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Origin / History of the Clare Name

This most interesting and ancient surname, with its long association with the British nobility, has three possible origins.  It may be Olde English and derive from the pre 8^th Century word 'cleare' which translates as 'bright or clear' and as such was applied to various rivers and a Manor in the county of Suffolk.  A second possibility is French, from a place called Clere in Normandy and first recorded in the 1086 Domesday Book of England, whilst the third is baptismal from the French 'Claire' or the Latin 'Clara' which themselves translate as 'bright of fair'.  The original spelling forms were Clere, Clarae, Clara, Clare, and Clair(e), however there is some confusion in that in the early days the surnames were almost always proceeded by the French preposition 'de', although by the 16^th Century its use had almost died out.  The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Richard de Clare, in The Domesday Book for County Suffolk, 1086.  Other early examples of the surname include: Bogo de Clare of Oxford in the Kings Rolls 1273; Goditha Clare of Kent in 1317; Clare family of Clare in Suffolk, who received the Dukedom of Clarence in 1362; and Thomas Clair London in 1664.  Irish name holders can also trace their heritage from the same sources, as Richard de Clare, Earl of Pembroke, better known as 'Strongbow', was the great leader of the Anglo-Norman Invasion of Ireland in 1170.

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