Please help decide my girls name

[NewGirlMum24]

Afternoon all,

iv recently been blessed with a beautiful baby girl. Iv been through about 5 or 6 names so far and finally down to Amara or Cleo.

I loved Amara initially but then discovered it translates to “bitter” in Italian? And is also the name of a drink in Italy. Amara does have lovely meaning in other languages though. And none of our family have Italian roots or plans to move to Italy. Then went to Imara but it didn’t really stick as well.

Baby spent some time in NICU and I want her name to have some meaning around her strength and resilience.

I love the name Cleo and feel like it sounds more “classy” but I could be wrong.

Some other options that we have been through were Imani, Amira, Nola and Ava.

Would love to hear others opinions.

Amara Cleo or Cleo Amara?

Or Cleon - which has a meaning of celebrate

Cleo, definitely.

Amara seems too similar to lots of other names. Vowelly names seem really popular here, and they seem very samey. Alara, Amaya, Alaya, Anaya etc become almost indistinguishable.

I'd guess Amara to be from the same root as Mary, but I cba to look it up because many of the baby name sites seem dodgy.

Cleo, definitely. Or Chloe

I voted for Cleo, but they are both lovely names.

Definitely Cleo, it’s gorgeous! My number 1 choice for DD.

I voted for Cleo - a lovely, simple pretty name that’s easy to spell and pronounce but not overused. Amara is pretty too, but not that familiar (to me) so I might mishear as Tamara or assume it linked to your cultural heritage.

They are both beautiful but I think Cleo is a bit more unique as alot of popular names at the moment are similar to Amara (Aurora, Aura, Alma, Mara)
Cleo stands out a bit more imo

Cleo is my favourite

I would spell it Clio (as in the Greek Muse), or go with the longer name Cleopatra with Cleo for short. Lovely name!

Clio is a car - don't do that.

Cleo is lovely. 💗

Cleo is lovely. Amara is fine too.
What about Nova? Similar vibe to your choices, it's a bright new star.

Nova is a car too.
Don't call a DD Cleopatra.

Cleo is lovely.

Cleo

Cleo is lovely.

I don’t like Nola and Ava is so overused it’s dull. It’s top 5 (I think) popularity wise.

Cleo

Love Cleo

Amara makes me think of a car / it will probably get misspelt a lot

I like both!

Love Cleo... but just to add to the mix, my niece had a beautiful girl who had traumatic birth and was in Nicu too and then ended up calling her Grace

Cleo is a gorgeous name.

Amara is meh.

With Cleo Amara, check that the initials don't spell an unfortunate word.

I’ll be honest, I’ve mostly met cats called Cleo, it’s lovely but it’s very feline for me 🤣A bit like Sheba.

Pretty sure it’s Biblical Mara that means Bitter - Amara has different etymological origins and means Everlasting I think.

Amara has trendy sounds, but I do think it’s beautiful

Congrats! Babies are amazing!

Cleo = Glory in Greek so perfect for your experience (Cleopatra = Father's glory; Herakles (Hercules) = Hera's glory)
Clio = Greek muse of history
T(h)alia = Greek muse of comedy, laughter
Amara does mean bitter in Spanish/Italian/French
Grace is lovely, as is Hope, but many choose that for a NICU baby so Cleo is a more creative idea.
If you like Greek/Roman links:
Astra = star
Stella = star
Aurelia = golden (Caesar's mother's name)
Valerie = strong, healthy

Cleo is lovely. But not Amara - seems like an incomplete/made up name. Hoe about Alannah instead?

And sounds like a star trek character..

Cleo is great OP - I like Clio personally, but either

Amara is a bit blahblah, Nola is a bit Irish granny

Cleo Ava