Clara

Clara. Where do I begin with this? This is a very beautiful name and it has such a very beautiful meaning.

A beautiful name. It is strong, feminine, elegant, and classy. It sounds heavenly and angelic, and it ages with flawless grace. Truly gorgeous.

I've loved this name for years now. It's a beautiful name.

I love Clara as a name. I also love its meaning too.

Lovely name.

Beautiful.

Clara sounds like the noise someone makes when they are trying to clear their throat to me. I like Cora and Cara though.

A clunky name however it has a pretty meaning and pleasant associations such as The Nutcracker. 6/10.

Lovely name with an attractive meaning. I also like Claire, Cara, Lara, Sara and Chiara but can't pick a favourite one.

Beautiful but going through a faddy phase. I know two women with young baby girls called Clara.

My personal impression of the name is that I don't like it. Clara has a nice meaning but I would put the sudden uptick in popularity down to the name being somewhat uncommon and think people will be less drawn to it once it's everywhere. I find it a little bit wet and whiny tbh.

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Someone below said Clara reminds them of chalk and I wonder if they have synesthesia.

Cute for a little girl, hideous on an adult!

Pretty.

I prefer it to Claire! Love it.

It's so beautiful, elegant and a very nice name. I prefer Clare too.

I'm drawn to it, it's certainly not a bad name, in fact it's quite nice. However! I'm not sure I'm so keen on the CL sound. CL brings to mind words like clog, clam, clot, cloth. Saying CLara feels clumsy. Prefer Cara.

I relate this name to the wonderful Nutcracker ballet & the spirited magic of Christmas as well as to light (lovely candlelight, the light of hope and Christmas lights) and clarity.

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However - I also understand the sentiments of a comment below about the clumsiness of the sound however I disagree that it's due to the 'cl' for example I don't mind 'cl' as in Claire or Clarke but Clara gets caught in my throat so I think it's the Cl and the ara combined that cause the disharmony.

Lovely!

I have a great aunt with this name, and it rhymes with my surname. So, I'm not able to use this name. It is really pretty, though. I like Clara.

Clara; clear.

I love this name, it reminds me of The Nutcracker ballet. Very classy.

Really don't like it, reminds me of chalk.

I love the names Claire and Clara so much that I can't decide which one I like better! I also think Claira is a pretty spelling! Clara is absolutely beautiful, classic, and translates well into other languages like Spanish and German. I don't think I've ever met anyone named Clara but it was my great-grandmother's English name!

This name makes me imagine an English princess and candlelight.

It sounds very modern to me, I just can’t imagine this name being so common in the 1800s.

Nice! Sounds sweet but not my favorite.

I love this name, personally I would say Claire-uh, rather than Clar-uh, but both are nice.

My sister's name is Clara, it is beautiful, I love it.

This is my name; I actually don't like it that much. In the elementary school I studied in, there was a girl one class older than me with the same name as mine (her first name is Theodora, though). I didn't even know what should I call myself until she left my school. I wish my name was Chiara or Claire because they are both not that common in the country where I live, but I still think this is an amazing name.

Beautiful name. I also love Claire, both are so lovely and feminine.

I’ve always loved Clara. Even though it has always been a popular name in Spanish speaking countries, I think it’s a timeless, beautiful, yet simple name.

I love the name Clara too! At first I was scared, because I thought people would say it sounds boring and old-fashioned, but I'm glad to see that it doesn't. I find it an absolutely charming name, adorable but at the same time aging well. It is a name that combines well for all ages and, although it is a common name, it is not too common, so it is likely that Clara does not have to share her name with three other girls. I notice that each year it is gaining a little more popularity. Love it. And Heidi's literary reference makes it even better. Clara is the name of a sweet and good girl or an elegant and kind lady.

The name Clara has a vintage flair to it.

The name Clara carries a Gothic sweetness. It is gloomy, pure and gorgeous at the same time. It means 'clear' or 'bright'.

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The sound of Clara brings to my mind an image of a peaceful stream, or tinkling water. Clara reminds me of the moon, cake, white candles, pale pink and blue ribbons, white dresses and a surreal, magical, gray world. It shares the wistfulness of Alice and fills your mouth with melodies.

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It really has the same ring to it as Alice - beautiful!

Ugh. There is absolutely nothing appealing about this name!

Absolutely beautiful! If you want the more “modernized” version, go with Claire!

I love it! I actually prefer this instead of Clare!

