Middle name Clair for a boy

[fredandginger]

Is this cruel?

It's a female family name, but would it be mean to use the masculine version as middle name for a boy?

It would be the second of two middle names...

What do you think?

[MollieO]

I didn't know there was a masculine version of Claire. Sounds a bit odd and guaranteed to get him teased at school.

[iseenodust]

You say it's a female family name - that' s your answer IMO.

[fredandginger]

more common in Ireland I believe - same meaning, 'bright'

I was thinking that it would just appear on official docs, and for school he would just have the first middle initial on register...

I need to include a family name as the second middle name - but the first two names are 2-syllable so I'm searching for a shorter option.

Could use James or John but they are only used once or twice in a very large family.
If length wasn't an issue I would choose Francis or Matthew or possibly Joseph but it just makes the name too long IMO.

[FilterCoffee]

I wouldn't use Clair - it's so similar to the girls' name. How about Clarence or Sinclair instead? (to be fair I wouldn't pick those but at least they are obviously boys' names).

James or John are good solid names and I think either would be a great choice - preferably John as James is so popular as a middle name now.

[Kindling]

Would not use it.

I knew a femalr Clair, amongst all the Claires and Clares at my school, so to me it's definitely a female name however you spell it.

[fredandginger]

You're probably all right - just looking for something a little different from James/John. Sigh. I suppose it would be mean.

But everlong, it is actually a boy's name in its own right - as I said, more common in Ireland, but it's not just Claire without the -e.

[maxcliffordslovechild]

my sisters name is Clair and i have never considered that it was the male version of the name, btw she was named after this song

[grubbalo]

Being someone who has an unusual middle name, it's all fine to say that only the initial will appear on forms etc but it's simply not true. Any foreign school trip will need his passport, exam entries and certificates will show his full name. Not to mention all the "so what does the C stand for?" questions he will get (believe me, when you don't want people to know what it stands for, you seem to get asked it a lot. I hated it, and once everyone knew (it would always leak out), I then had loads of teasing about it.

Please don't do it on the basis noone will necessarily know - they will!

[CecilyP]

I have never met, or even heard of, an Irishman called Clair. It is just a less common spelling of the popular girl's name Claire/Clare.

[abbypumpkin]

He will be embarassed about it. Although not used at school middle names are used at people's weddings. James and John are both lovely middle names and I don't think it has to be that 'special' when you're using a few names. You could vary the other names so have Frank or Joe or may use something that means the same as clair such as Luke.

[notso]

Is this going to be your first and only baby?

[NarkedPuffin]

If you are sure about wanting to use a family name as a middle name, how about using Claro. It's different but not feminine, and comes from the same latin root as Claire, also meaning clear.

[fedupofnamechanging]

My dd's middle name is Clair. I wouldn't use it for a boy tbh.

[Deux]

I know a Scotsamn called Clair but it is an abrreviation of Sinclair. There are quite a few in his generation but none that I know of that are younger.

[DilysPrice]

Seriously - given the choice between a name which is "too long" and one which looks like he's a girl, you have to go for Joseph (or whatever). It really really doesn't matter if he's called numpty numpty Joseph Fotherington-Smith and it doesn't fit your idea of good scansion, but it really does matter if the entire class is calling him Claire for a year.

[fredandginger]

OK, I promise I won't.

I don't have to use a family name themildmanneredjanitor, but my other DC does, so I would prefer them both to have one family name in there, that links them to other relatives - I think it's nice that so many of us share names, that's all.

It's not about naming him after someone in particular, it's about a sense of 'belonging' to my family as well as DH's via sharing a middle name... just personal choices I guess

Thanks for your input all; I swear I won't call him Clair!

[RockinD]

Joyce Cary's parents called him Joyce because their naming pattern called for him to have his mother's maiden name as his first name!

He appears to have survived and even made a bit of a name for himself as a novelist.

D

[CecilyP]

The difference is that Joyce as a girl's name was virtually unknown when Joyce Cary was born. It only really caught on in the 1920s, whereas Claire has already been a mega-popular girl's name.

[Badgerina]

No way. It may be a family name, but it's also a GIRL'S name!!!!

[shubiedoo]

It was my grandfather's middle name (well, St Clair.) Very old name, nobody remembers the male version. And my daughter is Claire, but it's just coincidence, I had forgotten that until after we named her! Do whatever you want, nobody uses middle names that much.

[shubiedoo]

It's a bit like Sydney/Sidney... more girls are called Sydney now, right? But originally a man's name!