Britt writes:
I’m hoping you can help my sister. She is due with her second baby, a girl, in early April. When she was pregnant with her first, she and her husband could not come to an agreement on a name. In fact, my poor little neice was nameless for 3 days before they decided on Clara Grace. I’m hoping they’ll avoid that this time. Names she loves are Eliza, Emma, Gloria (an old family name), Audrey, and the most recent favorite is Macy Jane. Unfortunately, her husband is extremely picky and has vetoed all of these except Emma, which she doesn’t want to use because of its popularity. I’m hoping you could suggest some names along the same lines that we maybe haven’t thought of yet. Their last name is Oliver, which rules out anything ending in -er and another of her favorites – Ellie – because there are too many “l” sounds.
Oh, Clara is such a pretty name! I love it! Let’s see if we can find a pretty name for Clara’s sister.
I like Anna. It’s similar to Emma, and it’s great with Clara. I like Gloria as the middle name: Anna Gloria Oliver. Clara and Anna.
Or Lucy. Lucy Gloria Oliver. Clara and Lucy.
Elsa is similar to Ellie, but I think the L sound is less of a problem. Elsa Gloria Oliver. Clara and Elsa.
Sadie. Sadie Gloria Oliver. Clara and Sadie.
(I’m so presumptuous, aren’t I, putting that Gloria as the middle name for every single one. I love it, and I love old family names.)
Ruby. Ruby Gloria Oliver. Clara and Ruby.
Louisa. Louisa Gloria Oliver. Clara and Louisa.
Let’s have a poll over to the right! [Poll closed; see results below.] And when voting, keep in mind that “Gloria” isn’t set as a middle name, even though Swistle keeps pushing for it.
Poll results (296 votes total):
Anna: 48 votes, roughly 16%
Lucy: 88 votes, roughly 30%
Elsa: 21 votes, roughly 7%
Sadie: 63 votes, roughly 21%
Ruby: 46 votes, roughly 16%
Louisa: 30 votes, roughly 10%
Name update! Britt writes:
Even with all your help reaching an agreement on a name was difficult for my sister and brother-in-law. My new niece was nameless for 2 days before my she and my sister were discharged from the hospital. Eventually they went with Macy Jane, and it fits her perfectly – she’s a little redhead and it’s a spunky and sweet name. We are calling her by both names, which I think is very southern. Thanks for all your help!
What about Abby? Same feel as Emma/Ellie/etc, but another option.
Clara and Abby together are sweet.
Abby Oliver.
Or my most recent favorite;
Juliet
Love that name, and it’s very classic like Clara.
Swistle has mentioned several times that names in the Top 10 nowadays aren’t like the name on the Top 10 generations ago. While Emma is popular, it’s no Jennifer. I know two little Emmas (one is 4, the other is a newborn) – know how many Jennifers I know my age? Way more than two :) I actually know more little boys named Jackson than I know little Emmas. If it was the only name that my husband and I both enjoyed, then I’d use it without fear of its popularity. It also goes very nicely with Clara.
Elise, Emily, Madeline, Aubrey (like Audrey, but a bit more modern), Gretchen, Amelia, Evelyn.
Here’s some of my favorite suggestions from Nymbler.
Annora
Stella
Beatrice
Nora
Willa
Alice
Adeline
Julia
I really like the suggestion of Stella. I think Stella Oliver sounds OK.
Best of luck!
I’m going to be a total language nerd and say that I voted for Lucy because Clara means “bright, clear” and Lucy means “light”. I like that the names have meanings without sounding too alike.
I will also second Heather’s suggestion of Juliet. What a beautiful name!
I agree with Melio: both parents love Emma, which goes well with Clara, so why not?
Emma was #3 in 2007 with 18,127 baby girls throughout the entire USA given that name. As was said above, that’s way below Jennifer’s popularity. When Jennifer was #3 in 1969 33,697 girls were given the name, and when it was #3 again in 1985, 42,633 girls were called Jennifer. Emma’s present popularity is comparable to Melissa’s popularity in 1985 (19,962; #11).
Ooh, I LOVE Gloria. Definitely use it as a middle name! Here are some other ideas you might like:
Amy
Etta
Charlotte
Amelia
Nola
Margaret “Maggie” / “Greta”
Lily
Margot
Sophie
Rebecca
Any you like?
You’ve got some great stuff to work with! Clara is a beautiful name and Oliver makes pretty much anything sound cute to me! I voted for Lucy because it is the name of one of my favorite people on the planet – she happens to be 6 and wears the name perfectly.
I like all of the names Swistle suggested but I don’t think that Louisa Gloria works because they both end in “a” I think that might just be a weird thing about me though. Keep us posted!
