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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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stopbeingadramallama · 24/10/2017 22:16

Horrible.

DramaAlpaca · 24/10/2017 22:13

Claire is lovely although I prefer it spelled Clare. I also like Emma & Sarah, but then I like short, neat, classic names so they are all right up my street.

SuperBeagle · 24/10/2017 21:08

Yep. I think it's just about one of the dullest names I've ever heard. There's nothing interesting about the sound of the name, and it was so done to death in the 70s and 80s.

Smoliver · 24/10/2017 19:16

@florapearl I only looked at 20 names on this link and I like 14 of them so far.

Maybe I just like these so called "dull" names Grin I don't find them dull though. I think they're beautiful, slightly unique and can work on girls both young and old.

startingagain17 · 24/10/2017 19:05

I'm a Clare and my daughter is Emma. Love "dull' names me.

As an adult I love my name - hated it as a child though.

crunchtime · 24/10/2017 19:00

clare/claire is lovely-i like that it means light

much better than some of the quite frankly ridiculous names you see nowadays

Timepasses · 24/10/2017 19:00

It’s the name I always wished I was was called when I was a child. Still fond of it now.

Lozmatoz · 24/10/2017 18:57

Claire! It’s awful. Clare.... bluergh....

Hollypiesky · 24/10/2017 18:56

Clara yes claire a big NO

PandorasXbox · 24/10/2017 18:51

Violet, Olive, Florence etc have come back in fashion that’s all. Claire hasn’t.

AvonCallingBarksdale · 24/10/2017 18:49

I love Clare - much prefer it to Claire for no reason!!

wobblywonderwoman · 24/10/2017 18:49

I think it is a fine/classic name. There are much nicer names though.

BertrandRussell · 24/10/2017 18:46

44 Claires and 4 Clares last year. So perfect. And much more uncommon than a lot of the youneeque names people go on about!

SardineJam · 24/10/2017 18:34

I think it's a really pretty name. I went to school with 3 Claire's and they were all really nice girls.
DS1 has a name that most late-30yo men have and people are often surprised by his name because its so uncommon now but is still a very "normal" name - only one in the whole school, makes labelling easy!

Minstrelsareyum · 24/10/2017 18:32

Agree with BertrandRussell, how can Claire (beautiful name) be dated when you have millions of Violets, Avas, Olives, Evies plus all the Alfreds and Arthurs on the boys side. Go for it! Love Sarah too!

NotAgainYoda · 24/10/2017 18:27

its contemporaries

NotAgainYoda · 24/10/2017 18:27

I agree with Olenna

But I think Claire's a nicer name than some of it's contemporaries - like Tracey (I might be biased as my best friend at Primary school - in the '70s - was Claire)

letsmargaritatime · 24/10/2017 18:25

Beautiful

Mishappening · 24/10/2017 18:13

Why not use it in the French way, as a hyphenated name? - Marie-Claire, Jennie-Claire etc. I think that sounds lovely.

BertrandRussell · 24/10/2017 18:11

In a world where boys are called Albert I don't know how anyone can call a name dated!

Clare is lovely. Simple, classic but very unusual.

ricecakeseverywhere · 24/10/2017 18:08

I think Claire is dated - sorry. Very 80s

Clara is nice?

leghoul · 24/10/2017 18:05

I think it's a very pretty and unusual name for a baby now. Not too dated and nice Latin stem.
There will no longer be a class of Claire J, Claire H, Clare B, Claire B etc.

bookworm14 · 24/10/2017 18:01

It’s very 1970s/80s to me. Quite popular for babies/small children in America though. It’s funny how names trend at different times in different countries; Americans think it’s weird Jessica is still so popular in the UK, as to them it’s the ultimate dated 70s/80s name!

OlennasWimple · 24/10/2017 17:56

Claire is a 70s name that will probably come back when the current crop of Claires are grandmothers (like Ruby and Ivy did)

Emma never went away and has been with us for over a 1000 years, so is here for good I reckon

Sarah is a Biblical name that is timeless, in all its variations (Sara / Zara etc)

Twofishfingers · 24/10/2017 17:44

I would prefer Clara to Claire, and Ella to Emma. A bit more now, not so much 80s. I love Sarah but DH's first girlfriend was called Sarah so he vetoed it!