I utterly adore this name - it's my fave! If I had a daughter I would name her Clara (my other favourites are Mila and Willow).
It's beautiful, wholesome, and good for all ages.

When I married Alex in Stardew Valley, I named our daughter Clara after his mother who died when he was very young. I might also consider this name for a future daughter in real life because I love the meaning and the classy, vintage feel!

I don’t hate it, but I don’t see the appeal. Claire is cuter.

Meh. There are a lot prettier names!

My name is Clara and I absolutely love it! If you're on the fence with the whole clown/cow association, I can assure you that I've actually only heard that joke once, in Disneyland when I was 6/7. I honestly think if it wasn't my name I would use it for my future daughter. To me, it's the perfect mix of feminine and strong, it's easy to spell and pronounce, and it's uncommon enough that I haven't had to go by a last initial in class, while it's still popular enough that it doesn't confuse anybody.

Awful. I know too many mean old ladies by the name of Clara.

Super vintage and classic. Beautiful!

Clara sounds like a perfect name. It sounds a little old ladyish. But overall I think it sounds sweet and short. Nice name.

Very bad personal associations with this name.

I love this name. It's vintage and classy.

Old lady name!

Not a fan! Not appealing. Claire maybe. Clara no!

Despise. Just plain ugly, sorry.

Sounds so Scandanavian!

Really dislike this name!

My name is Clara and I love it! The only problem is people often hear my name and think it’s Claire or Sarah. I never go by Claire as a nickname because I have a close friend by that name but I will go by Clare (even though I pronounce them the same I think Clare is a nicer nickname). I almost got named Amelia but I think Clara is so much more unique and modern.

My name is Clara, and I've always loved that almost nobody else had that name. It feels really nice to be the only person in your class (at school) with your name. It's always made me feel a little more unique and special. I've met between 5 and 10 Clara's in my life but most of them were older people because the name is a bit old fashioned. I happen to live on a street called Clara Dr. And when I was little, I thought my middle name was Drive. Actually, my middle name is Lucille and I LOVE it because it was my great grandma's name and Clara Lucille means, "Bright, Bringer of Light". I wanted to go by Lucy a few times in Jr. High, but I got over it and I couldn't be happier with this name. I haven't had many nicknames, but one of my teachers liked to call me Clarabelle (Like the cow) and my Dad sometimes calls me Clurvie :) I have always been a little spitfire ball of energy and light, and I think it is an amazing name for anyone of any age. The only part about it I dislike is when someone calls me Claire (It sounds too mischievous) or Clah-ruh, because it doesn't sound as cute to me. Also, most people imagine Clara as a little blond girl with blue eyes, and my eyes ARE blue but I have brown hair. Still, it's just the right amount of juvenile that I liked it when I was little, and it's classy enough for an adult too. This name also has a wonderful meaning that anyone would want to live up to.

Growing up, I didn't really like the name Clara because people said it was an old name. During high school I started loving the name, the meaning was and is still reflecting in my life, I am famous in whatever I do, transparent and bright as a diamond. I love my name CLARA.

This name is perfection! Sounds soft and strong at the same time. Not overused, very classy and elegant with a radiant meaning and long history. It’s a stunning name which makes me smile. I absolutely love it!

As a Clara, I have only met two other Clara's in my life. I love my name, the sophistication of it, the cute nicknames, (like Lara, or more commonly, Larri) and the easy spelling, most of all. I love the name Clara, and I wish it was a bit more popular. But not in the Emma or Olivia sense. More like the name Henry-popular, but not too popular. I love the fact that it's peak as a name was in the 1800's, and that Clara Barton bore the name. Clara is a beautiful name, and it would be an amazing candidate for your little one's names.

Personally, I prefer the Italian Chiara (kee-AH-rah)

I like the name Clara more than Chiara.
The name Clara isn't very common on young women here in Italy. I like the nickname Lara a lot :)

Clara sounds sophisticated and old fashioned.

As a Clara myself, I like this name because it's kind of unique and not very popular. I am the only Clara in the entire school district and have met two Claras in my entire life. It would be nice to see this name more often but I hope it doesn't get as popular as Emma or Sophia because those names get a lot of criticism.

Can't stand this name, reminds me of Clarabelle the clown, but the name Claire is classy.

More exotic and uncommon than Claire.

Sorry to all Claras, but I really don't like this name.

Funny how Clara is seen as old-fashioned while Claire is trendy. Same name minus the last schwa.

