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Original poster

Claudia or Athena?

33 replies

BananaHammocks · 17/09/2013 07:36

I've always loved the name Claudia however recently my DH mentioned Athena, I've always liked Athena but it's never been top of my list however now I like it more and more and can't choose!

I think Claudia is prettier and makes more sense with my background as I'm a little bit Italian but not Greek at all!

But... Athena has a much nicer meaning and is a bit more unusual, which is important to me as I've enjoyed having an unusual name.

I feel like whichever I pick I'll regret not using the other one!

I don't want to use one as a middle name as middle name will be a family name. This is my first pregnancy so I guess I can always tell myself I might get to use both anyway but I'm finding it sooooo hard to choose! Help!

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valiumredhead · 18/09/2013 18:41

Also I am probably much older than you which probably makes a difference

NomDeOrdinateur · 18/09/2013 14:50

Valium - I guess regional variation and year-on-year fashions must influence things more than I realised. Most of the Greek-Cypriot girls in my school were Sapphiras and Ariadnes, but we had quite a few Nicolettes and just one Despina - all of which, I've just noticed, are pretty expat-friendly as they're easy to spell. Phaedra, Demetria and Danai were a lot more unusual, but I knew one of each while growing up and then came across the names again at university. I love Greek names - I couldn't even bear to give up my surname for an English one when I got married Grin.

valiumredhead · 18/09/2013 14:12

Nom, I've never met a Phaedra but know lots of DespinasGrin I imagine it depends where you're from.

NomDeOrdinateur · 18/09/2013 14:09

Valuim and Squoosh - it's funny you should say that, I'd never even thought of Athena as a person-name until I read this thread! I'm mostly Greek-Cypriot and so were most of the Phaedras, Despinas etc I knew growing up, so i suppose that might have something to do with it...? (It could also be the ex-pat thing, but I haven't even heard of any Athenas or similar from my extended family.)

Very odd - clearly you should ignore me, OP Blush.

Still18atheart · 18/09/2013 13:32

Love Athena. Don't like Claudia at all

squoosh · 18/09/2013 13:31

That's really interesting Nom, I assumed Athena would be a widely used name in Greece and that Phaedra was much more obscure.

valiumredhead · 18/09/2013 13:30

I have Greek family and I know 2Grin

NomDeOrdinateur · 18/09/2013 13:28

Oops - "best-known Greek goddesses" is what I intended to type! Blush

NomDeOrdinateur · 18/09/2013 13:27

Banana - this may just be my Greek-ness showing but, yes, I think Phaedra is a hell of a lot more wearable than Athena. I know about as many Phaedras as Despinas or Demetrias (so not many, but some), whereas I've never met (and can't imagine) an actual human being called Athena, Aprhodite, Hecate, Hera, or similar. My name is Greek, and I'm the only person with my first name on the entire internet, but I still consider it more wearable than Athena because it doesn't have the ethereal connotations that Athena has (as one of the best-know Greek goddesses).

Granted, Artemisia is a bit more "out there" - I just chucked it in because I knew an Artemisia once, unusual names clearly don't scare you, and it's a variation on a Greek goddess name which ends with the same sound as Claudia :).

I hope you won't consider my post to be rude or negative - I just thought I'd point out that the two names are on very different "levels" in terms of their connotations, and suggest a few Greek names that are similar to Claudia in case you fancied an alternative to Athena which is more likely to fit with the adult version of your DD over the course of several decades.

peggyundercrackers · 18/09/2013 12:30

athena is the poster & card shop - definite no from me. not keen on claudia either.

squoosh · 18/09/2013 11:55

Definitely Claudia.

Athena will always remind me of this cheesy image.

SkodaLabia · 18/09/2013 11:29

Both beautiful, but prefer Athena by a whisker.

GRW · 17/09/2013 21:25

I much prefer Athena.

Karbea · 17/09/2013 20:22

I love claudia, don't like Athena at all.

londonmummy436 · 17/09/2013 20:08

I do like Claudia, very classic pretty name but my DD has a close friend call Athene another option on Athena!

StrawberryMojito · 17/09/2013 19:49

Claudia has always been one of my favourite names, Athena not so much.

RemusLupinsBiggestGroupie · 17/09/2013 19:37

Love Claudia. Hate Athena - automatically think of poster shops.

KateCroydon · 17/09/2013 19:19

And no no no to Phaedra. Horrid story of a woman crying rape.

KateCroydon · 17/09/2013 19:17

Lieut. Athena in Battlestar Galactica is cool.

The classical reference is good too - though her birth story is odd: she's born from Zeus' thigh and this is used to prove that children are shaped by their fathers, the mothers are just vessels.

Original poster
BananaHammocks · 17/09/2013 19:13

Phaedra and Artemisia are more wearable than Athena??

I don't think I necessarily like Greek names, but I do seem to mainly like European girls names ending in A. Also quite like Cosima, Gabriella, Flavia and Raffaella.

I'm a little bit Italian but not at all Greek, does this matter? Makes me think Claudia is more appropriate!

OP posts:
NomDeOrdinateur · 17/09/2013 16:40

Athena is one hell of a name to have to grow into! It sounds beautiful, but I can only imagine it "fitting" a very tall, slim, quiet, young woman with cascades of long hair and luminescent skin who works as an artist/academic.

If you like traditional Greek names, there are plenty which are more "wearable" but still beautiful and very unusual, IMO, and some have a similar sound to Claudia. Ariadne, Phaedra, Despina, Cliantha, Artemisia, Melinda, Delphine, Demetria, Sapphira, and Nicolette are a few that I've liked over the years.

JazzAnnNonMouse · 17/09/2013 16:24

Athena is beautiful

Claudia is harsher to me

bananamummy · 17/09/2013 13:57

Athena is so much prettier, more feminine and lovely sounding than Claudia. Also, the meaning of Claudia (lame/disabled from Latin claudus) would put me off.

valiumredhead · 17/09/2013 12:08

Pleasing not playing- stupid phone!

ZZZenagain · 17/09/2013 11:49

I'm afraid I don't like Claudia so of the two I would choose Athena.

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