Clarabel
A feminine name derived from Clare, meaning "bright" or "clear" in Latin.
Name Census estimates that about 8 living Americans carry the first name Clarabel. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Clarabel today is around 100 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Clarabel births was 1922 (22 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Clarabel. 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
- • The typical person named Clarabel is about 100 years old today, placing it firmly among the names of earlier generations. Most living Clarabels were born before 1936.
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Clarabel. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
8
~ 1 in 42,844,292 Americans
Peak year
1922
22 babies that year
Average age
100
years old
1936 SSA rank
#3,770
Tracked since 1896
Census
Clarabel in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 153 people with the first name Clarabel, which placed it at #44,840 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
#44,840
National first-name rank
People counted
153
153 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Hispanic or Latino
40.5% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Clarabel
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Clarabel is Hispanic at 40.5%. The next largest groups are White (35.3%) and Black (13.7%). 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 Clarabel 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 Clarabel at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Hispanic or Latino40.5% · 62
- White35.3% · 54
- Black or African American13.7% · 21
- Asian and Pacific Islander4.6% · 7
- American Indian and Alaska Native3.9% · 6
- Two or more races2.0% · 3
Popularity
Clarabel: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Clarabel from the 1890s through to the 1930s, spanning 5 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1920s, with 129 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 1920s peak, Clarabel remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Clarabel 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 Clarabel during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Clarabels live
Origin
Meaning and history of Clarabel
Clarabel is an English feminine given name derived from the combination of the Latin names Clara and Bella. The name Clara, meaning "bright" or "clear," has its roots in the Roman era, while Bella, meaning "beautiful," originated from the Italian and Spanish languages.
The name Clarabel gained popularity in the Middle Ages, particularly in England, where it was often used as a variant of the name Claribel. It was commonly associated with nobility and upper-class families during this period. The earliest recorded instance of the name dates back to the 13th century, when it appeared in various medieval English texts and records.
One of the earliest notable bearers of the name Clarabel was Clarabel de Lisle, a 14th-century English noblewoman who was a lady-in-waiting to Queen Philippa of Hainault. Another historical figure named Clarabel was Clarabel Ridgeway, a 16th-century English poet and author known for her work "The Flower of Virtue."
In literature, the name Clarabel has been used in various works, including Sir Walter Scott's novel "The Fortunes of Nigel" (1822), where Clarabel is a character. It also appears in the children's book "The Railway Series" by the Rev. W. Awdry, where Clarabel is the name of one of the passenger coaches.
Other notable individuals with the name Clarabel throughout history include:
1. Clarabel Maynard (1885-1935), an American actress and vaudeville performer.
2. Clarabel Tanner (1842-1917), an American educator and advocate for women's rights.
3. Clarabel Milliken (1856-1940), a Canadian artist and painter known for her landscapes.
4. Clarabel Leighton (1888-1965), an English actress and singer who performed in various theatrical productions.
5. Clarabel Cederman (1907-1992), a Swedish tennis player who competed in the 1928 and 1932 Olympic Games.
The name Clarabel has maintained its charm and elegance throughout history, often associated with grace, beauty, and nobility. While its popularity has fluctuated over time, it remains a unique and distinctive name choice that carries with it a rich historical legacy.
People
Clarabel + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Clarabel 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
Clarabel: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Clarabel?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 8 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Clarabel 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 42,844,292 US residents.
Is Clarabel a common name?
We classify Clarabel as "Very Rare". It ranks above 24.6% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 303 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Clarabel most popular?
The single biggest year for Clarabel was 1922, when 22 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Clarabel is about 100 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Clarabel in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 153 people with the name Clarabel, or 0.05 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #44,840 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 Clarabel 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 Clarabel?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Clarabel appears almost entirely female. Of the 145 people counted with this name, 99.3% 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 Clarabel?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Clarabel is Hispanic at 40.5%. The next largest groups are White (35.3%) and Black (13.7%). 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 Clarabel most often in the Census?
Hispanic is the largest reported group for people named Clarabel in the 2020 Census, accounting for 40.5% (62 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 Clarabel in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Clarabel a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Clarabel 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 Clarabel still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Clarabel 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 Clarabel 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 common is the name Clarabel?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.