CLAIRE for a BOY?

[salmanadersamantha]

Hi,

I'm new to mumsnet so sorry if I get anything wrong! I was wondering what people thought about the name 'Claire' for a boy? I'm due in a couple of weeks and I quite like the idea but my husband's not sure. I know it's slightly unorthodox!

[BuntyPenfold]

I think it was a nn for Clarence - but don't do it.

[TerrysNo2]

No way.

[MadBusLady]

Anne de Montmorency was a famously vicious French general.

Excellent trivia.

[Greensleeves]

[CashmereHoodlum]

Is he a Staffie?

[everythinghippie29]

Your baby your choice but I think Johnny Cash would have the following to say:


"A Boy Named Sue" ( or Claire)

My daddy left home when I was three
And he didn't leave much to ma and me
Just this old guitar and an empty bottle of booze.
Now, I don't blame him cause he run and hid
But the meanest thing that he ever did
Was before he left, he went and named me "Sue."

Well, he must o' thought that is quite a joke
And it got a lot of laughs from a' lots of folk,
It seems I had to fight my whole life through.
Some gal would giggle and I'd get red
And some guy'd laugh and I'd bust his head,
I tell ya, life ain't easy for a boy named "Sue."

Well, I grew up quick and I grew up mean,
My fist got hard and my wits got keen,
I'd roam from town to town to hide my shame.
But I made a vow to the moon and stars
That I'd search the honky-tonks and bars
And kill that man who gave me that awful name.

Well, it was Gatlinburg in mid-July
And I just hit town and my throat was dry,
I thought I'd stop and have myself a brew.
At an old saloon on a street of mud,
There at a table, dealing stud,
Sat the dirty, mangy dog that named me "Sue."

Well, I knew that snake was my own sweet dad
From a worn-out picture that my mother'd had,
And I knew that scar on his cheek and his evil eye.
He was big and bent and gray and old,
And I looked at him and my blood ran cold
And I said: "My name is 'Sue!' How do you do!
Now your gonna die!!"

Well, I hit him hard right between the eyes
And he went down, but to my surprise,
He come up with a knife and cut off a piece of my ear.
But I busted a chair right across his teeth
And we crashed through the wall and into the street
Kicking and a' gouging in the mud and the blood and the beer.

I tell ya, I've fought tougher men
But I really can't remember when,
He kicked like a mule and he bit like a crocodile.
I heard him laugh and then I heard him cuss,
He went for his gun and I pulled mine first,
He stood there lookin' at me and I saw him smile.

And he said: "Son, this world is rough
And if a man's gonna make it, he's gotta be tough
And I knew I wouldn't be there to help ya along.
So I give ya that name and I said goodbye
I knew you'd have to get tough or die
And it's the name that helped to make you strong."

He said: "Now you just fought one hell of a fight
And I know you hate me, and you got the right
To kill me now, and I wouldn't blame you if you do.
But ya ought to thank me, before I die,
For the gravel in ya guts and the spit in ya eye
Cause I'm the son-of-a-bitch that named you "Sue.'"

I got all choked up and I threw down my gun
And I called him my pa, and he called me his son,
And I came away with a different point of view.
And I think about him, now and then,
Every time I try and every time I win,
And if I ever have a son, I think I'm gonna name him
Bill or George! Anything but Sue! I still hate that name!

[seeker]

He'll be embarrassed in the park- I bet you'll put a pink harness on him, and not let him roll in fox poo with all his friends......

[cuillereasoupe]

The only male Clare I can think of is Clare Quilty in Lolita and he's a big ole peedo. Not a great reference.

[TerrysNo2]

Great song everythinghippie

I love the bit "my name is Sue, how do you do, now you gonna die"

[DaemonPantalaemon]

The scoffers here are the ridiculous ones, particularly those who don't seem to appreciate that Clare was actually a boy's name originally. It is true, however, that it is now popular as a girl's name.

Incidentally, the name Evelyn, now only used for girls, was also a boy's name. The author Evelyn Waugh was very much a man, and there is even an Agatha Christie novel, "Mrs McGinty's Dead", that turns on Evelyn being a boy's name.

OP, it is a great name, maybe you can bring it back into fashion for boys!!! I would go with Clare, though without the i, or Clair.

And if you feel discouraged, listen to the country song called "A Boy Named Sue"!

Good luck to you!

[PiratePanda]

Clare without an "i" is a male name, but a very old fashioned and posh one.

I don't think it would matter if he was destined for Eton, but if not, no.

[DaemonPantalaemon]

Oh wow, I cross-posted with everythinghippie

:) :)

[Rassy]

There is also a male Clare in Tess of the D'Ubervilles by Thomas Hardy, if my memory serves me right!

[LemonsLimes]

If he was a boy rather than a dog, then I'm not conviced he would never be teased with this name if he went to prep and public school!

[HelenMumsnet]

Afternoon. We would normally delete this thread as it was started by one of the hairy-handed brigade but we're not sure we can bring ourselves to delete a thread that manages to reference Anne de Montmorency, Lolita and the entire lyrics of a Johnny Cash song in just 39 posts.

[kelda]

Rassy the Clare in Tess of the D'Urbervilles is called Angel Claire.

OP what about Angel?

[cuillereasoupe]

And Angel Clare was a not someone you'd like to name a kid after either!

[MadBusLady]

[NapaCab]

Why not spell it 'Clare' instead and then when people say 'oh, Clare for a boy, that's unusual?', you can smile and say 'he's named after Clare Quilty, the pervert / pornographer in Nabokov's Lolita'.

That should impress them.

[NapaCab]

Oops, cross-post! Another Nabokov fan on this thread, clearly...!

[loopydoo]

Sinclair defo but Claire in today's judge world MIT not work quite so well.

[spiderlight]

[PiratePanda]

MNHQ, you got cojones!

[DaemonPantalaemon]

Oh God! We was had!

[recall]

I have three sons?all called Claire