Origin and history of Claire

fem. personal name, from Latin Clara, fem. of clarus "bright, shining, clear" (see clear (adj.) and compare Claire). Derivatives include Clarisse, Clarice, Clarabel, Claribel. The native form Clare was common in medieval England, perhaps owing to the popularity of St. Clare of Assisi.

c. 1300, cler, "giving light, shining, luminous;" also "not turbid; transparent, allowing light to pass through; free from impurities; morally pure, guiltless, innocent;" from Old French cler "clear" (of sight and hearing), "light, bright, shining; sparse" (12c., Modern French clair), from Latin clarus "clear, loud," of sounds; figuratively "manifest, plain, evident," in transferred use, of sights, "bright, distinct;" also "illustrious, famous, glorious" (source of Italian chiaro, Spanish claro), which is reconstructed to be from PIE *kle-ro-, from root *kele- (2) "to shout."

The reconstructed prehistoric sense evolution to light and color involves an identification of the spreading of sound and the spreading of light (compare English loud, used of colors; German hell "clear, bright, shining," of pitch, "distinct, ringing, high").

Also from c. 1300 in English "beautiful, magnificent, excellent;" of land, "cleared, leveled." of colors, "bright, pure;" of weather or the sky or sea, "not stormy; mild, fair, not overcast, fully light, free from darkness or clouds;" of the eyes or vision, "clear, keen;" of the voice or sound, "plainly audible, distinct, resonant."

Also of the mind, "keen-witted, perspicacious;" of words or speech, "readily understood, manifest to the mind, lucid" (an Old English word for this was sweotol "distinct, clear, evident"); of land, "cleared, leveled." 

By c. 1300 in reference to complexions. Of possession or title, "unrestricted, unconditional, absolute," attested by early 15c. 

The sense of "free from encumbrance," later largely nautical, developed c. 1500. The meaning "obvious to the senses" is from 1835. 

Clear-sighted is from 1580s (clear-eyed is from 1520s); clear-headed is from 1709. For coast is clear see clear (v.).

*kelə-, Proto-Indo-European root meaning "to shout." Perhaps imitative.

It might form all or part of: acclaim; acclamation; Aufklarung; calendar; chiaroscuro; claim; Claire; clairvoyance; clairvoyant; clamor; Clara; claret; clarify; clarinet; clarion; clarity; class; clear; cledonism; conciliate; conciliation; council; declaim; declare; disclaim; ecclesiastic; eclair; exclaim; glair; hale (v.); halyard; intercalate; haul; keelhaul; low (v.); nomenclature; paraclete; proclaim; reclaim; reconcile.

It might also be the source of: Sanskrit usakala "cock," literally "dawn-calling;" Latin calare "to announce solemnly, call out," clamare "to cry out, shout, proclaim;" Middle Irish cailech "cock;" Greek kalein "to call," kelados "noise," kledon "report, fame;" Old High German halan "to call;" Old English hlowan "to low, make a noise like a cow;" Lithuanian kalba "language."