girl's name
Claragh
KLAR-ah
- Origin Latin
- Gender Girl
- Letters 7
- Popularity Top 1000 (E&W)
- Births on record 103
Northern Ireland
#194
2024 births
Claragh is a girl's name, an Irish-styled respelling of Clara, from a Latin word meaning bright or clear. With 103 recorded births in a single market it is the rarest name in the current Northern Irish top 200 by a wide margin.
- Claragh is a name of Latin origin.
- Peaked in Northern Ireland in 2021, when 12 babies were given the name.
- It has been rising over the past decade in Northern Ireland.
- Today about 1 in 65,531 babies in England and Wales is given this name.
- First appears in birth records in 2006.
Claragh over time
Births per decade in Northern Ireland, 2000s to 2020s. The striped bar is the 2020s, still in progress — it covers 2020 to 2024, not a full ten years.
Show the numbers
| Decade | Births |
|---|---|
| 2000s | 6 |
| 2010s | 21 |
| 2020s (to 2024) | 39 |
What Claragh means
Claragh means bright, clear or famous. It carries the meaning of Clara, since the respelling changes the look of the name rather than its source.
Where Claragh comes from
Claragh is Clara written to an Irish pattern. Clara comes from the Latin clarus — bright, clear, and by extension famous — and reached general European use through Saint Clare of Assisi, who founded the Poor Clares in the thirteenth century. The -agh ending is a genuine Irish orthographic shape, appearing in placenames such as Claragh mountain in County Cork and Clara in County Offaly, and the respelling recruits that look for a name that is Latin by origin. This is a common move in modern Irish naming — Aoibhinn for Eavan, Caoimhe alongside Keeva — but Claragh runs it in the less usual direction, taking a Continental name and giving it an Irish surface.
Claragh in use
Claragh ranks 194th in Northern Ireland on 9 births and appears in no other market in our data at all. It peaked in Northern Ireland in 2021, when 12 babies were registered, and is rising. Our records carry it only from 2006 across 103 lifetime births, which makes it the rarest name in the current Northern Irish top 200 — a reminder that a top 200 place in a market this size takes fewer than a dozen births.
How popular is Claragh?
In 2024, Claragh was given to 9 babies in England and Wales, ranking #194 that year. It is well established in England and Wales.
Where Claragh is used
Figures for Northern Ireland withhold any name given to fewer than three babies in a year, so a gap means the name fell below that floor rather than went unused. Data & sources.
Names that peaked alongside Claragh
These names rose and fell in the same era, which is why they tend to sound like they belong together.
Parents who like Claragh also like
Names whose popularity has risen and fallen in step with Claragh over the last century — the same taste, a different name.
2 nicknames for Claragh
Each one is a name in its own right — the figure underneath is how it is doing today, so you can see which short forms are rising and which have faded.
Claragh in other languages
The same name as it is spelled elsewhere — not shortenings, and not different names that merely sound alike. Each one has its own record here.
Sibling names for Claragh
Names from the same era that won't rhyme or share an initial with Claragh — the two things that make a sibling set grate.
Common questions about Claragh
What does the name Claragh mean?
Bright, clear or famous — it carries the meaning of Clara, from the Latin clarus.
How do you pronounce Claragh?
KLAR-ah, the same as Clara. The gh is silent.
Is Claragh an Irish name?
The spelling is Irish in style and matches placenames such as Claragh in County Cork, but the name itself is Latin by origin.
How rare is Claragh?
Very. It has 103 recorded births in our data and charts only in Northern Ireland.
How popular is the name Claragh?
In 2024, Claragh was given to 9 babies in England and Wales, ranking #194 that year. It is well established in England and Wales.
Is Claragh a girl's or a boy's name?
Claragh is given almost entirely to girls in birth records.
When was Claragh most popular?
Claragh peaked in 2021, when 12 babies were given the name. It has been rising over the past decade.
What are the nicknames for Claragh?
Claragh is usually shortened to Clara and Clare.
Is Claragh a good name?
That is not something records can settle, but they can tell you what you would be choosing. Claragh currently ranks #194 in Northern Ireland. It has been rising over the past decade. Everything else — how it sounds with your surname, who it reminds you of — is yours.