I second the Abigail (nn Abby) suggestion. Juliet is also nice as well as Nora (formal name could be Eleanora or just Nora).
Abigail Oliver. Clara & Abby.
Eleanora Oliver. Clara & Nora.
What about Anneliese? It has a hint of the name Eliza, and is very feminine like Emma.
Another possibility is the name Emmeline/Emmaline. This gives the possible nickname of Emma, but she could still be unique with her full name. Em or Emmie are cute ways to shorten it as well.
Mom’s most recent favorite is Macy Jane; apparently Dad doesn’t care for Macy, but maybe Lucy Jane? I love the two names together and find Lucy very compatible with Clara and yet distinct: both names are old-fashioned and short, with no nickname needed, yet Lucy is more of a contrast to Clara than another short name ending in ‘a’. Jane coordinates well with Grace and would be a good middle name for about all the names Swistle suggested. Lucy Jane is my favorite: Clara Grace and Lucy Jane.
I like Louisa.
The names your sister likes have that old-time feel to them (Clara Grace is sooo pretty), so I looked at the names in the top 20 from 1880 to 1910 and here are a few that jumped out as not too old fashioned, but still pretty:
Evelyn. Eve, Evie, Clara and Evelyn. Evelyn Oliver. (Too many Vs and Ls?)
Rose. Rosa, Rosie, Clara and Rose. Rose Oliver.
Frances. Fran, Frannie, Clara and Frances. Frances Oliver.
Margaret. Maggie, Meg, Margie, Clara and Margaret. Margaret Oliver.
The last two happen to be my grandmothers’ names, but my favorite is Rose.
Good luck and congratulations to your sister.
Margaret
I love Swistle’s suggestion’s of Lucy & Ruby. Those are two of my favorite names and I think they both go well with Clara. I also like the name Lily, like someone above suggested. I’m not a big fan of Gloria as the mn, but since it’s a family name, i guess it works. But, I love Jane as a mn with all of these suggestions. Good Luck!
My favorite options are Anna, Nora (or Eleanor) and Julia….in no particular order. I definitely think something ending in an ‘A’ would sound great with Clara, but something a little timeless and classic would be best. Good luck!
Lots of good suggestions. Here are a few more:
Maisie
Molly
Daisy
Ivy
Phoebe
Nina
Lydia
Sophia
Alice
I love the suggestion of Lucy Jane. My daughter is Macy Laine; we came to the name Macy from our love of Lucy, which we couldn’t use because it was too close to our son’s name, Luke.
I voted Lucy — such a sweet name. Here are a few more that I like:
Natalie Oliver
Julia Oliver
Lauren Oliver
Lillian Oliver (nn Lilly) — and I don’t think there are too many L’s — I think it’s lovely. I think this is my favorite. Clara & Lilly / Clara & Lillian
None of these work particularly well with Gloria, though.
I think Juliet is a great choice to me since it has a totally different sound than Clara but it matches perfectly. Julie or Jules make great nn’s too.
I say got with Lucy – it’s my favorite of the suggestions, but my husband hates it because he hates Lucy on Peanuts.
But you have lots of great options that would go with Clara. I like Anna, Nora and Amy.
In fact I always thought of Amy as the Emma of the 70’s. Amy was so overused back then (second only to Jennifer) that there was the inevitable backlash and popularity slide. Today it isn’t even in the top 100. However, I don’t think of Amy as dated at all, not nearly as dated as Jennifer, and I feel Amy is similar to Emma and would fit in today.
Oh, and I’m going to chime in with Mary again – yes I keep suggesting it. But Mary really does fit your style and has been going down in popularity.
I think Gloria Oliver is beautiful! Gloria has been considered as a middle name but why not as a first name? Clara and Gloria go well together.
Otherwise, as FrazzledMom suggested, I do like Mary as a first name with Oliver. It also sounds good with Gloria as mn. Mary Gloria Oliver
Or even Mary Gloria as a double name. Although I’m not a big fan of double names, Mary Gloria is pretty.
I voted for Elsa because there’s just something I like about that name, love the nickname Elsie too. Elsie and Clara are so cute together.
I also love Emma, and I think you could still go for it even if you think it’s popular. It’s just so classic and lovely. And I’m a 1985 Stephanie, so I know popular.
I always think it’s nicer to have a known name than a totally strange one, so I think Emma should still be in the running (of course, most of the other suggestions are “known” names too, so you really can’t go wrong… just wanted to put in an Emma vote anyway).
Britt here. Thanks for all your wonderful suggestions. I’m especially excited about Emmeline – my brother-in-law could have Emma as a nickname, but it would be a little different. And it sounds beautiful. I’ll pass on all your suggestions and hope they don’t all get vetoed. Thanks!