Claire?

[Octopusespunchforfun]

I really love the name Claire and I’m after some honest opinions. It means “light/ bright” and I think it’s beautiful, but is it too ‘80s? I quite like that it can’t be shortened as well.

I'm a Clare and the reason I detest my name is because it can't be shortened.

But that's a good thing @Awwlookatmybabyspider . See the thread about baby 'Rennie'.

Clare is a much nicer spelling.

Claire is a lovely name. ❤️

I much prefer Clare to Claire.

For a true 80s reference, "It's a fat girl's name."

Which I don't believe, it's just an iconic film.

Claire is a lovely name.

I'm a Claire, and Ilike it much more as adult than I did as a child. There were a lot of us around (I'm mid 50s) but that doesn't really bother me. I think it's classic, underused, and feminine but still quite strong, and the fact that it can't be shortened is a plus! Yes, I am used to saying 'with an i and an e' but it's not a big deal.

I love any chic, French name so I love it. Prefer the spelling Clare.

There is a little girl in DD's class with a classic "80s" name, it's lovely. Claire is a great name!

I had no idea that Claire was the French spelling in which case I now prefer that!

Every day's a school day!

I'm another who prefers the Clare spelling.

Some famous Clares are Clare Bloom, Clare Short, Clare Grogan, Clare Foy, Clare Skinner, Clare Balding, Clare Sweeney, Clare Calbraith, Clare Goose...

(Sorry CBA to check the spellings, some will be Claire)

It is indeed how it's spelled in France. St Francis' friend is called Sainte Claire d'Assise in French.

There was also a male saint called Clair, from whom places like Saint-Clair-sur-Elle got their names. The Normans brought over the place name Saint Clair as a surname and it morphed into Sinclair.

I love it! It’s chic and classic.

Middle names -

Claire Eloise
Claire Jane
Claire Elizabeth
Claire Gabrielle
Claire Sophia
Claire Joy
Claire Juliette
Claire Grace

I'm not keen and have never thought of it as classic: Clara, maybe, not Claire. It's to tied up in my mind with permed, crispy gelled hair and orange clothes of the 80s. And there were just so many of them everywhere! :)

It is classic though. Saint Clare?
Just because there were a lot of Clares around in the 80s doesn't negate that...

Names can be classic but come and go in waves of popularity.

Like Anne, and Mary which are definitely classic but widely seen as old fashioned at the moment. Time for Mary to make a comeback imo. Although I prefer Anna to Anne really. Anna is one of the few really timeless names, as in when you hear the name you can't tell what age the person is likely to be.

Why would I want to change it though? I don’t want a name where there’s lots of variations of nicknames so she never gets called her actual name

Haha I love the Breakfast Club and didn’t think of that but I don’t know any fat Claires. 😄

We are very close to going with Claire Elizabeth (and the surname has two syllables) I think thats pretty classic.

You might not want to, but she might. And she'd have to change her whole name if she doesn't like Claire as it's not adaptable at all.

Me too
I like Clara

I adore the name Claire - any way you spell it - Clair, Clare, Claire. Just lovely. Fresh, simple, light. I'm of the Claire generation but no matter how popular it was then it never loses its loveliness for me. I struggle to see it as 'boring' or 'unfashionable'. It's a million times nicer than Clara. Bring it back!

I’ve taken everything on board and we are going to go for the spelling Claire and then two middle names Elizabeth and Rose (to include both grandmothers) 😊So, Claire Elizabeth Rose …

Thanks for all the comments!

Beautiful name @Octopusespunchforfun 😍

Thank you ☺️