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Baby names

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Original poster

Helena or Claudia?

55 replies

Flowerface · 08/12/2011 12:03

Pleeeease don't say "I hate them both, call her Madison"!!! Xmas Smile

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Original poster
Flowerface · 11/12/2011 17:02

What is the Italian pronunciation?! I assume we would go with English, since we are... But none of the other pronunciations really bother me, unlike Hel-AY-na, which I really don't like...

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characidae · 11/12/2011 16:49

one of my dds is Claudia (& Helena was on the shortlist for our third dc who turned out to be a ds) so I like both :)

My Claudia is a bit of a history buff & very much admires the achievements of Claudius & doesn't mind the meaning at all. I don't think the meaning is unfortunate - the name certainly has good provenance - but then I have a child who is actually disabled & that isn't the end of the world either. She does occasionally get called Claude though which she hates.

EskimoPie · 11/12/2011 16:10

Claudia... which pronunciation though? English or Italian?

gazzalw · 11/12/2011 13:21

Don't see Claudia as a baby's name and think it's rather hard....Helena is much more classical but there is also the issue about pronunciation....Both nice middle name material though!

CupOfGoodCheer · 11/12/2011 12:50

Love both names Smile

Original poster
Flowerface · 11/12/2011 12:45

Do you think the 'Clair-a' problem could be overcome by spelling it 'Klara'? I see it's a bit contradictory to want the German pronunciation for Clara and not for Claudia, but there we are!

The other name we thought about was Greta but I am ambivalent at the moment, and worry that 'Elsa and Greta' is a bit too German (nothing wrong with that, but we are not German, though my step-Dad is).

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rachel234 · 11/12/2011 12:27

I prefer Helena - agree about the pronunciation issue as I know both a Hell-AYNA and a HELL-enna. Claudia is nice although agree about the meaning not being very nice.

hellsbells4 · 11/12/2011 00:53

I love all the names mentioned so far. However the meaning of Claudia puts me off just very very slightly. I am a Helena (not helayna) and love it now (altho didn't in childhood), and my dd is clara. I think Clara goes particularly well with Elsa as a sibling. Dd however is irritated by the pronunciation Claira which she sometimes encounters. I doubt you would regret any of the choices you are considering.

seren82 · 11/12/2011 00:38

I like both, but prefer Claudia...

Stars22 · 11/12/2011 00:06

really dont like Helena, so I would go with Claudia. I no a little girl who is 3 called Claudia and she gets nicknamed Claudie which sounds really cute on her.

10isenough · 10/12/2011 09:35

Just LOVE Claudia!!!

mathanxiety · 09/12/2011 20:46

Helena -- fabulous name.

littlepie · 09/12/2011 20:40

Love Claudia but the meaning put me off. Having read some of the posts though, I may reconsider....

Original poster
Flowerface · 09/12/2011 17:37

I don't mind Cloud-ia as much as I mind Hel-AY-na. Hmm. I don't know. I am not sure DH is mad on either, but he is very inscrutible about the name thing. And I fear that he DOES say 'Hel-AY-na', so he would need to be re-educated...

OP posts:
proudfoot · 09/12/2011 13:19

Helena - love it

Claudia is also quite nice but I say Cloud-ia and much prefer it that way (spent many years in German speaking world so all the Claudias I know are Cloud-ia)

pastahat · 09/12/2011 11:51

DD2 is Helena, ( pronounced Helen-a), it was DH's choice.. I love it now but took a bit of convincing, partly as I was worried about pronunciation. Its been much less of a problem than I thought though... Funnily enough my fave choice of name was Elsa ! Smile

hulabula · 09/12/2011 08:55

I prefer Helena but agree about the pronunciation issue - I know both HELL-ennas and Hel-AYNAS.

The meaning of Claudia would put me off, I think. KatandKit, some names have more obvious meanings than others and Claudia happens to be a name derived directly from the Latin word Claudus, meaning disabled. Lots of other names' meanings are more far fetched and therfore less relevant imo.

dippyducky · 09/12/2011 07:09

These are two of my favourite names! I like them both equally, which isn't much help.
I think Claudia goes best with Elsa, but Helena probably has more nn potential.
The other names on our list are Emilia and Eleanor (with Emilia being DH's favourite, so think we're going for that).

SlinkingOutsideInSocks · 09/12/2011 01:10

Claudia. Definitely Claudia as I don't want to encourage any more baby Helenas Wink

Lonnie · 08/12/2011 23:18

well I am going to vote for Claudia because you are goingwith the Helen ah pronoinciation of Helena were you going with Helen ah pronounciation and I do not like that at all.. if you had gone with the other it would have been a draw for me.

Kelly281 · 08/12/2011 22:52

Claudia's a lovely name

QueenVictoria42 · 08/12/2011 22:49

Claudia is a gorgeous name. Totally love it. Helena not so much - let's face it, it's just Helen with an A. No contest.

craftyknickers · 08/12/2011 22:26

Definatley Helena

As in Helen-a not Hel-ay-na

I'm a Helena and I love it Grin

Missgiraffe1 · 08/12/2011 22:18

I love them both, but Claudia gets my vote. It's a beautiful name. I reckon the vast majority would pronunce it claw-de-ah, so I really don't think the 'clow' pronunciation would be much of an issue at all.

MaggieAtwood · 08/12/2011 22:06

I think there is less chance of Clara being mispronounced. It's just Clar-ah (Lara with a C)......never heard of it being pronounced Clair-ah.

Claudia on the other hand could be Claw-dee-ah or Clow-dee-ah. I would go for the former but I think the latter is just as valid.

Hope you can convince your DH on Clara.

Other pretty timeles names with a similar feel - Miranda, Camilla, Cecilia/Celia, Marina, Penelope, Tabitha, Beatrice, Ingrid, Margot, Louisa.