Where has Clara suddenly come from?

[EachandEveryone]

Ive come accross four newborns recently. And every other boy is Leo. I was just wondering as its quite old school why all of a sudden its really popular.

I’m not surprised it’s popular. It fits the Amelia/Ada etc name trend, but still has a modern feel. I’ve also heard that names ending in ‘a’ are growing in popularity. I would have considered it for my daughter, only it didn’t go well with my surname.

My ancestor Clara was pronounced Claire-a and she was from Yorkshire too!

I've always loved Clara, it's simple, elegant, pretty, familiar, and - until recently - not overly popular. However, my love for the name means I am part of the trend making it popular! I am mid/late twenties and I didn't grow up in a vacuum, the people naming their children Clara probably have similar life experiences and exposure to the name as me.

If I named a daughter Clara it wouldn't be after the ballet, but The Nutcracker is the strongest association I have, and for me it's a positive one.

It's my dd's middle name - but she is 18. She was name after an old (Italian) family friend who was in her 70's I think when she was born.

I only know one little Leo hes about 4, and one Clara who's about 10, Clara is very beautiful one of my all time favourite names

It reminds me of long distance Clara from Pigeon St aswell.

It's my absolute favourite name!
I fell in love with it back in 2010 when pregnant with my 4th and final baby, but he's a boy so I never got to use it.
Clara remains my favourite girls name.

I don't think there will be any negative associations with it at all.
Clara in "Heidi" I think was spelt Klara.
As for Long Distance Clara in Pigeon Street - She's a long distance memory!

Agree with you on both names! I know 5 Leo's and 3 Clara's. Clara is a nice name though.
For Leo I prefer the longer Leonard or Leopold but it's inoffensive

My daughters Clara! She's 6.
We loved the name because it fit with ds name, because it's beautiful and strong.

Not usually one to resurrect a zombie thread, but I think it’s driven by the super popular Radio 1 DJ Clara Amfo perhaps?

My eldest are young adults /teens and there are a few Clara’s and Leo’s in their cohort of friends. I think both names have been popular for some time.

I was thinking Dr Who too.

It also depends on how diverse your area is, I met a toddler Sylvester at the GP before lockdown, his parents are polish and it's a name that works in both languages.

Clara is like that, it is the same in most European languages as well as Hindi, Leo is another name that works in many languages.

Leo’s always been a popular name. I knew a few as a kid and always seem to hear it being used as a name over the years. DS1 is 10 and 3 in his year.

Clara is a beautiful name. Not as common as some names but I remember a few as a child, it’s in a few books and recently it seems to be making a come back. I guessed to DH friends would call their daughter Clara because it’s just one of those elegant names that suited their style

Clara was my top choice if this DC was a girl, I'm having a boy. For me it was the name of a character in a WW2 audio book I listened to about 5 ish years ago. I came home and said to DH does he like that name for a girl he said yes and we haven't wavered much since!

To me it's just a beautiful classic name.

Clara has been popular for a while, it was on my girls list 8 years ago.

@Papergirl1968 Penelope has been back a while too. I know one at my DC’s school and it’s always cropping up on name threads.

Leo is quite popular, I like it.

It's been popular for a while

Though not as wall to wall as Leo and Theo

I know a 46 year old Clara.

It was a major character in Dr Who which has bought it back into peoples consciousness.
It’s a lovely name I think.

I'm not sure I've met a Clara.

Margots on the other hand. Mon dieu! They're suddenly everywhere.

@Papergirl1968 I associate Clara with Heidi too! It's funny how some things stick in your mind for years!

Pronounced Claara although many seem to be said Claire-a these days

I thought it was the other way round. The handful of people I'd heard of with that name when I was young 40+ years ago were Claire-a (unless they were German), and the girls of my children's generation or younger were all Claara. I prefer the Claire-a pronunciation but I probably wouldn't ever have used that name myself, jus because it can be pronounced two ways.

I would say it has been around for 8-10 years or so. I have always liked it although I associate it with Heidi.
DM was known as Claira as a nn for Clare and although I woulld say this was no longer the default pronunciation I think that it used to be and that as we have become more used to European influences we have changed.

It was my first choice for my eldest Dd, now 17, but Dh wasn't keen. A friend whose daughter is the same age is called it though. Like other posters, I also associate it with Heidi.

There are well-known Claras in The Nutcracker, Heidi etc. It's one of those names that have always been around but it's never been especially popular in this country until recently. I believe its recent popularity is probably because of Doctor Who and maybe Clara Amfo. It's also popular in France, Portugal and Spain I believe, so at least some of the popularity may be down to parents who are originally from other countries choosing it.

My great grandmother and great aunt were Clara (pronounced Claire-ra) names tend to go on 100 year cycles.

Clara is my MIL's name and she's in her 70's - it's a nice name, I like it, I don't think I've ever met another though.