Meaning and background
The story behind Clara
Clara is a feminine Latin-derived name whose base Clarus meant clear, bright or famous. It has a substantial history in European naming traditions, including the saint associated with the Poor Clares. Those are genuine linguistic and cultural facts, whereas claims about a dog having a bright personality would be fanciful. The familiar two-syllable pronunciation has wide recognition in Britain.
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Everyday moments“Clara, come here!”
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About Clara
Recorded as a dog’s name
Clara appears in 14 dog licence records in the 2026 New York City dataset.
How to read this count
These records cover New York City and may count the same dog in more than one licence period. They are not a national popularity ranking.
Pronunciation and rhythm
/klæɹə/
US English sound sequence, converted from the CMU dictionary. Stress marks are shown separately.
Stress on the first syllable in the recorded US readings.
Other dictionary readings and notation
/klæɹə/ · primary stress on syllable 1K L AE1 R AH0
/klɛɹə/ · primary stress on syllable 1K L EH1 R AH0
These are US dictionary readings. Personal, regional and other language pronunciations may differ.
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Sources and research notes (2)
- New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene NYC Dog Licensing Dataset — extract_year 2026 — Dog licence periods, not unique dogs; NYC only. No owner-level fields retrieved.
- Carnegie Mellon University / CMU Sphinx maintainers CMU US English Pronouncing Dictionary — US English dictionary readings; not owner-specific or exhaustive multilingual pronunciation
References support the individual facts shown. A source link does not mean the entire profile has been verified.