What comes to your mind when you hear these names?

[LivLavender]

Livia
Clelia
Lavinia
Virginia

Livia ..just that it is Italian
Clelia...never heard of it so no associations but I would have pronounced it wrongly and in a way that sounds a lot clumsier than the way you mention
Lavinia....nice but do think of lavatories and the bitchy classmate from a Little Princess
Virginia....Virginia Woolf and Bloomsbury group, Virginia Bottomley ( but I guess most people won’t think of her especially younger people)

Livia - livid
Clelia - cleopatra followed by clitorus
Lavinia - vagina
Virginia - vagina

Thank you all for the responses!
It' fascinating seeing how dissimilarly people from different cultures can perceive the same name. Also some of the answers were very amusing.

I should clarify that I'm not looking for a name for a baby, but I am planning to change mine.
I am Italian and while I'd like a name from my culture, I would also prefer something a bit international. My current name is one of those that start with "Gi" and it gets misspelled all the time by non-Italians. It is not the main reason why I'm changing it, but getting rid of that would be an added bonus.

My first choice would be Livia, but Olivia is gaining more and more popularity all over Europe, Italy included, and I'm afraid I'll get sick of hearing it everywhere and regret my choice.

Virginia is a close second, I like the full name but I'm not fond of the nicknames. I hadn't thought of the tobacco association, even though that's what I used to smoke before quitting!

I agree with many posters that Lavinia feels fussy, it's probably considered a bit snob in Italy, which is so unlike me. I put it on my list because it sounds similar to Livia and I could get the nickname Liv from it.

I wasn't expecting Clelia to look made up! I'll take that into consideration.

Livia. - half a name
Clelia - miss spelled Celia
Lavinia. - crazy posh woman
Virginia. - I like Ginny. She's down to watch and pours me a gin.

"Die, die, Lavinia, and thy shame with thee." I think of Shakespeare, and although Lavinia is a rather unpleasant character, to whom the most grotesque things happen, I absolutely love the name. It was on my list. I find it so elegant, and rather pleasingly posh. Many PPs saying about its similarity to the word lavatory, but this is in spelling only. The pronunciation is (in my accent) much closer to Love-inia. Anyway, a few more years and the word lavatory will be all but forgotten, unfortunately.

Virginia sounds rather stuffy old lady to me. I wouldn't want to be named Virginia, especially as a teenager. Any nod to your sex life (or lack of it) might prove a source of embarrassment.

Having read your post on how to pronounce Clelia, I find it really very pretty. But I think it is a name that the British will struggle to get right and this may be very irritating for you, and the child as she grows older. But that isn't enough of a reason to discount it.

Livia is pretty. I wouldn't make any assumptions about someone by that name. I couldn't predict what they would be like. I like it.

Oh sorry, just seen that this is a name for you! How exciting! I would choose either Lavinia or Clelia.

@IamnotwhouthinkIam

OP If you like Latinate/Italian girls names ending in -ia I love Antonia, Valeria, Claudia, Cecilia, Aurelia, Octavia, Giulia/Julia and Gaia, if that's any help? (although I do like Livia too).

Most of those are names of family members or friends. I like Octavia, but the italian version is Ottavia and I'm not fond of the double t sound.

Gynaecology

Livia - crap ‘cutesy’ shortened version of Olivia.
Clelia - unpronounceable, random, weird.
Lavinia - doilies, lace, Hyacinth Bouquet, chintz.
Virginia - vagina, tobacco.

Livia - Labia
Clelia - awful. Hard to pronounce and ugly
Lavinia - old fashioned, fussy
Virginia - rolling tobacco

Livia - Italian-y Olivia.
Clelia - someone with a lisp trying to say Celia
Lavinia - dried flowers in a posh country pub loo
Virginia - the virgin queen

So basically: Livia - grand, Lavinia - meh, Clelia - will make everyone who says it sound like they have a speech impediment, Virginia - recipe for bullying

How about Cassia?

