Rosalie, Clara, Alice?

[Chloris33]

Which of these? Our surname starts with 'S' so unsure about Alice.
Also love Flora, but DH vetoes it.

Clara favourite, then Alice, then Rosalie.

Alice is so lovely and classic, that's my favourite. Does it matter that much about the surname beginning with S? I know what you mean about the 's' sound on the end of Alice running into the 's' at the beginning of the surname, but I don't honestly think it would be a problem.

My second choice would be Clara, But then there is always the pronunciation controversy - the old style (and American) way Clair-a, or the recently popular European style Klahr-a?

I do like Rosalie as well though - it's pretty, as is Flora.

1. Alice
2. Clara
3. Rosalie

Alice Smith, for example, sounds fine.

Clara (is the phonetic pronunciation really 'recently popular'? I thought it was long established) is my favourite. Alice is pretty too but I agree with your concerns re your surname. Not keen on Rosalie. Rosalind is lovely, though.

I don't think you'd find much debate about the pronunciation of Clara in the UK.

Clara Alice

Oh yes Clara Alice is lovely.

THESE WERE OUR EXACT SHORTLIST!!

Go for Clara, we only didn't sue to surname-clash.

Rosalie

Love Alice, but we also ruled out due to S surname . Luckily Clara and Rosalie are both lovely too, probably prefer Clara

Love all 3. Great choices. My favourite as probably Rosalie but all three are lovely.

Clara

Clara. Klara and Sofia were the names we would have used had any of our dc been girls.

❤️ Rosalie, so pretty !

Kingfishergreen, that's amazing! x

I should add our surname actually begins & ends with 's' so that's particularly why it doesn't flow so well with Alice, though not as bad as with first names containing multiple 's's!

Alice

Hetero by 'recent', I mean the last couple of decades or maybe a bit more, when it came into fashion again in the UK. (Although DD is in her twenties, none of her schoolfriends were Clara).

Yes, 'Clair-uh' is the traditional English pronunciation. Many of us had older relatives with that name. I think they still say it that way in the US too (unless maybe from a Spanish speaking family or similar).

It was popular in the 19th century and very early 20th, went completely out of fashion for decades in the UK and when it came back returned as the European version (Clah-ra). And now people have forgotten the older way and deny it ever existed! A shame really, I think Clara to rhyme with Sarah is actually slightly prettier.

www.behindthename.com/name/clara/comments

Yes, my great great aunt Clara pronounced it Clair -uh. But I would pronounce it the European way. One thing I like about it is that it travels well - familiar in Latin & Germanic cultures.

Yes, my Aunt also pronounced it Clair-uh, I prefer it, it's softer some how.

Seems like Clara is the favourite here. Interested in why? Does it seem more elegant or prettier? My DH is worried it isn't a pretty name. Hence we are reconsidering Rosalie.

Alicia? Derived from Alice, also nice, doesn't have 's' at the end. Still lots of 's's though if the full name is something like Alicia Smithers. Alison? I still like that, although lots of people will just automatically say 'dated'. In fact it's been around since the middle ages. They are both nice, but both have a different 'flavour' to Alice.

Of course, then you would get that pronunciation controversy. Is it a-liss-ee-a? (British way, and my favourite) or Al-ee-sha (American)?

I do like Alicia, but worry about the pronunciation thing...

I have a Clara and really like Rosalie for DD2. DP shut it down because our families are from the East End and it made him think of Rosie Lee

Clara is a pretty name, but it's also a classy and strong whilst being very feminine.

Rosalie for me is too pretty and girly and twee. Do we want girls names to be primarily pretty? Personally I prefer names with a little more oomph and versatility.

Rosalie.