Blaire is a variant spelling of the Blair, a unisex given name of Scottish origin. The name ultimately derives from a Scottish surname that originated from any of the numerous places in Scotland called Blair. These place names come from the Scottish Gaelic word blàr, meaning "plain," "meadow," or "field"—often specifically a battlefield. The surname is historically associated with Clan Blair, a Scottish clan. As a given name, Blair is generally masculine in Scotland and Canada, but in the United States it became more common for girls in the early 1980s, shortly after the debut of the television sitcom The Facts of Life (1979–1988), which featured a character named Blair Warner. The name left the American top 1000 rankings two decades later but was resurrected by another television character: Blair Waldorf from the series Gossip Girl (2007–2012). The variant Blaire, while less common than the original Blair, shares the same etymological roots and has seen occasional use, particularly in the United States. As of 2016, Blair was the 521st most popular name for girls born in the U.S. that year and the 1807th most popular for boys; Blaire is less frequently recorded but follows the same trends.