Claro
A name of Spanish origin meaning "bright" or "clear".
Name Census estimates that about 16 living Americans carry the first name Claro. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Claro today is around 53 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Claro births was 1938 (6 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Claro. 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 Claro. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
16
~ 1 in 21,422,146 Americans
Peak year
1938
6 babies that year
Average age
53
years old
1998 SSA rank
#9,874
Tracked since 1921
Census
Claro in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 617 people with the first name Claro, which placed it at #17,717 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
#17,717
National first-name rank
People counted
617
617 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Hispanic or Latino
53.0% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Claro
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Claro is Hispanic at 53.0%. The next largest groups are Asian/Pacific Islander (44.1%) and White (1.5%). 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 Claro 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 Claro at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Hispanic or Latino53.0% · 327
- Asian and Pacific Islander44.1% · 272
- White1.5% · 9
- Black or African American0.6% · 4
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.6% · 4
- Two or more races0.2% · 1
Popularity
Claro: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Claro from the 1920s through to the 1990s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1930s, with 11 total registrations. The name continues to be given at rates close to its all-time high, suggesting it has not yet fallen out of fashion.
Babies born per year
Decades
Claro 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 Claro 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 Claro
The given name Claro has its origins in the Latin language, deriving from the word "clarus," which means "clear" or "bright." The name's roots can be traced back to ancient Roman times, where it was likely used as a descriptor or nickname for individuals with a bright or radiant personality or appearance.
The earliest recorded instance of Claro as a given name can be found in ancient Roman historical records and inscriptions dating back to the 1st and 2nd centuries AD. It was a relatively uncommon name during this period, but its usage persisted throughout the centuries, particularly in regions with strong Roman or Latin cultural influences.
One of the earliest notable individuals with the name Claro was Claro of Nantes, a French bishop who lived in the 6th century AD. He was renowned for his piety and charitable works and is considered a saint in the Catholic Church.
In the 13th century, Claro Gambacorta was an influential Italian statesman and military leader from the city of Pisa. He played a significant role in the political and military affairs of his time, and his name is associated with various historical accounts and chronicles from that period.
During the Renaissance, Claro da Fabrica was an Italian painter and architect active in the 16th century. He is best known for his work on the Church of San Giorgio Maggiore in Venice, which is considered one of the finest examples of Renaissance architecture in the city.
In the literary realm, Claro José Alegria was a prominent Chilean poet and writer of the 20th century. Born in 1924, he is celebrated for his contributions to the development of contemporary Chilean poetry and his exploration of social and political themes.
Another notable figure with the name Claro is Claro M. Recto, a Filipino lawyer, jurist, and statesman who lived from 1890 to 1960. He served as a justice on the Philippine Supreme Court and played a significant role in the country's independence movement and the drafting of its constitution.
While the name Claro has maintained a presence throughout history, it has generally been less common compared to other given names. However, its enduring use across different cultures and time periods is a testament to its distinctive and meaningful origins rooted in the Latin language.
People
Claro + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Claro 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
Claro: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Claro?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 16 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Claro 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 21,422,146 US residents.
Is Claro a common name?
We classify Claro as "Very Rare". It ranks above 36.5% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 32 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Claro most popular?
The single biggest year for Claro was 1938, when 6 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Claro is about 53 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Claro in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 617 people with the name Claro, or 0.20 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #17,717 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 Claro 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 Claro?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Claro leans strongly male. 608 people counted with this name were male (97.4%), compared with 16 female bearers (2.6%). 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 Claro?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Claro is Hispanic at 53.0%. The next largest groups are Asian/Pacific Islander (44.1%) and White (1.5%). 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 Claro most often in the Census?
Hispanic is the largest reported group for people named Claro in the 2020 Census, accounting for 53.0% (327 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 Claro in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Claro a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Claro in the SSA data are male. 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 Claro still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Claro 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 Claro 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 Claro as a first name?
For a quick modern take, check how many people have the name Claro on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org.