But two unofficial sets of 2024 rankings — one from the Society for the German Language (GfdS), the other from name researcher Knud Bielefeld — agree (again) that Germany’s top boy name was Noah.

(The rankings by the GfdS account for over 91% of the first names bestowed in Germany in 2024, while the rankings by Bielefeld account for about 36% of the babies born in Germany in 2024. Both sets of rankings combine different spellings of the same name.)

Here are Germany’s top girl names, according to both sources:

Girl names (GfdS)Girl names (Bielefeld)
1Sophia/SofiaEmilia
2EmiliaSophia
3EmmaEmma
4MiaHannah
5LinaMia
6Hannah/HannaLina
7EllaElla
8MilaLia
9Klara/ClaraLeni
10Lia/LiahMila

And here are Germany’s top boy names:

Boy names (GfdS)Boy names (Bielefeld)
1NoahNoah
2Matt(h)eo/Mat(h)eoMatteo
3LeonElias
4Luca/LukaLuca
5PaulLeon
6Henry/HenriTheo
7TheoFinn
8EmilPaul
9EliasEmil
10Louis/LuisHenry

Interestingly, the name Liam dropped off both top-10 lists last year. On the GfdS’s list it was replaced by Theo, and on Bielefeld’s list it was replaced by Henry.

Sources:

Image: Adapted from Flag of Germany (public domain)

Popular baby names in Quebec (Canada), 2024

Flag of Quebec
Flag of Quebec

Last year, the Canadian province of Quebec welcomed about 77,400 babies.

What were the most popular names among these babies? Emma and Noah.

Here are Quebec’s top 50+ girl names and top 50 boy names of 2024:

Girl names

  1. Emma, 461 baby girls
  2. Olivia, 452
  3. Florence, 449
  4. Charlotte, 447
  5. Alice, 407
  6. Charlie, 364
  7. Beatrice, 334
  8. Clara, 331
  9. Sofia, 327
  10. Livia, 298
  11. Lea, 285
  12. Romy, 281
  13. Mila, 280
  14. Juliette, 276
  15. Mia, 254
  16. Eva, 235
  17. Zoe, 234
  18. Rose, 232
  19. Victoria, 213
  20. Leonie, 212
  21. Billie, 206
  22. Julia, 205
  23. Rosalie, 198
  24. Chloe, 185
  25. Jeanne, 178
  26. Elena, 176 (tie)
  27. Flavie, 176 (tie)
  28. Jade, 173
  29. Elizabeth, 171
  30. Margot, 159
  31. Amelia, 158
  32. Adele, 152
  33. Eleonore, 149
  34. Ophelie, 144
  35. Raphaelle, 143
  36. Sophia, 140
  37. Clemence, 138
  38. Maeva, 135
  39. Camille, 130
  40. Lily, 129
  41. Ellie, 127
  42. Lena, 123
  43. Flora, 121
  44. Estelle, 109
  45. Aurelie, 107
  46. Eloise, 105 (tie)
  47. Marguerite, 105 (tie)
  48. Sophie, 104
  49. Jasmine, 102
  50. Evelyne, 101 (tie)
  51. Nora, 101 (tie)

Boy names

  1. Noah, 572 baby boys
  2. Leo, 531
  3. Liam, 494 (tie)
  4. William, 494 (tie)
  5. Thomas, 448
  6. Louis, 445
  7. Arthur, 435
  8. Edouard, 426
  9. Emile, 389
  10. Theo, 387
  11. Jacob, 354
  12. Charles, 346
  13. Adam, 340 (tie)
  14. Jules, 340 (tie)
  15. Nathan, 338
  16. James, 329
  17. Raphael, 303
  18. Laurent, 282
  19. Lucas, 274
  20. Theodore, 273
  21. Arnaud, 268
  22. Felix, 264
  23. Logan, 261
  24. Victor, 254
  25. Henri, 252
  26. Benjamin, 244
  27. Eloi, 237
  28. Elliot, 234
  29. Jackson, 228
  30. Gabriel, 226
  31. Samuel, 209
  32. Nolan, 204
  33. Milan, 203
  34. Ethan, 192
  35. Matheo, 181
  36. Antoine, 180
  37. Jayden, 168
  38. Olivier, 163
  39. Alexis, 159
  40. Leonard, 152
  41. Matteo, 139
  42. Eli, 137
  43. Robin, 131
  44. Hubert, 127
  45. Axel, 126
  46. Leon, 125 (tie)
  47. Zack, 125 (tie)
  48. Caleb, 124
  49. Jake, 123 (tie)
  50. Maverick, 123 (tie)

In the girls’ top 10, Clara and Sofia replaced Lea and Juliette.

In the boys’ top 10, Emile and Theo replaced Jacob and Nathan.

And what about the names at the other end of the spectrum?

