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

Popular baby names in Andorra, 2015 (and earlier)

Flag of Andorra
Flag of Andorra

The mountainous microstate of Andorra is located in the Pyrenees, sandwiched between France and Spain.

Andorra has a population of fewer than 100,000 people — making it more populous than Monaco and Liechtenstein, but less populous than Malta.

The country’s official language is Catalan, but other languages (like French and Spanish) are also spoken.

Though I haven’t been able to find up-to-date baby name rankings for Andorra, I did recently come across four sets of rankings that were slightly older. So here are Andorra’s most popular baby names of 2015, 2013, 2012, and 2011:

2015

In 2015, a total of 602 babies (304 girls and 298 boys) were born in Andorra.

Girl names, 2015Boy names, 2015
1. Alba
2. Janna
3. Lia
4. Aina
5. Ainoa
6. Júlia
7. Laia
8. Lara
9. Maria
10. Martina		1. Lucas
2. Nil
3. Martí
4. Eric
5. Adrià
6. Enzo
7. Liam
8. Rodrigo
9. Alex
10. Biel

Some explanations…

  • Aina, Martí, and Adrià are the Catalan forms of Anna, Martin, and Adrian.
  • Ainoa is based on the Basque name Ainhoa.
  • Laia and Biel are the Catalan diminutives of Eulalia and Gabriel.
  • Nil is derived from Neilos, the name of the Greek god of the Nile river (and also the ancient Greek name of the river itself).
  • Enzo could be short for any of the Italian –enzo names, such as Lorenzo.

2013

In 2013, Andorra welcomed a total of 588 babies (297 girls and 291 boys).

Girl names, 2013Boy names, 2013
1. Laia
2. Carlota
3. Emma
4. Lara
5. Martina
6. Aina
7. Maria
8. Blanca
9. Laura
10. Valentina		1. Marc
2. Eric
3. Jan
4. Daniel
5. Enzo
6. Ian
7. Pol
8. Àlex
9. Jordi
10. Martí

Pol and Jordi are the Catalan forms of Paul and George.

This was the only set of rankings to feature “Àlex,” the Catalan short form of Alexander, as opposed to accent-less “Alex” (which is likely a typo).

2012

In 2012, a total of 661 babies (332 girls and 329 boys) were born in Andorra.

Girl names, 2012Boy names, 2012
1. Júlia
2. Noa
3. Maria
4. Lara
5. Alba
6. Abril
7. Aina
8. Ona
9. Clara
10. Emma		1. Alex
2. Marc
3. Martí
4. Iker
5. Arnau
6. Biel
7. Gabriel
8. Jan
9. Nil
10. Pol

Some explanations…

  • Ona is a short form of Mariona, the Catalan diminutive of Maria.
  • Iker is a Basque name.
  • Arnau is the Catalan form of Arnold.

2011

In 2011, Andorra welcomed a total of 720 babies (353 girls and 367 boys).

Girl names, 2011Boy names, 2011
1. Laia
2. Abril
3. Aina
4. Luana
5. Lara
6. Noa
7. Júlia		1. Daniel
2. Iker
3. Eric
4. Martí
5. Pol
6. Jan
7. Biel

Which of all the above names do you like most?

Sources:

Image: Adapted from Flag of Andorra (public domain)

[Latest update: Feb. 2025]

What gave the baby name Clarissa a boost in the early 1990s?

The character Clarissa Darling from the TV series "Clarissa Explains It All" (1991-1994)
Clarissa Darling from “Clarissa Explains It All“

The baby name Clarissa had already been on the rise for several decades when, in 1992, usage increased more sharply than usual. Several years later, the name reached peak popularity:

  • 1997: 1,091 baby girls named Clarissa [rank: 266th]
  • 1996: 1,157 baby girls named Clarissa [rank: 241st]
  • 1995: 1,201 baby girls named Clarissa [rank: 239th] – peak usage
  • 1994: 1,185 baby girls named Clarissa [rank: 237th] – peak ranking
  • 1993: 1,074 baby girls named Clarissa [rank: 258th]
  • 1992: 1,141 baby girls named Clarissa [rank: 244th]
  • 1991: 909 baby girls named Clarissa [rank: 305th]
  • 1990: 853 baby girls named Clarissa [rank: 322nd]
  • 1989: 759 baby girls named Clarissa [rank: 335th]

Here’s a visual:

Graph of the usage of the baby name Clarissa in the U.S. since 1880
Usage of the baby name Clarissa

What accounts for this?

