Clare
A surname most often tied to the old place-name Clare in Suffolk, later made famous by the powerful de Clare family.
The #7,702 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 71,651 Americans shares it.
Etymology
This surname is mainly locational, taken from the barony and town of Clare in Suffolk. The place-name is usually traced to an older river or landscape name associated with the area, though the precise pre-English root is not certain. In Norman and Anglo-Norman usage, people who held the manor or came from the place styled themselves de Clare, and the surname was then inherited.
History
The name became prominent through the de Clare family, a major Anglo-Norman baronial house after the Conquest. Historical writers note that their influence spread the name beyond Suffolk, giving it links with an English town, an Irish county, a dukedom, and a Cambridge college. As a surname, Clare can also appear as a simplified form of de Clare in later records.
Origin
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Fun fact
The de Clare family was so influential that one historical source says it gave its name not only to a town but also to an Irish county, a dukedom, and a Cambridge college.
From the historical record
“bridge. CLARE DE. "The whole of the south- ern district eventually fell under the feu- dal control of the great De Clare or Cla- rence family, who have given their name to an English town, an Irish county, a royal dukedom, and a Cambridge college."' Dr. Donaldson, in Cambridge Essays, 1856, page GO. The name was…”
— Patronymica Britannica: a dictionary of the family names of the United Kingdom