Message: "Nickname possibility?"

Nickname possibility?

by Catalina (guest)

6/12/2012, 6:09 PM

Cleo is one of my new favorite nicknames, but most of you agreed (and after a while so did I) that Cleopatra as the full name is not really feasible. But what about Clementine? I was thinking that if you pronounced it the British way, with the -teen ending, it would echo the long e in Cleo better than the "eye" sound.

#nicknames

Replies

- turquoise (Bonquiqui)

6/14/2012, 10:08 AM

Cleo works a name in its own right. I know two older women named Cleo. Both are just Cleo. On its own, I think it could be a variant of Clio.

- Bear

6/13/2012, 12:20 PM

Clementine, nn Cleo? Love it. Anyway you pronounce Clementine it works for me. :-)

- kudriashkajo (jodirae)

6/13/2012, 11:28 AM

Clementina would help ensure the "ee" sound, maybe? I like Clementina nn Cleo.

What about Cleena?

- Pink Princess

6/13/2012, 3:49 AM

Sorry, but Clementine "Cleo" doesn't work for me. Why not just use Cleo? I think it's a beautiful name on it's own.

- Anneza

6/12/2012, 11:14 PM

I suppose it works OK, but Clementine has such a clear nickname identity in Clemmie that I'm not sure it would stick.

What about Cleone, or just plain Cleo?

- Francesca +2

6/12/2012, 11:13 PM

I have never seen the appeal of Cleo, personally; it reminds of something that a pet would be named... particularly a cat or a horse. Written, Clio is a little better.

Cleopatra is quite much, indeed. While we're on that name, I actually saw a stone in a cemetery for a woman by the firstname of Cleopatra (it was interesting and unusual, especially because she had been born in the 1800's.)

Clementine has always seemed like it would garner assumptions of the bearer being inadequate or weak. Infantile.

I will list a few possibilities (take a look at their variants, too):
Clotilde / Clotilda
Cleona
Cloelia
Cliodhna
Clodagh
Clover
Claudine
Clarisse
Calanthe
Calfuray
Calliope
Callista
Celeste
Constantina
Candace
Angelica
Riccarda
Leona
Leonora

Nicknames do not need to be a perfect match to legal given-names. Sometimes the best diminutives are for the most unlikeliest of fullnames (even if they are absolute opposites.)

Good luck,
- Francesca

- Ludwig (blaaarg) +1

6/13/2012, 8:01 AM

Ya think Clover is more dignified than Clementine?

- Francesca

6/13/2012, 8:54 PM

No, actually; I dislike them to a near identical degree.
Clover was simply included in a possibility list for another person... I never said that I liked it, or any of the names.

- Ludwig (blaaarg) +1

6/12/2012, 10:12 PM

I think Cleopatra is awesome! So is Cleo!

But I don't find it contrived with Clementine at all, even with the "eye" sound. Pretty cool. Better than Clemmie.

Really surprised people seem to think it's a stretch.

This message was edited 6/12/2012, 10:13 PM

- Callistago (anxiolytics)

6/13/2012, 9:39 AM

I agree!

- Alcyone

6/12/2012, 9:23 PM

Clementine "Cleo" is too much of a stretch, I think. Cleo on its own would be fine. There's also Cleora, which made the top 1000 list in the U.S. at certain points in time in the 1800s and early 1900s. Cleona is another option. Apparently, it's a feminine form of Cleon.

- Tiggs +2

6/12/2012, 9:17 PM

Cleo stands on her own very nicely, I think. But, if it's important to you to have it as a nickname, there's also Cleone and, as someone recently suggested to a poster with a similar request, you could go with something like Constance Leona and take "Cleo" from the combined name beginnings.

- Bear +1

6/13/2012, 12:21 PM

Constance Leona, nn Cleo, is a great idea. Nice one.

- Tiggs

6/13/2012, 7:15 PM

- guru (BBH)

6/12/2012, 8:37 PM

I suggest you just stick with Cleo as the full name--it's best that way. Clementine is a stretch, and yes, Cleopatra is too much.

I prefer Clio, myself.

There's also Cliona and Cleora, though both are a little wacky.

- Ranchie

6/12/2012, 7:50 PM

I think it works either way you pronounce it.

- Lily (Destry) +1

6/12/2012, 7:39 PM

I think it's odd. Cleo works well as a full name, I'd just go with Cleo.

- Dita

6/12/2012, 8:02 PM

Agree

Clementine (Cleo) is forced. Clio is in fact a legitimate name on its own, from Kleio. Just go with one of those, or Cleo if you prefer.

- Billina

6/12/2012, 7:15 PM

I think it works even with the American sound. Go for it.

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