Humanverse

Klaire vs Klay

American parents have registered 1,814 Klaires since 1880, against 1,616 Klays. But in 2025 it was Klay that was commoner, 84 babies to 56.

Babies given each name, 1880–2025

Births per year: Klaire against Klay, 1880 to 2025 0 30 60 90 120 1880 1900 1920 1940 1960 1980 2000 2020

Klaire Klay

Each line is every baby given the name that year, girls and boys added together — the only count that means the same thing for both names. A line breaks where the name fell below five babies in a year — the point at which the SSA stops publishing it — rather than being drawn through a figure nobody published. A single published year in a gap shows as a dot.

Who was ahead

Of the 61 years in which either name was published, Klay for 38 years and Klaire for 23 years. The lead changed hands 6 times.

Side by side

  Klaire Klay
Total US births 1,8141,616
Most in one year 103103
Babies in 2025 5684
Estimated living today 1,8001,600
Median age today 129
Peak year 20122022
Best rank 1,918th girls1,665th boys
Rank in 2025 2,957th1,867th
First recorded 19821958
Girls / boys 1,814 / 00 / 1,616

A rank is a position within one sex’s list for one year, so the two rank rows are not subtracted from one another and the winning column is not marked on them. The living figure is a life-table estimate, not a count.

Which name is older

Half of the Klaires alive today are over 12; half the Klays are over 9. That is 3 years between them: two names in use at the same time, worn by two different generations.

Where each one is strongest

How much commoner the name is in that state than it is nationally, from births recorded since 1910.

Compare something else

Related comparisons

Social Security Administration birth records, 1880–2025, public domain. Full histories: Klaire and Klay.