My guess is the TV series Clarissa Explains it All, which aired on Nickelodeon from early 1991 to late 1994.

The show’s main character was witty teenager Clarissa Darling (played by Melissa Joan Hart), who frequently broke the fourth wall — speaking directly to viewers about the things that were going on in her life and how she felt about them.

Two other memorable characters were Clarissa’s obnoxious younger brother Ferguson (who was a Republican, just like Alex P. Keaton of Family Ties) and her best friend Sam (who always climbed a ladder up to Clarissa’s second-story bedroom window).

Interestingly, Clarissa introduces herself in the very first episode of the series with some commentary about her name:

Hi, I’m Clarissa. Clarissa Darling. Ok, I didn’t choose the name. I wanted Jade. But by that time, it was too late already.

Anything without a last name would be better, like, Martika. Or Madonna would have been great. But no one asked me.

The name Clarissa is based on the name Clara, which is derived from the Latin word clarus, meaning “bright, clear.”

What are your thoughts on Clarissa?

(And, if we pretend for a second that the sitcom never happened, do you think the usage of Clarissa would have kept rising past the mid-1990s? If so, how high do you think the name could have climbed in the rankings?)

Sources: Clarissa Explains It All – Wikipedia, Clara – Wiktionary, SSA

P.S. Another early ’90s prime-time TV show that featured a quirky teenage girl (with an equally quirky sense of fashion) was Blossom.

Popular baby names in Toledo (Brazil), 2022

Flag of Brazil
Flag of Brazil

Last year, the most popular baby names in the Brazilian city of Toledo (located in the southern state of Paraná) were Alice and Miguel.

According to local newspaper Gazeta de Toledo — which published a single, provisional set of rankings for Toledo in late December — these were the city’s top 50 baby names overall in 2022:

  1. Miguel, 32 babies
  2. Alice, 29 – pronounced ah-lee-see in Brazilian Portuguese.
  3. Helena, 25
  4. Maria Alice, 21
  5. Cecilia, 21
  6. Arthur, 18
  7. Laura, 17
  8. Davi, 15 – a form of David.
  9. Theo, 15
  10. Samuel, 15
  11. Maria Julia, 15
  12. Bernardo, 13
  13. Gael, 12
  14. Aurora, 12
  15. Lara, 12
  16. Heitor, 11
  17. Ravi, 10 – a form of Rafael.
  18. Julia, 10
  19. Maria Clara, 9
  20. Arthur Miguel, 9
  21. Joaquim, 9
  22. Gabriel, 9
  23. Vicente, 9
  24. Lorenzo, 9
  25. Isabelly, 8
  26. Sofia, 8
  27. Livia, 8
  28. Augusto, 8
  29. Heloisa, 8
  30. Eloa, 8
  31. Nicolas, 8
  32. Noah, 8
  33. Rafael, 8
  34. Benicio, 7
  35. Maria Eduarda, 7
  36. Emanuel, 7
  37. Valentina, 7
  38. Lucas, 7
  39. Maria Cecilia, 6
  40. Isaac, 6
  41. Anthony, 6
  42. Catarina, 6
  43. Agatha, 6
  44. Murilo, 6 – (pronounced moo-ree-loh) based on the Spanish surname Murillo, which is derived from the Spanish word muro, meaning “wall.”
  45. Pedro, 6
  46. Guilherme, 6
  47. Rebeca, 6
  48. Eloah, 6
  49. Antonella, 6
  50. Felipe, 6

The newspaper mentioned that Maria Alice has been on the rise in Brazil since the mid-2020 birth of celebrity baby Maria Alice, firstborn daughter of Brazilian singer Zé Felipe and Brazilian influencer Virginia Fonseca. (The couple’s second daughter, Maria Flor, was born in late 2022 — making “Maria Flor” a combo to look out for in future Brazilian rankings.)

The name Rebeca also rose in 2022 following the success of Brazilian gymnast Rebeca Andrade at the 2020 Summer Olympics, which were held in mid-2021 due to COVID-19. Andrade won a gold medal in the vault and a silver medal in the individual all-around (placing second to Sunisa Lee of Team USA).

I’ve never posted rankings for Toledo before, but I did post Brazil’s 2021 rankings a few months back, if you’d like to compare this list to that one.