I love the ˈklɑːrə pronunciation much more than the ˈklærə pronunciation, but both are nice. I don't usually care about the meaning of names, but this one resonates with me.

My first middle name is Clara (clair-uh) and I love it so much I want to start going by that instead. I feel so cheated I only got it as a middle name though. I like the pronunciation clair-uh better than clar-uh, but clar-uh is cute too. Clair-uh is both cute and beautiful to me.

Clara...
I don't mind the English pronunciation, it is nice. But CLARA with Spanish pronunciation is how I will address my child, and that is so delicious to hear. In Spanish the r is pronounced in a softer way (there's two ways of saying R 1. Rolling your tongue like in carro, and soft r, like in amar or in lindura...)

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I am in love with this, it is literally the word for clear, light, transparent in spanish! And that is gorgeous. I had a dream with a young girl, blonde curls and a huge smile, that's what I think about when someone says Clara. And it is nice.

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It is a classic, but still not overused... a bit special. People will know how to pronounce it, it is short. And it does sound pretty in French too!

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Not to mention the diminutive Clarita which I think is soooo cute! Clara, Clarita...

My name is Clara, and my middle name is Jeanette. My mum and grandma nicknamed me Clara Jean as a girl, and I wouldn't choose any other name.

My name is Clara, and I love it. It's really cool! I like the way it sounds sunny and bright, and also pretty.

I like the name Clara, although I prefer Klara, but Clara's still a very nice spelling. I pronounce it KLAH-ruh and this pronunciation appeals to me the most. I think it's a very elegant, feminine, but also strong name. When I think about this name I see a woman who is very sharp-minded, beautiful, talented, especially she loves literature, theatre and music, she's generally very into culture, she's very classy and elegant, but is also a very good woman with a big, open heart. Very generous, a good listener, really full of virtues. She has quite conservative views, can be very spiritual, is very sensitive and wise, you can talk with her about really serious, philosophical things, but she has also a very good sense of humour and likes a good joke. She's extroverted. She's very loving and caring for others, she hates lies, has a very strong will and is determined and hard-working, a bit of a perfectionist, often her self-esteem is either a bit too low or a bit too high.

My three-year-old niece is Clara and I adore it! It is an old-fashioned name, my great-grandma's, but it has come back into trend recently. I much prefer "Clara" over the name "Claire" because I can't stop thinking of that line in "The Breakfast Club" about Claire being a fat-girl's name...

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Plus, it is the little girl from the nutcracker!

My name is Clara and I'm proud.

I prefer Clare, sorry but Clara sounds too baby-ish. It's pretty but not my favorite.

I don't like it, it's too "cutesy" sounding.

This is like the most perfect, respectful name you can give to your daughter. It's pretty, but it's strong. It's absolutely amazing. It means "Bright, shining" and it's simple to spell and comprehend. It's does not sound DUMB like Kayla or Kaylee. It doesn't sound NERDY or pretentious like Elizabeth. It works in the old days, it works today. If I had a BFF who was going to have a girl, and she asked me for my advice on what to name her... Clara would be it.

I like it a bit better than Claire, but not by much, as it still bores me. I can see a bit more personality in the name Clara than Claire -- perhaps the name of a writer or a soccer player. I still prefer Chiara, though.

Clara is a really elegant name. The meaning suits her: I imagine a beautiful blonde girl in white clothes, who is kind and frank. I find the name Clara refreshing and youthful in this century.

Lovely, lovely name. I prefer the pronunciation of Clair-uh rather than Clar-uh.

I never liked the "Clair-uh" pronunciation of Clara, because I always thought it sounded so undistinguished. I liked this name even before I saw Jenna Coleman's Clara Oswald on Doctor Who, although the show strengthened my likening for it.

Clara is such a gorgeous name, pronounced CLAIRE-ah. I love it. Beautiful, elegant, old-fashioned, girly.

Clara is lovely. With the Claire trend starting to shoot down the slippery slopes, one can only hope Clara will take its place.
Obviously makes me think of The Nutcracker like anyone else. And no, I don't associate this name with a cow, if the name had Bell/Belle at the end maybe I would ~ don't see what's so bad about that though.

It's gorgeous. So strong and feminine at the same time. Just perfect for a girl.

Clara is such a lovely and wonderful name! ^^

I love this name, let's hope it goes down in popularity by the time I have kids. I don't want my daughter to have the same name as everyone else, so let's pray Clara doesn't get too common.

