Can anyone help me with name regret and possible nicknames?

[bringbackfonzi]

I have a lovely 2 year old called Clara. I have never been quite happy with her name, in fact I am getting less content with it as time goes on. If I could find a nice nickname/shortening for her, I think that would help - any ideas? Thank you!

Lally
Lara
Loretta
Claire

Coco

Does she have a middle name?

Clara is a gorgeous name.

It's not easy to shorten though.

That's a shame, it's a nice name. Any nickname doesn't have to be based on the actual name. My eldest's came from the rhyme of his name(sort of) and younger son's came from a jumper he was wearing.

for example - similar to the way my eldest came about.

Name - Craig
then Craigie boy
then Craigie B
Then Sunny D (from the advert)
then Sonny Boy
then just Sonny for many years
then back to original name as an older child.

I know a Sophie who was called Bubbles for many years - (Soapy Bubbles).

What do you call here when you don't want to use her name at the moment? can you work with that?

Lara is cute.

I have a 2 year old DD and when choosing names I remember Clara being quite on-trend at the time. We didn't pick it but did consider it.

If I'm your position I would suggest Lara.

I know a Clara that has Coco as a nn, which I think is gorgeous!

Not an easy one to shorten. Does she have a middle name than you like?

If i had a clara i would probably "shorten" it to clarabelle then belle for short-short however my dd1 was called rat for years so dont listen to me

It's a tough name to shorten - Carrie?

I understand re name regret - my DD is 10 weeks old and I'm having second thoughts and don't love her name. I don't feel it's overly unusual or complicated but most people who ask her name look at me with a blank face and can't seem to get it even when I spell it for them. Am sick of spelling her name already.

The name no longer even feels right coming out of my mouth. I tend to call her 'baby' or some other pet name most of the time which isn't good.

Though I do like the name Clara!

'C' or CeCe?
Coco
But I do like Clara

Clara is a beautiful name. What about Clarey. Lara is nice too.

You can use anything you want! I know people with all sorts of nicknames completely unrelated to their real names. Maybe pick a fav book
character or something?

My dd2 is Carys, and while I love the name, I kept having trouble prounouncing it the way DH did and felt so self conscious, would really have to take a second to get my mouth round the first a! (Sounds bonkers I know) any way, long story short- I started calling her coco and it's stuck. It's sweet and she was able to say it easy enough. I can actually say Carys now too haha.

Good suggestions so far, thanks. And thanks to those who said they liked Clara! I like it too, but it's not quite right for her and there are also about 4 Claras her age round here! I like Coco and Carrie a lot, but are they are bit of a stretch? What about Clarrie? Seems more obvious as an nn for Clara, but I don't think it sounds as nice as Carrie...
She does have a second name I like (don't want to say what it is for fear of outing myself) but I worry she's too old now to switch to her second name. A nickname or shortening seems ok, because she would keep Clara for school etc.

She will probably have very definite views herself- I would be surprised if you could get away with changing it now!

Have you considered just Clare?

I think the best nicknames come about purely by chance and they often don't have anything to do with a person's actual name at all, it's affectionate rather than deliberate.

One of mine was known as Kiki for years because when they were toddlers a friend couldn't pronounce the name, that's what she chose to say instead and it caught on. As they got older it kind of morphed into Kix and stuck, but very few people know why.

Agree as well that names not easy to shorten often get lengthened and then evolve into something entirely different.

And potatohead, I think 10 weeks is early enough to change if you don't like it. You can change it fairly easily on the bc in the first year.

Lovely name. Clarissa is a thought if ubiquity matters to you. You can change first names without deed poll IIRC.

As for nicknames, go for something completely unrelated, like the posh people do. Our IVF doctor told us he's had more than a few babies nicknamed Bingo .

I think Clara is a lovely name, and like Cece as a sweet nn.
When she is a little older a nn will probably just develop naturally.

Clari
Coco
CeCe
Lolly
Clarabella
RaRa

Its a pretty name though

What the initial if her middle name? Could you use something like CJ?

I've been googling for you abd there are a few suggestions out there - I quite like Ari?

Clara is a really lovely name. I don't know any so I think that you must have found yourself in a little bubble of them . Clarrie is pretty though. Our third child has a name I don't love but the elder two have abbreviated it to something even worse .