Sibling for Ophelia?

[phoenix2409]

We already have a 2yo Ophelia and are expecting a baby girl in November. It’s been much more difficult coming up with a name this time around, but so far have Claudia and Cecilie (yes spelled like that - I don’t like the Cecily spelling for some reason, and seeing as it was the name of the princess of Greece, have convinced myself that it’s usable!). Thoughts on those two? We also love the name Arabella but my sister got to it before we could sadly :(

We live in SW London if that makes any difference - I know some names are subject to accents/pronunciation.

Both were on my list so I’m not much help. Claudia and Ophelia match but not sure if that’s what you want.
Cecilie love it doesn’t feel as wet as Claudia, I’d wait till she was born. For some reason Cecilie feels like a bit of a rebel.

Although I love the name Claudia (and Ophelia) the Hamlet association would be too much for me I'm afraid

The hamlet thing doesn’t bother me at all actually but maybe that’s because I haven’t read Shakespeare since leaving senior school fifteen years ago!

In that case, I'd go for Claudia! Such a beautiful name x

Claudia of the two. I like it, pretty but classy.

Ophelia has a gravity to it that Cecilie just doesn't - the spelling makes it terribly twee not to mention everyone will spell it wrong. I can't imagine a grown up Cecilie.

Could you revisit Cecile or Cecily? It really is not usable with the ie.

Camille?
Celine?
Clemency?

Interesting! I thought that as it was the name of Prince Phillips sister, maybe it was a reputable name but I guess not! I don’t love Cecile or Cecily with the Y so I think I’m leaning towards Claudia!

How about Cressida?

Of the two you like, I prefer Cecilie (although it reads like Cecile so much that I think she would forever be correcting people)

Cressida is great but we don’t love the nickname Cressie unfortunately :(

Same with Clementine, love the name but don’t like the nickname Clemmy. Sounds too much like clammy or flemmy

😆 bit of a pass agg response there about Prince Phillips sister. I didn't know she was called Cecilie, I am sure people are called it, I just personally think it will get misspelled and I think it's twee, so my personal opinion is that Claudia is much nicer.

Claudia as the other will be constantly misspelled.
I’m a Shakespeare fan and didn’t even think of Claudius and Ophelia.
Claudia is a lovely choice

Euphemia (Effie Gray’s name)
Allegra
Araminta
Cecily
Alexandria.

@phoenix2409 I absolutely love the way you are batting away people’s objections with such ostensibly self-deprecating responses.

I prefer Claudia - think it’s a lovely name. And although I do actually (much) prefer the Cecilie spelling over the ‘y’ ending, I do feel you will come up against people assuming / judging you for trying to make it unique, even if it does genuinely have a (Royal ) precedence.

Cecilie is lovely. I prefer it over Claudia as it doesn't end in an a. Also, any Claudia's I have known I've pronounced Cloud - ia. Because I'm weird and I like it pronounced like that.
I'd go for Cecilie.

Claudia would fit very well.

Cordelia
Susannah
Estella
Mirabelle
Florence
Jocasta
Beatrice
Violet
Marissa
Natalia
Rosemary
Penelope
Marianne

How about Perdita? Otherwise it depends on how matchy you want it, both are lovely.

@phoenix2409

The hamlet thing doesn’t bother me at all actually but maybe that’s because I haven’t read Shakespeare since leaving senior school fifteen years ago!

I loved Hamlet. Great play. Some cracking lines. But I cannot believe you would use Claudia because of its similarity to Claudius. What about Beatrice? I love Juliet but two tragic heroines is a bit depressing.

My favourite Shakespeare names would be Portia, Helena and Beatrice - I think all would work well with Ophelia.

I think I prefer Claudia but Cecilie goes better with Ophelia.

My first thought was Annabelle!

I honestly don’t think Claudia is usable. Just because you haven’t read Shakespeare doesn’t mean others haven’t. Every English teachers’ lips will quiver into a slight sneer.

Cecilie - absolutely fine on the Continent; far less so in England.

Mirabel
Daphne
Genevieve or Guinevere
Isolde
Helena
Cordelia
Verity
Marina
Meriel
Cicely
Christabel
Severine
Seraphina

@RosesAndHellebores Mirabel is absolutely beautiful. If I had another, that would definitely be top of the list. May I ask how you pronounce Isolde?

Romilly

I honestly don’t think Claudia is usable.

Except is is usable, because people do use it.

The Shakespearean association simply doesn’t override it. My name means ‘devoted to God’. I’m really not destined for a nunnery, believe me.

Love Claudia, but not with Ophelia.

I think Cecilie is a great choice for you, I like it.

Persephone?