Clare Family Crest, Coat of Arms & Clare Name Origin

Get Free Updates about Family Crests, New Information, Stories, Special Offers and more with our Occasional Newsletter Updates

* indicates required

Email Address *

First Name *

Last Name

Origin of the Name Clare

The Clare family history was found in the allfamilycrests.com archives. include Clair, Clear and Claret. These names are usually of Norman Origin and were formerly rendered as 'de Cleir'. Perhaps the most famous bearer of the name was Richard de Clare whose presence looms large in the history of Ireland . Known as 'Strongbow' he invaded Ireland in the year 1170, his Knights eventually integrating into Gaelic society and some even opposing English invasions in later centuries. The earliest families of Clare were first associated with County Wexford in Ireland where Clereston bears their name. The name Clare is ultimately derived from a place in Normandy in France , le Clare, and first recorded in the 1086 Domesday Book of England . The 1659 Census in Ireland shows the name to be numerous in County Tipperary, where the variant Clear is recorded in the Ormond collection of Deeds in the sixteenth century. The Rev. Wallace Clare, 1895-1963, was founder of the Irish Genealogical Society. Occasionally the name Clare is used as an anglicized form of the Gaelic name O'Cleirigh, more often changed to O'Clery.