Livia - The O is missing (also quite close to Labia). Prefer Liv.
Clelia - Never heard this name but it doesn't roll off the tongue nicely
Lavinia - A bit posh in a dated way (I only know one who's approx 60)
Virginia - US state

Livia sounds short for Olivia and has an Italian feel to it.
Clelia I have not heard of and don't like it. Feels a bit clumsy in its spelling and pronunciation.
Lavinia sounds very posh (Oh Lavvy darrrrling!!)
Virginia is fine I neither love it or hate it. Feels very grown up and sensible.

My favourite Italian names are Flavia, Cinzia, Lucia, Sofia, Antonina, Francesca, Lucrezia and Gianna. Any of those acceptable?

@partyatthepalace

Livia - Italian-y Olivia. Clelia - someone with a lisp trying to say Celia Lavinia - dried flowers in a posh country pub loo Virginia - the virgin queen

So basically: Livia - grand, Lavinia - meh, Clelia - will make everyone who says it sound like they have a speech impediment, Virginia - recipe for bullying

How about Cassia?

Cassia is nice but it's unusable for an Italian, it sounds like a swear word.

@ProudAuntie76

My favourite Italian names are Flavia, Cinzia, Lucia, Sofia, Antonina, Francesca, Lucrezia and Gianna. Any of those acceptable?

Flavia is the one I like better. It's also the name of a friend and I'm avoiding names of people I know. Taking their names feels creepy. Cinzia is very... 70s. Lucia is a family member. Also a bit too religious for me. I used to love Sofia when I was little. Now it's the name of every other little girl and I would pick something less common. Antonina is the kind of name you inherit from your grandma (or your grandpa if your parents failed to produce a male heir to carry on the name), not even your mother likes it and everyone calls you called Nina. Francesca... I know hundreds. Lucrezia is the most "aristocrat wannabe" italian name. Gianna is a very unfashionable nickname for Giovanna. Younger Giovannas I know go by Gio.

Livia - Italian woman with a lovely smile and long curly hair

Clelia - some kind of thrush treatment or birth control (sorry OP)

Lavinia - wears too much perfume

Virginia - horsey girl who slums it by going to the local state school

Hackneyed.

Usual middle-class parent thing trying to give their kids a posh name by using aristocratic Roman names. Easiest way to spot a fake...sorry.

Livia - nice but people would mishear as Olivia
Clelia- what? Celia mispelled.
Lavinia - an old lady I used to know, a right cow
Virginia - virgin, cigarettes

Livia - nice! In England people might wrongly assume it was short for Olivia and yes, there are so many little Olivias around and also Olives
Clelia - oh sorry, this sounds medical or anatomical to me...
Lavinia - hmmmm reminds me of that horsey girl in a Jilly Cooper novel. She isn't a terrible character, just a bit posh and silly. If I met one IRL, I wouldn't think much of it, except that it is unusual for a baby these days. Not offensive.
Virginia - I have ties to the US state of the same name, so I think of that, then Woolf, then tobacco. Not bad associations (except maybe the tobacco). I like Ginny for short. It's very sweet but would suit a grown up as well as a little girl.

On balance, I think I like Virginia the best . Clelia is my least favourite.

Livia is ok I think.

I would always think Clelia is a miss-spelling of Celia.

Lavinia is ok. There is the possibility of the unfortunate nickname "Lav", but do children really say "lavatory" or "lav" nowadays?

I wouldn't subject a girl to the name Virginia nowadays. It's a nice enough name in itself but you know what she'll be taunted with in secondary school.

*misspelling. That was ironic...

Livia is lovely!

Clelia does looks like a typo to me too, even if it isn't.

Ugly names, I'm sorry.

if you are in uk, most people will never have heard of the second one, and have no idea how to say it, and will probably think it is a typographical mistake. so a life time of expalinaing=tedious.
livia reminds me of the tv series, i claudius. she was unpleasant in that iirc.
lavinia, better than the previous two. but i can see problem re lav.
virginia, could give rise to ribaldry unfortunately, these days. but a good name essentially. a classic.
what about veronica if you like v. or lucinda if you like l.