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Original poster

What do you think of Clara?

60 replies

pickleandflux · 03/10/2015 18:19

Just as the thread title says.....what do you reckon? It's our first baby and so I have no idea if it is a popular/common name, as currently don't mingle with folk who have kids in nursery etc.

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Longdistance · 04/10/2015 00:29

Best name ever Grin

work that out from my username

ExBallerina · 04/10/2015 00:30

I've got one! (I love the Nutcracker too!)

Beautiful name. Only met 2 others in different points in time.

mrsschu · 04/10/2015 04:52

I'm on the fence about it - don't love it or hate it. I know 3 under the age of about 3 which leads me to believe its having a spike in popularity. I don't know any of different ages. It's certainly not a "faddy" name but I think it will be associated with little girls born from about 2013/2014 on and will probably wane again in popularity in the next 5-8 years or so. But that's not necessarily a bad thing, just something to consider.

KoalaDownUnder · 04/10/2015 05:11

Yep, love it.

And I actually think Clara Helena sounds fab.

sofato5miles · 04/10/2015 05:17

We have a christmas Clara. We always get comments on what a pretty name it is.

Original poster
pickleandflux · 04/10/2015 08:53

I am glad that others generally seem to like it too. We have been struggling to find a nice girl's name, and looks like Clara could well be it! Thanks for your comments :)

OP posts:
PotOfYoghurt · 04/10/2015 09:21

I adore Clara. Don't know any and am around a LOT of little ones. Prefer it to Lara and Tara as well. (Which I do know a lot of)

Squashybanana · 04/10/2015 09:40

I like it but it is very popular here. My DD (,5) has 3 friends called Clara!

trixymalixy · 04/10/2015 09:46

Lovely name. In the unlikely event that I have another girl I would call her Clara.

auntyclot · 04/10/2015 17:02

Lovely. Wasd one of my top choices but didn't go well with our surname. I've never met a little Clara.

inthisdayandage · 04/10/2015 17:06

I like it . How will it be pronounced though. My friend is a Clara pronounced Claira and is always continually correcting those who pronounce it klar a .

PrimalLass · 05/10/2015 11:48

No wonder inthisdayandage - it is a bit like calling someone Sam and pronouncing it Saim.

AnotherGirlsParadise · 05/10/2015 11:51

Clara is LOVELY. More sophisticated than Claire/Clare, somehow, but not snobby sounding. Strong yet feminine.

Iguessyourestuckwithme · 05/10/2015 11:54

Love Clara and Cara

smithwillsam · 05/10/2015 12:23

I love Clara, It is classic and pretty but not overused. I like it Another reason, because it is either way still a cute girl name ages well.

AnotherGirlsParadise · 05/10/2015 14:28

Clara would go beautifully with our surname, but we never got to have a DD - quite wistful now! Wink

Ignore the Doctor Who reference too - that's like saying anyone with a DD called Rose is a Doctor Who fan. At least a name like Clara is timeless and won't age, unlike a LOT of the now popular names from shows like Game Of Thrones.

NadiaWadia · 05/10/2015 17:01

PrimalLass you are quite wrong, actually. 'Clair-ah' is the traditional English pronunciation for this name, and the one used over here last time it was popular (late 19th/early 20th century). I had an ancient great aunt called Clara, pron. 'Clair-ah', which was the norm. I think they still pronounce it like this in the US. Most people only knew Clara pron 'Klah-ra' as the little girl in 'The Nutcracker', which is from mainland Europe of course.

For some reason, the recent surge of popularity for Clara has taken up the 'Klah-ra' pronunciation, as used in many European countries, eg. Germany, and most people seem now to not realise there is any other way to say it. Doctor Who doesn't help! (But then, they did have a female character called Ambrose once, so what do they know?)

Although I do quite like the 'Klah-ra' pron., I have to say I really prefer 'Clair-uh' as it has a softer sound. Anyone hoping to name a daughter Clara pronounced the proper English way would face an uphill battle getting people to say it right, as most people in the UK seem quite ignorant about the former normal pronunciation, even though it is in living memory.

PrimalLass · 05/10/2015 17:23

My point was that phonetically it just doesn't work so it's not surprising that people are confused. And obviously I prefer the ah pronunciation as it is my daughter's name.

PrimalLass · 05/10/2015 17:24

And we're not English so say the ah sound in a far softer way.

PrimalLass · 05/10/2015 17:26

So I'm not 'quite wrong' as I didn't say anything about it being the traditional pronunciation.

NadiaWadia · 05/10/2015 17:29

Apologies if I got it wrong, but you seemed to be saying there is no other way to pronounce Clara apart from 'klah-ra'. As many people seem to think.

As for your phonetics comment, well, what about Sarah, then or Clare (both pronounced with the 'air' sound, but with the same 'ar' spelling)? English doesn't really have consistent spelling rules as we all know.

NadiaWadia · 05/10/2015 17:32

Well, as you are not English, the 'klah-ra' sound is naturally the one you will use. It's appropriate for you. And I do like it! Just not as much as the 'clair-ah' one.

NadiaWadia · 05/10/2015 17:33

You mean you say it like 'clarr-ah' with a short a rather than clah-ra? I think I have heard that.

PrimalLass · 05/10/2015 17:36

Yes, Scottish people tend to use a shorter ah.

PrimalLass · 05/10/2015 17:43

Actually no, we say Cla-rrra but with a shorter ah, not Charrr-ah.

In Clare the a is changed because of the e. It is a split digraph. cage shame share etc.

I'm wondering if Sarah counts as a tricky word because it doesn't follow the rules.