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Baby names

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

Original poster

Nicola, Claire, or Laura

117 replies

diddlediddle · 10/11/2020 09:26

Which do you prefer? I think they're all due to come around again.

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Teapotuser · 10/11/2020 14:25

Wow. I'm a Clare and my sister is called nicola. We are twins!

BatleyTownswomensGuild · 10/11/2020 14:23

Laura is lovely. And one of the chic-est women I ever met was a French lady named Claire...

Nicola - meh....

midsomermurderess · 10/11/2020 14:23

It's like the 1970s came calling. Where I work every second 40-something woman seems to be Clare/Claire.

FrightClub · 10/11/2020 14:18

Agree that Laura is a classic - Lauren feels more specifically 80s/90s to me.

I think Claire suffered a bit from being the 'Rose/Grace/May' ubiquitous middle name of the 70s/80s. I knew 4 Claires at school and every third person had it as a middle name, along with Jane and Louise.

Beamur · 10/11/2020 14:18

Laura. It's a really lovely name.
Quite like Nicola but prefer Nicole.
Claire is pleasant but meh.

Nosleeptilteenagers · 10/11/2020 14:16

Laura is lovely and more of a classic than the others.
Also prefer Nicole to Nicola.

Sunbird24 · 10/11/2020 14:15

I prefer the Clare spelling, feels less ‘lumpy’ to me. All nice names but due to bad experiences with at least 3 of them I couldn’t ever call a child of mine Laura.

abitfunny · 10/11/2020 14:14

I have to agree with @Joswis sorry!

Joswis · 10/11/2020 14:12

Not my cup of tea at all, any of them. They sound like the boring girl in class.

formerbabe · 10/11/2020 14:12

I agree with pp, Nicole is much nicer than Nicola

Spied · 10/11/2020 14:10

Laura of the three.
I don't like Nicola but I adore Nicole.
All Claire's in know are awful.

ellenpartridge · 10/11/2020 14:09

I quite like Laura and agree it seems more classic.

LittleMissLockdown · 10/11/2020 10:15

Laura's absolutely lovely. I've taught 3 in the last 5 years and each time they have been such lovely children and the only ones in their entire school.

Also love Claire. It's still quite a popular name around my way so I certainly wouldn't attribute it to the 70s or 80s.

Batfinklestein · 10/11/2020 10:12

I think @CaffiSaliMali is right and Laura is more of a classic name. Similar to Sarah. To me it is a classic which was a bit overused in the 80's but you could get away with using again now.

Nicola sounds more dated rather than a classic. I personally quite like it though, as I know a lovely Nicola.

I'm not keen on Claire purely because every other girl at school was called Claire, so it's a bit "meh" to me.

I'm sure they will come back around as people from my generation become grandparents.

aSofaNearYou · 10/11/2020 10:11

Personally for me, they're not ready to come around again. I am in the typical child having age bracket and these were all amongst the really common, boring names when I was at school. I'm sure they will come back around but the names that are currently having a resurgence are typically from a fair bit longer ago. I wouldn't expect to see much of these for another decade or two.

Original poster
diddlediddle · 10/11/2020 10:02

That's a nice anecdote. Yes I've always liked Laura and agree it's more classic... Laura ingalls Wilder etc.

OP posts:
CaffiSaliMali · 10/11/2020 09:47

Laura is my favourite as although it was very popular in the 80s it feels like a name which has been used over a longer period of time.

My great grandmother had Laura on her birth certificate and she was born in 1883. Being Welsh she was known as Lowri day to day (at the time it was quite common for Welsh people to have an English name on their BC and use the Welsh version day to day).

Nicola and Claire feel a bit more strongly associated with the 70s/80s to me but I'm sure they will come back around. Same as other 80s names like Samantha, Danielle, Kirsty, Ashleigh and Stephanie.

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