Saint-Claude is a commune

Communes of France

The commune is the lowest level of administrative division in the French Republic. French communes are roughly equivalent to incorporated municipalities or villages in the United States or Gemeinden in Germany...

 in the Jura department in the Franche-Comté

Franche-Comté

Franche-Comté the former "Free County" of Burgundy, as distinct from the neighbouring Duchy, is an administrative region and a traditional province of eastern France...

 region

Régions of France

France is divided into 27 administrative regions , 22 of which are in Metropolitan France, and five of which are overseas. Corsica is a territorial collectivity , but is considered a region in mainstream usage, and is even shown as such on the INSEE website...

 in eastern France

France

The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

.

The town was originally named Saint-Oyand after Saint Eugendus. However, when St. Claudius

Claudius of Besançon

Saint Claudius of Besançon , sometimes called Claude the Thaumaturge , was a priest, monk, abbot, and bishop. A native of Franche-Comté, Claudius became a priest at Besançon and later a monk. Georges Goyau in the Catholic Encyclopedia wrote that “The Life of St...

 had, in 687, resigned his Diocese of Besançon

Besançon

Besançon , is the capital and principal city of the Franche-Comté region in eastern France. It had a population of about 237,000 inhabitants in the metropolitan area in 2008...

 and had died, in 696, as twelfth abbot, the number of pilgrims who visited his grave was so great that, since the thirteenth century, the name "Saint-Claude" came more and more into use and has to-day superseded the other.

Saint-Claude Cathedral, former seat of the Bishops of Saint-Claude, is located here.

French-Algerian footballer Nadir Belhadj

Nadir Belhadj

Nadir Belhadj is an Algerian professional football player who currently plays as a left wingback or as a left winger for 11-time Qatar league champions Al Sadd and the Algerian national team....

 and French-Turkish footballer Mevlüt Erdinç

Mevlüt Erdinç

Mevlüt Erdinç is a French-Turkish footballer. He currently plays for Paris Saint-Germain as a striker. He is both a Turkish and a French citizen. His surname is commonly spelt Erding by the European media...

were both born in Saint-Claude.
In January 2010 Erdinç received the town's medal of honour.