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Baby names

Find baby name inspiration and advice on the Mumsnet Baby Names forum.

Original poster

Claire

110 replies

Sophronia · 24/10/2017 12:17

I never hear this on babies/children anymore. Is it too dated?

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NameChangeFamousFolk · 28/10/2017 12:15

Yes, I agree that Caroline is a nice name.

daisypond · 28/10/2017 10:49

Claire has always seemed quite an exotic name to me - because I always associate it with Claire Clairmont, the sister of Mary Shelley, the Frankenstein author, and part of that wild, adventurous group with the poets Shelley, Byron and the rest of them. She changed her name from Clara to Claire.

CrumpettyTree · 28/10/2017 10:41

I've always found it a very pretty name. I went to school in the 70s and 80s and there was the odd one or two, but never lots of them as there were Carolines, so I'm not influenced by that. Having said that i like Caroline too!

NameChangeFamousFolk · 28/10/2017 10:15

I have no issue with 'plain' names, Emma/Sarah/Anna are lovely. Claire/Clare is a bit flat/too plain and without any of the charm that makes 'plain' names work, in my opinion.*

I wouldn't be worried about it being dated, as such, but I think there are much nicer names out there.

kittytom · 28/10/2017 10:00

Ps Emma and Sarah are also lovely names. My mum had an Auntie Sarah and her grandmother was Emma. My Dad had an Auntie Clare. They were Victorian/turn of century kids. The 70s Emma/Clare/Sarahs that are so maligned on this thread will have probably been named after beloved older relatives...

CrumpettyTree · 28/10/2017 09:54

Thanks Bernard

kittytom · 28/10/2017 09:49

Clare/Claire is lovely. Pretty and understated. Yes there were lots in the 70s (for a reason?) But it would now unique!

BernardBlacksHangover · 28/10/2017 09:44

I think they said it was a "fat girl name" Hmm iirc. Lovely.

CrumpettyTree · 28/10/2017 09:34

What did they say about it in the Breakfast Club?

MuchasSmoochas · 28/10/2017 09:32

Lol at Breakfast Club, I always remember that. I'm a Clare from the 70's and there was four of us in a class of 24. 5 Siobhans. Grin

BernardBlacksHangover · 28/10/2017 09:26

Yes I think you're right contessa; Emma has always been fairly popular here but never number 1 or anything. The highest it's ever been recently was number 14 in 1996, 4234 babies called Emma that year, (according to darkgreener ONS thingy). But it's never been outside the top 100 either.

musicalfrog · 28/10/2017 09:01

Very dated though. All the Claire’s I know are aged 35-40.

How rude!!

ContessaBonessa · 27/10/2017 21:47

Re. the American thing. I have a couple of American cousins who have babies called Claire. They're fashion conscious types (although not hipsters) so it's funny to see the name being thought of in that context.

Re. Emma. I think that name was pretty rare in America until Rachel on Friends called her baby Emma, and then it exploded. Whereas here Emma is a kind of evergreen name.

Joinourclub · 27/10/2017 21:33

I think Claire is particularly plain.

If you like 'boring' names what about Anne? Annie is sweet.
Kate?

treaclesoda · 27/10/2017 21:28

The only Claire I know is almost 90 years old. Mind you, the only Sarah I know is a toddler...

I think naming trends where I live seem to be seriously out of sync with the rest of the UK Grin

secretgirl · 27/10/2017 21:26

I don't think Emma and Sarah ever went away. Very popular.
Claire is such a pretty name. And so feminine

MMcanny · 27/10/2017 21:23

Yes, it's too dated.

Rheged · 27/10/2017 21:22

It’s ok, pretty and inoffensive. Very dated though. All the Claire’s I know are aged 35-40.

Mulch · 27/10/2017 21:19

Their bland and inoffensive. If you like em go for it

ApplesTheHare · 27/10/2017 21:16

No it's awful. My cousin is a Claire and HATES it. She always says she thinks the 'Cl' sound is like the start of someone about to cough up a hairball.

Clarabell100 · 27/10/2017 21:14

I’m a Clare so I think it’s due a comeback!

I had three Claire’s in my year at school but I was the only Clare, which I liked!

CrumpettyTree · 27/10/2017 21:07

What was said about it in the Breakfast Club?

greendale17 · 27/10/2017 21:05

Too fated

GlitterGlassEye · 27/10/2017 21:03

It sounds bad in a Cilla Black voice. CLURR.

Pheebs13 · 27/10/2017 18:14

Claire/Clare is definitely making a comeback in Canada and the USA. Know quite a few little girls by that name. Interesting to see it’s so different here!

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