Among those given to fewer than five babies, I spotted the place names Kenai and Sitka, the plant name Melilot (sweet clover), the French word Tantine (meaning “auntie”), and the Inuktitut versions of various Christian names:

  • Joanassie (based on John, Jonah, or Jonas)
  • Jusipi/Juusipi (based on Joseph)
  • Paulusie (based on Paul)
  • Silasie (based on Silas)
  • Tuumasi (based on Thomas)
  • Elisapee/Elisapi/Elisapie (based on Elizabeth)

I also noticed names from various indigenous languages, such as…

  • Aqiaruk, which means “stomach” in Inuktut.
  • Arnaq Talittuq, made up of the Inuktitut words arnaq, meaning “woman,” and talittuq, meaning “disappears, hides.”
  • Maikaniss, which means “wolf cub” in Innu. (The word maikan means “wolf.”)
  • Mispun, which means “it is snowing” in East Cree.
  • Missinak, which means “turtle” in Innu.
  • Nipinok, based on the Cree word nipinohk, meaning “last summer.” (The word nipin means “summer.”)
  • Piponik, based on the Cree word pipon, meaning both “winter” and “year.”
  • Putulik
  • Qumaluk
  • Tillikasak
  • Timangiak
  • Uashtessiu, part of the Innu term uashtessiu-pishimu, meaning “the month when the leaves become yellow” (i.e., October).
  • Uiviru
  • Ulluriaq, which means “star” in Inuktitut.
  • Weetalutuk

(I can’t give you the usual sampling of Quebec’s single-use names because, as of 2024, the province has decided to stop specifying which names were given to just one baby. The single-use names — along with the names that were given to two, three, and four babies — are now labeled “<5” in the data.)

Finally, here’s a link to Quebec’s 2023 rankings, if you’d like to compare last year to the year before.

Sources:

Image: Adapted from Flag of Quebec (public domain)

Girl names on the rise in Canada, 2024

hot air balloons

Which names were the trendiest among baby girls born in Canada last year?

Below you’ll find Canada’s fastest-rising and highest-debuting girl names of 2024.

Rises (absolute)

Here are the girl names that saw the biggest increases in usage in terms of absolute change (number of babies) from 2023 to 2024:

  1. Lainey, rose from 193 to 341 baby girls (+148)
  2. Charlotte, 1,418 to 1,528 (+110)
  3. Eliana, 343 to 452 (+109)
  4. Asees, 180 to 272 (+92)
  5. Clara, 558 to 646 (+88)
  6. Arzoyi, 40 to 127 (+87)
  7. Scottie, 97 to 181 (+84)
  8. Lara, 133 to 210 (+77)
  9. Arzoi, 69 to 144 (+75) [tie]
  10. Ayla, 367 to 442 (+75) [tie]

Lainey, the second-fastest-rising girl name a year earlier, continues to be influenced by country singer Lainey Wilson. (In the U.S., Lainey was similarly one of the fastest-rising girl names in both 2023 and 2024.)

Rises (relative)

Here are the girl names that saw the biggest increases in usage in terms of relative change (percentage of babies) from 2023 to 2024:

  1. Sada, rose from 6 to 29 baby girls (383% increase)
  2. Arjoi, 5 to 19 (280%)
  3. Ambar, 7 to 26 (271%)
  4. Raha, 16 to 59 (269%)
  5. Elody, 6 to 22 (267%)
  6. Jaap, 11 to 40 (264%)
  7. Clea, 7 to 25 (257%)
  8. Ayleen, 5 to 17 (240%)
  9. Haneen, 6 to 20 (233%)
  10. Brie, 5 to 16 (220%) [tie]
  11. Hidayah, 5 to 16 (220%) [tie]

Debuts

Finally, here are the girl names that debuted most impressively in Canada’s baby name data in 2024:

  1. Yashna, 28 baby girls
  2. Lewhat, 17
  3. Riyasat, 16
  4. Jeevat, 14
  5. Sukoon, 13
  6. Kamsiyochukwu, 12 [3 -way tie]
  7. Sanjog, 12 [3 -way tie]
  8. Solenne, 12 [3 -way tie]
  9. Fiora, 11 [5-way tie]
  10. Jasnaaz, 11 [5-way tie]
  11. Jeeva, 11 [5-way tie]
  12. Pranvi, 11 [5-way tie]
  13. Raaya, 11 [5-way tie]

Yashna may have been influenced by a character in the Indian movie Hi Nanna, released in late 2023. (In the U.S., Yashna was the top girl-name debut of 2024 as well.)

Other girl-name debuts in the Canadian data included Apollonia (6), Galadriel (5), and Happy (5).

Do you have thoughts/theories about any of the names above?

Sources: First names at birth by sex at birth, selected indicators (Number) – Statistics Canada, Canada’s most popular baby names in 2024 (Sept. 2025)

Image: Adapted from Turkey-2036 by Dennis Jarvis under CC BY-SA 2.0.