Chiara is the Italian form of Clara and means "bright" or "clear", from the Latin clarus. Saint Clare of Assisi, Chiara in her native Italian, founded the order of the Poor Clares in the 13th century, and the name has been one of Italy's most popular for decades. In the United States Chiara, pronounced kee-AH-ra, has risen from number 1853 in 2015 to number 1066 in 2025, its best rank yet.