Clarice

About Clarice

Clarice belongs to the Latin name family meaning “clear,” “bright,” or “famous.” It reached English through medieval European forms and has a particularly rich literary life. Brazilian writer Clarice Lispector and fictional investigator Clarice Starling give the name two very different associations with twentieth-century books.

The Clara family

Clarice is a medieval form of Claritia, a Late Latin name derived from Clara. The foundation is Latin clarus, a word meaning clear or bright and also used in the sense of renowned.

Clarissa and French Clarisse are close relatives. Clara and Claire provide shorter forms within the broader family, although Clarice has its own established history rather than simply being a modern elaboration of Claire.

The name’s written ending can suggest different sounds to readers in different languages. English and Portuguese both use Clarice, but their pronunciations give it noticeably different rhythms. That international use is especially apparent when comparing English-language fiction with Brazilian literature.

Clarice Lispector

Clarice Lispector’s first novel, Near to the Wild Heart, appeared in Brazil in 1943. Its intensely inward treatment of experience helped establish her distinctive place in Portuguese-language literature.

Her work includes novels, short stories, and newspaper columns. From 1967 to 1973 she wrote a Saturday column for Rio de Janeiro’s Jornal do Brasil, moving between everyday observations and more intimate reflections.

The Hour of the Star, published in 1977, became one of her best-known books. It follows a poor young woman in Rio while also drawing attention to the narrator who tells her story. Lispector gives Clarice a literary connection shaped by voice, consciousness, and experiments with narrative.

Clarice Starling

Thomas Harris introduced FBI trainee Clarice Starling in his 1988 novel The Silence of the Lambs. Assigned to interview the imprisoned psychiatrist Hannibal Lecter, she becomes involved in the pursuit of a serial killer.

Jodie Foster played Starling in the 1991 film adaptation. Foster won the Academy Award for leading actress at the 1992 ceremony, so the film year and award year are different.

The character made Clarice widely recognizable in suspense fiction and cinema. This association is quite distinct from Lispector’s, giving the same name a place in both literary experimentation and a famous crime story.

Pronunciation and related forms

English pronunciations include kluh-REES, with the stress at the end, and CLAR-iss, with the stress at the beginning. The first vowel in the latter varies with accent.

In Brazilian Portuguese, the name is approximately klah-REE-see, with three syllables. French Clarisse has a closely related final sound to the English pronunciation ending in REES.

Clarissa lengthens the name with an open final vowel, while Clara and Claire have simpler endings. These are historical relatives whose differences are audible as well as visible.

American popularity

Clarice’s best American rank for girls was number 258 in 1913. Its largest annual count came in 1921, when 600 girls received the name.

There were 70 girls named Clarice in 2000, 35 in 2010, and 52 in 2025. Its 2025 rank was number 3,111, making it much rarer among newborns than its prominent literary associations might suggest.

How popular is Clarice?

In 2025, Clarice ranked #3,111 among girls in the United States, with 52 recorded uses. The U.S. birth records first list this spelling for girls in 1880; its largest annual count was 600 in 1921. Rankings count each spelling separately. They describe national use, so local familiarity can differ. The popularity chart shows whether the name has remained common, returned after a quieter period, or risen recently.