Clara or Poppy?

[NamelessNinja]

Down to our final two names on the shortlist and desperate to give this girl a name! Any thoughts or opinions to help?

Love Clara.

Clara

Both lovely

this varies country to country. The traditional English version of Sophia and Maria were Soph-eye-a and Mar-eye-a (like Carey) but in other European countries, the pronunciations we use more often now were also always correct. Soph-ee-a actually became more common in the 18th century because of the German royal family.
Same with Clara. Clair-uh might be trad in English but it comes from the Latin which very much sounds 'ahh' and not 'air'. Same in other languages in which it is a traditional name such as Spanish, German, and Swedish. And the Italian Chiara which also had the -ahh sound.
You might prefer one pronunciation over another but both are correct in English and have extensive precedent.

@ladycarlotta , I didn't say the Soph-ee-a and Mar-ee-a weren't previously correct in other countries, but if I saw the names in a historical context like a family tree of 19th century literature, I'd use the common English pronunciation of that time.
It's nothing to do with preference.

For example, in a book by Dickens I'd say Clara as Clair-a. In a play by Shakespeare I'd say Mar-eye-a. If I taught a Clara and Maria I'd say Kla-ra and Mar-ee-a.

Clara.