Claire Kiriakis was born at St. Luke's at what was supposed to have been her maternal half-aunt Sami's wedding to her paternal half-uncle Lucas. Unfortunately, the wedding never came off. Philip, Belle and the baby were transported to the hospital, and it was there that Belle and Philip chose their daughter's name -- it was a mutual favorite -- and Shawn and Mimi consented to be the child's godparents. When baby Claire became ill, Kate learned that her blood type was AB- and after talking to a medical student realized that there was no way Philip could be her father, and soon realized that it must be Shawn. Unfortunately for poor Claire, her health continued to deteriorate, and it wasn't long before Lexie Carver realized that if she didn't get a liver transplant, she wouldn't survive. Luckily for Claire, Zack Brady was a match, and she received his liver after he died.

Claire recovered, and her parents were thrilled, but when the truth finally emerged about her paternity (thanks to Chelsea's intervention), Philip left town for a number of weeks, and Shawn tried to adjust to being Claire's father. Belle didn't want him near her initially, especially after learning of his relationship with Willow, a former prostitute. Belle and Shawn finally began to come to an agreement about Claire when she was kidnapped from a diner. This terrified both Belle and Shawn, who then came under scrutiny from social services. Unbeknownst to anyone, on the occasions when Belle would allow Victor to visit with Claire, she was also spending time with Philip, who had been injured in his duties as a marine and needed reconstructive surgery.

When the case finally went to court, Philip won temporary custody of Claire, who was legally his daughter because he was married to Belle at the time of her birth and was named as her father on the birth certificate. Shortly after, Shawn and Belle kidnapped the little girl and fled the country, with Philip desperate to find out what happened to the little girl he raised for the first year of her life. When he finally caught up with them, the four were caught in a huge rainstorm at sea. At the end of the storm, Claire was missing.

Belle, Shawn, and Philip returned to Salem to search for a missing Claire. They finally found her in Chicago. She had been entered into a beauty pageant and a little boy! They brought her back to Salem and Philip agreed to stop interfering with the custody situation. Claire started her life with Belle and Shawn.

Claire was a huge help to her mom when her grandpa John came back to Salem. He had been presumed dead, but really had been kidnapped and programmed to be an assassin by Stefano DiMera. The programming left John very cold and the only person he seemed to warm up to was Claire. When John continued to get better, Shawn and Belle decided to take Claire and start their life together. With money from John, Belle and Shawn purchased the Fancy Face IV and sailed around the world with Claire.

Claire returned to Salem as a teenager in 2015. She fit in quickly with Theo, Ciara and Joey. She was the first one to realize Ciara was having problems, and that Chase had raped her. To avenge his violent act, she orchestrated his kidnapping to allow Ciara a chance to confront him.

Claire was also determined to become a singer. She worked as an assistant to Chloe Lane in hopes of making it in the music industry. She also released videos online and worked to build her social media following -- many times to the annoyance of her friends.

When Ciara made it clear she wasn't interested in Theo, Claire made a play for him. He and Claire started dating. But, Claire started to suspect that Ciara later developed feelings for Theo. When she confronted her, Ciara swore she wouldn't say anything to Theo. But, Ciara ended up writing Theo a letter. Claire caught her and intercepted the letter. Ciara later left town.

Claire was worried that her singing career was stalling. So, Jade suggested she make and leak a sex tape. Claire rejected the idea. But, one night when Jade learned Theo and Claire had gotten a hotel room, she snuck in and planted a camera. Jade accidentally uploaded it on Theo's computer instead of Claire's. Jade told Claire about the tape. Claire was furious. She wanted to delete all of the copies. But, Abe borrowed Theo's computer. He saw the tape and confronted Claire and Theo.

Theo immediately thought Claire was behind it and accused her of using him. Claire confronted Jade and made her tell the truth. Theo apologized to Claire, but the damage had been done. Claire ended up giving Theo Ciara's letter, just to get all of the tension between the two of them cleared. Theo and Claire broke up.