Claudia - Origin and Meaning of the name

[ 3 syll. clau-dia, cl-aud-ia ] The girl name Claudia is pronounced KLAODiyah ^KEY. Claudia's language of origin is Latin. It is predominantly used in Dutch, English, German, Italian, Romanian, Scandinavian, and Spanish. Biblical name derived from the word claudus with the meaning 'lame, limping'. In the Bible, the name was borne by a Roman woman mentioned in one of Paul's letters to Timothy; she has traditionally been identified as the daughter of a British prince who became the wife of Pudens. The name was first adopted by English speakers in the 16th century. In Wales, Claudia is sometimes taken as an equivalent of Gladys. Another form of the name was later made known through the Claudine novels by the French author Colette, published in the early 20th century. Claudia is the feminine equivalent of the English and German Claudius.

Claudia has 15 forms that are used in both English and foreign languages. English forms of Claudia include Claude (used in French too), Claudean, Claudex, Claudiane, and Claudina. Other English variants include the pet forms Claudee and Claudie.

Forms of the name used in foreign languages include the French Claudette, the French Claudine, the Portuguese Cláudia, the German, Polish, and Slavic Klaudia, the Czech Klaudie, the Slavic Klavdija, and the Russian Klavdiya. The pet form Cacau (Portuguese) is another foreign variant.

See also the related forms, the Irish Clodagh and the English and Welsh Gladys.

Claudia is an all-time favorite. Currently it is still a rather popular baby girl name, but to a lesser degree than it was before. The name grew in popularity from the 1920s up to the 1950s. At the peak of its usage in 1952, 0.178% of baby girls were named Claudia. It was #111 in rank then. The baby name has experienced a drop in frequency since then. In 2007, it ranked at #404 with a usage of 0.038%, but it was nevertheless the most popular out of all girl names in its family.

Baby names that sound like Claudia include the Portuguese Cláudia, the German, Polish, and Slavic Klaudia, the Italian Coletta, the Arabic Khalida, the English Claudee, the French Claudette, the English Claudie, the Irish Clodagh, the English and French Colette, the English Collett, the English and French Collette, the Czech Klaudie, the English Kolette, the English and French Claude, and the English Cloette.

^KEY: Pronunciation for Claudia: K as in "key (K.IY)" ; L as in "lee (L.IY)" ; AO as in "ought (AO.T)" ; D as in "dee (D.IY)" ; IY as in "eat (IY.T)" ; AH as in "hut (HH.AH.T)"

Details of famous persons named Claudia:
Actress Claudia Cardinale, born Claude Jos�phine Rose 15 April 1938, Tunis, Tunisia.
Model Claudia Schiffer, born 25 August 1970, Dusseldorf, Germany.
US First Lady Lady Bird Johnson, born Claudia Alta Taylor 22 December 1912 - 11 July 2007, Karnack, Texas.

Popularity Trend
for Claudia
from 1900 to 2007

Variant Popularity Chart
for Claudia
in 2007