Clairessa
Feminine name derived from the French word "claire" meaning bright or clear.
Name Census estimates that about 94 living Americans carry the first name Clairessa. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Clairessa today is around 37 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Clairessa births was 1986 (10 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Clairessa. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
Key insights
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Clairessa. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
94
~ 1 in 3,646,323 Americans
Peak year
1986
10 babies that year
Average age
37
years old
2005 SSA rank
#14,889
Tracked since 1962
Census
Clairessa in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 159 people with the first name Clairessa, which placed it at #43,953 in the published first-name tables. This is a snapshot of people who already had the name at the time of the Census.
The SSA sections elsewhere on this page answer a different question: how often parents gave the name to babies over time. The "people living today" figure on this page is different again: it is a current estimate built from SSA birth records and age-based survival rates, so the two numbers are not expected to match exactly.
2020 Census rank
#43,953
National first-name rank
People counted
159
159 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
50.3% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Clairessa
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Clairessa is White at 50.3%. The next largest groups are Black (27.0%) and Hispanic (14.5%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Clairessa described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given name, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown so the breakdown is easy to read across every published category. Because the 2020 Census first-name file also includes raw headcounts for each group, Name Census can show those alongside the percentages in the legend and hover tooltip.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the name Clairessa at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White50.3% · 80
- Black or African American27.0% · 43
- Hispanic or Latino14.5% · 23
- Two or more races7.5% · 12
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.6% · 1
Popularity
Clairessa: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Clairessa from the 1960s through to the 2000s, spanning 5 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1980s, with 34 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 1980s peak, Clairessa remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Clairessa by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Clairessa during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Origin
Meaning and history of Clairessa
The name Clairessa is a feminine given name of French origin, derived from the Latin word "clarus," meaning "clear" or "bright." It is a compound name, combining the elements "clair" and "essa," with the latter being a common feminine suffix in French names.
The earliest recorded use of the name Clairessa dates back to the 17th century in France, where it was initially a variation of the more common French name Claire. The name gained popularity among the French nobility and aristocracy during this period, and it was often associated with qualities such as clarity, radiance, and purity.
One of the earliest notable bearers of the name Clairessa was Clairessa de Bourbon (1628-1694), a French noblewoman and member of the House of Bourbon. She was known for her beauty and grace, and her name became a symbol of elegance and refinement among the French aristocracy.
Another historical figure who bore the name Clairessa was Clairessa de Montfort (1675-1738), a French writer and philosopher. She was a prominent figure in the French Enlightenment and was renowned for her works on ethics and morality, which were influenced by the ideas of Descartes and Spinoza.
In the 19th century, the name Clairessa gained popularity in England and other parts of Europe, particularly among the upper classes. One notable bearer of the name was Clairessa Stanhope (1810-1890), an English aristocrat and philanthropist. She was known for her charitable works and her support for education and social reforms.
The name Clairessa also has connections to the arts, particularly in the world of literature and poetry. One of the most famous bearers of the name was Clairessa Beaumont (1835-1908), an English poet and author. Her works often explored themes of nature, beauty, and the human condition, and she was widely acclaimed for her lyrical and evocative writing style.
Another notable bearer of the name was Clairessa Duval (1860-1932), a French painter and sculptor. She was a prominent figure in the Impressionist movement and was known for her vibrant and expressive depictions of the natural world.
While the name Clairessa is not as common today as it once was, it still holds a sense of elegance and sophistication, reflecting its rich cultural heritage and historical significance.
People
Clairessa + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Clairessa as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with C
Other first names starting with C with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Clairessa: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Clairessa?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 94 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Clairessa going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 3,646,323 US residents.
Is Clairessa a common name?
We classify Clairessa as "Very Rare". It ranks above 63.7% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 99 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Clairessa most popular?
The single biggest year for Clairessa was 1986, when 10 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Clairessa is about 37 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Clairessa in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 159 people with the name Clairessa, or 0.05 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #43,953 in the national Census ranking for first names.
Why is the Census count different from the living estimate?
Because they measure different things. The Census figure is a count of people who had the name Clairessa in 2020. The living estimate aims to answer a current question instead: how many people with the name are alive today, based on SSA birth records and age-based survival rates. Since one number is a 2020 snapshot and the other is a present-day estimate, they are not expected to be identical.
What does the Census say about the gender split for Clairessa?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Clairessa appears almost entirely female. Of the 163 people counted with this name, 100.0% were female and only a very small share were male. The Census view is a snapshot of people living with the name in 2020, while the SSA section above tracks births across time.
What does the Census say about the background of people named Clairessa?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Clairessa is White at 50.3%. The next largest groups are Black (27.0%) and Hispanic (14.5%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself. The percentages in the chart above come from self-reported race and Hispanic-origin responses in the 2020 Census.
Which group reports the name Clairessa most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Clairessa in the 2020 Census, accounting for 50.3% (80 people in the published table).
Why can the Census sex total and race total differ slightly?
The Census Bureau published separate 2020 tables for sex and for race/Hispanic origin, and the released figures can differ slightly because of privacy protection in the public files. That is why this page treats the gender section and the race/origin section as two related snapshots instead of forcing them into one identical total.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only includes names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files have no Census demographic snapshot. When that happens, the SSA trend, gender history, and state sections still appear, but the 2020 Census demographic sections are omitted.
What does the SSA popularity chart show?
The chart tracks births, not the number of people alive with the name today. Each point shows how many babies were given the name Clairessa in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Clairessa a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Clairessa in the SSA data are female. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Is Clairessa still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Clairessa in 2024, and the page above shows its latest-year rank where available. A name can be well past its peak and still remain in steady use, especially if it built up a large population over earlier decades.
Why can a name have a lot of living bearers even if it is not trendy now?
Because living-bearer counts and current baby-name popularity measure different things. A name like Clairessa can build up a very large population over many decades, even if fewer parents are choosing it now than they did at its peak.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.
How many people have the name Clairessa?
See how many people share the name Clairessa on HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site built around that single question.