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Baby names

Find baby name inspiration and advice on the Mumsnet Baby Names forum.

Clelia for a girl?

140 replies

RedRobintweets · 14/12/2022 13:38

Hey all,

What do you think of this name for a baby girl?

Pronounced as Cleh-Leah , with emphasis on the first syllable.

OP posts:
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hattie43 · 14/12/2022 15:02

It's a silly made up name .

jerseybean1000 · 14/12/2022 15:03

Please don't

ImHavingAnOldFriendForDinner · 14/12/2022 15:08

Not for me sorry! Poor girl will spend her life being called Celia because it looks like a spelling mistake.

parsniiips · 14/12/2022 15:09

It's a clumsy clunky awkward name to say

HelloBunny · 14/12/2022 15:11

Margrat?! I’m pissing myself...

toastofthetown · 14/12/2022 15:11

hattie43 · 14/12/2022 15:02

It's a silly made up name .

Bizarre that you apparently assume every name you haven’t heard of is silly and made-up.

arcticocean · 14/12/2022 15:12

Anoisagusaris · 14/12/2022 13:45

I like it. There is/was an actress in an Irish soap named Clelia.

Was just going to say this. She was on dancing with the stars in Ireland. I remember thinking her name was unusual when I first heard it, but nothing hugely left of centre or hard to pronounce once you heard it once.
I think it's nice!

darjeelingrose · 14/12/2022 15:29

I know a couple of Clelias with an Italian background. I know how it is pronounced, I think it is ok, but I don't think it works in the UK, sorry.

scottishnames · 14/12/2022 15:29

For those who keep saying 'it's made up' or 'it's a miss-spelling', please let me repeat what a previous poster said: Clelia aka Cloelia is a very ancient name. A brave and clever teenage heroine in Ancient Rome. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cloelia

I also think the modern Italian spelling and pronounciation is pretty.

darjeelingrose · 14/12/2022 15:34

hattie43 · 14/12/2022 15:02

It's a silly made up name .

I've had a google and 31 000 women in Italy are called Clelia.

Geamhradh · 14/12/2022 15:36

hattie43 · 14/12/2022 15:02

It's a silly made up name .

Tell the Italians that?

It's a very old, traditional Italian name. It's pretty old-fashioned. Don't know how it would go down in the UK but the ones I know with that name would prefer not to be called it tbh.

It's a bit Mildred/Doris/Mavis.

loislovesstewie · 14/12/2022 15:37

I wouldn't because it made me think of all the other things that people have said. Names which sound perfectly fine and pleasant in one language often don't travel well. I'm not being judgmental, just commenting. I knew an Italian called Andrea who kept having to tell people he was definitely a male. He became Andy. And another Albanian called Doris, also male. I think you and your LO would forever be correcting pronunciation.

Terryinblackpool · 14/12/2022 15:43

Sounds liek Claire after many vodkas at 3am and you can't get a taxi.

Garman · 14/12/2022 15:44

I’ve only heard this name in regards to one person and I think it’s terrible, sounds clunky and like you spelled a real name wrong.

MoggyMittens23 · 14/12/2022 15:49

Notanotherone6 · 14/12/2022 14:41

She will be forever Celia. Clelia looks like you're one of those insufferable parents who are as thick as pig muck.

Can you explain?

OnceRuralNowUrbanbliss · 14/12/2022 16:01

My goddaughter is called this.
Took some time getting used to it but now think it is beautiful and unusual.

They are overseas.

Footle · 14/12/2022 16:03

@Pictograph , yes, Margaret Drabble connection for me too. Doesn't the girl's mother say she thinks she really meant to call her Clara?

OnceRuralNowUrbanbliss · 14/12/2022 16:08

They also elongate it to 'Clelietta' which is pretty.
It's an old fashioned Italian name like our Elsie, Ruby etc

bridgetjonesmassivepants · 14/12/2022 16:18

Rule of thumb, if you have to explain to people how to pronounce a name then it's going to be a right hassle in later life. Pick whatever you like , the child is yours, not mine, but please choose something as little more straightforward.

ChildrenOfTheQuorn · 14/12/2022 16:53

astronewt · 14/12/2022 13:41

Really, really awful, and makes me picture female genitalia for some reason.

You're not the only one...

bluetowel1 · 14/12/2022 17:17

Agree with PP - it makes me think of vagina

Cas112 · 14/12/2022 17:52

I thought you meant Celia and you'd just misspelled

Aftersevens · 14/12/2022 18:11

Notanotherone6 · 14/12/2022 14:41

She will be forever Celia. Clelia looks like you're one of those insufferable parents who are as thick as pig muck.

Only to insufferable people who can’t recognise a classic name from another country because they’re thick as……

sevenbyseven · 14/12/2022 18:28

It sounds lovely with Italian pronunciation 🙂

dancingqueen123 · 14/12/2022 18:31

It sounds odd.