Sources:

Image: Adapted from Flag of Brazil (public domain)

Popular baby names in Denmark, 2021

Flag of Denmark
Flag of Denmark

The country of Denmark, which is located in northern Europe and shares a border with only Germany, consists of two-thirds of the Jutland peninsula plus an archipelago of hundreds of islands.

Last year, Denmark welcomed 63,473 babies. The most popular names among these babies? Alma and Oscar.

Here are Denmark’s top 50 girl names and top 50 boy names of 2021:

Girl Names

  1. Alma, 482 baby girls
  2. Ida, 474
  3. Clara, 437
  4. Ella, 436
  5. Olivia, 428
  6. Freja, 425
  7. Emma, 420
  8. Luna, 411
  9. Agnes, 410
  10. Nora, 398
  11. Karla, 393 (tie)
  12. Sofia, 393 (tie)
  13. Anna, 387
  14. Ellie, 370
  15. Asta, 356 (tie)
  16. Lily, 356 (tie)
  17. Alberte, 353
  18. Frida, 313
  19. Josefine, 306
  20. Laura, 299
  21. Esther, 297
  22. Ellen, 287
  23. Astrid, 267
  24. Isabella, 259
  25. Saga, 245
  26. Aya, 242 – Anglicized form of Aija.
  27. Lærke, 237 – means “lark” in Danish.
  28. Marie, 223
  29. Liva, 220
  30. Hannah, 219
  31. Mathilde, 214
  32. Maja, 213 (tie)
  33. Vilma, 213 (tie)
  34. Merle, 209
  35. Victoria, 205
  36. Mille, 199
  37. Liv, 190
  38. Emily, 189
  39. Sofie, 183
  40. Leonora, 178 (tie)
  41. Molly, 178 (tie)
  42. Lea, 176
  43. Andrea, 175
  44. Gry, 172 – (pronounced groo, roughly) means “dawn” in Danish and Norwegian.
  45. Emilie, 167
  46. Vera, 161
  47. Rosa, 156
  48. Alva, 153
  49. Elina, 148
  50. Johanne, 147

Boy Names

  1. Oscar, 562 baby boys
  2. Karl, 555
  3. William, 520
  4. Oliver, 494
  5. Alfred, 470
  6. August, 462
  7. Valdemar, 458
  8. Malthe, 452
  9. Arthur, 451
  10. Emil, 447
  11. Lucas, 439
  12. Aksel, 435
  13. Noah, 427
  14. Victor, 395
  15. Elias, 375
  16. Theo, 355
  17. Otto, 340
  18. Viggo, 319
  19. Magnus, 306
  20. Felix, 301
  21. Elliot, 300
  22. Nohr, 293 – related to the Germanic word for “north.”
  23. Liam, 291 (tie)
  24. Matheo, 291 (tie)
  25. Anton, 289
  26. Hugo, 267
  27. Loui, 264
  28. Alexander, 254
  29. Theodor, 249
  30. Frederik, 248
  31. Konrad, 244
  32. Lauge, 243 – based on the Old Norse word félagi, meaning “companion, partner.”
    • The Old Norse word félag (“fellowship, partnership”), which referred to a joint financial venture during the Viking Age, gave rise to both the Old Norse word félagi and the modern English word fellow.
  33. Anker, 241
  34. Albert, 235
  35. Johan, 215
  36. Storm, 209
    • About half as many U.S. baby boys (105) were given the English word Storm as a name last year.
  37. Adam, 199
  38. Milas, 197
  39. Erik, 195 (tie)
  40. Pelle, 195 (tie)
  41. Vincent, 189
  42. Villads, 185 – form of Willihad.
  43. Villum, 183 – form of Vilhelm (William).
  44. Marius, 182
  45. Christian, 181
  46. Holger, 174 – derived from an Old Norse name that was made up of elements meaning “small island” and “spear.”
  47. Ebbe, 169
  48. Walter, 168
  49. Luca, 167
  50. Benjamin, 162

In 2020, the top two names were Alma and Alfred.

P.S. The country of Denmark is part of the larger Kingdom of Denmark, which includes the two autonomous countries of Greenland and the Faroe Islands. I’ll post the rankings for both later this week…

Sources: Names of newborn children – Statistics Denmark, Denmark – Wikipedia, Nordic Names, Behind the Name, Félag – Wikipedia

Image: Adapted from Flag of Denmark (public domain)