My name is Clara, pronounced Clair-uh. I've always loved it, because it's really unique, I've only met 2 Clara's in my life and they were both briefly. My mom chose this name for me and she passed away when I was 5 from leukemia. I felt like one thing she left me was this beautiful, unique name that she decided I'd have. Though I don't know why she liked it, or her reasons for naming me Clara, I just feel like she couldn't have picked a better name for me. I'm 24 now and through the years I have thought some people who hear my name before meeting me might think I'm older or something because it's an older name. Last year I called to have my cable and internet hooked up and the guy came to my door and said "Is Clara here?" and I said "Yep, that's me" and he said "Wow, I wasn't expecting someone so young and pretty!" lol, but I love that, not only is it so unique but I feel I represent this unique name in a good way. I am just one Clara bringing it back, even though I've felt like the only Clara my whole life, and I love that too. I've had so many compliments on my name and ladies tell me they want to name their daughters Clara and questions about if I'm named after anyone, but I'm not named after anyone, and I guess I'll never be sure why my mom chose this name for me. But I'm forever happy with it and can't imagine having any other name! Thanks to my mom =)

This name is absolutely beautiful, pronounced either clair-ah or clah-rah. I'm glad to see its making a comeback!. In my opinion it's a lot more unique than Claire, and carries that old world charm as well :)

What an intriguing name... "Clara" has been tugging on the strings of my being for quite some time. It is simple, yet unexpectedly stunning; simple, yet thrillingly mysterious.

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Regardless, I do believe that I favor the variations "Claire" and "Clare" slightly more than the radiant "Clara."

It's a good name, though I prefer Cara. Clara makes me picture a sweet little girl with long blond curls and a mischievous side.

I personally dislike this name... Something about the sound of it just annoys me. I do like similar sounding names like Laura, but this specific one probably irks me for several reasons.

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1. Klara Wagner, an online "artist" infamous for posting pictures of herself in various states of undress on the internet, bears a form of this name.
2. The C and R sounds close together. No matter what accent you speak with, it sounds harsh.
3. I'm in Australia, and in rural areas this name would be horribly butchered. In more urban areas like where I live, where the accents are easier on the ears, it isn't a problem, but in rural areas it would be pronounced as 'Claaaaaah-raaaaaah' with the A's sounding somewhat like a cross between the long A sound and short U sound (the sort of accent Australian characters typically have in non-Australian movies). Names that rhyme with Clara (such as Tara, Lana etc.) have the same problem.

My name is Clara. I pronounce it Claire-uh, but I don't mind the pronunciation in the UK at all (Clah-ruh sounds fine to me). I think it's a very pretty name, and I rarely meet anyone with the same name. The only thing I don't like about it is that it is so easily confused with Claire. A lot of the time when I introduce myself, people don't get the second syllable and start calling me Claire. I've started emphasizing the -uh a little more when I introduce myself, which makes the name sound a little weird. It can also be irritating to have to spell out your name to so many people, as Clara isn't common in the US (where I live). However, most people do pronounce the name correctly when they read it, so if you name your child this, they won't be the kid in school who constantly corrects new teachers and substitute teachers. In general, a pretty good name, but it has some drawbacks.

Clara is one of my favourite names - so beautiful and glamourous.

I love the name Clara. It's my name and I wouldn't want it to be anything else because it's uncommon claissie elegant and really pretty. I love it :D

This is such a lovely name! I love it the sound of Clara Juliet.

It's quite boring. I don't see the hype. Sorry.

I think this name is really sweet! As to the pronunciation thing, I don't know I guess I'm not really a stickler for that. I tried to think about it and I said both "clare-uh" and "clah-ruh" in my head. Neither one sounds wrong, you know? To me it's like "Sare-uh" and "Sah-ruh" or "Meg-an" and "Mae-gan." Having been born in the mid-90s I know a lot of girls with both those names in their various spellings and I've only met one person who was adamant about the pronunciation.

I think the name Clara is so pretty! I have a bad habit of shortening everything so if I ever named my daughter this I would probably (unintentionally) call her Clare an awful lot. But that's okay because I like Clare too! Clara's a charming little name that I would seriously consider using. I'm picturing the monograms now.

Clara. Two syllables. Short, simple, pretty sound. Okay, I know it won't dazzle people with any exoticism or original glamour, but I'm irrevocably in love with Clara. It has this Poe-esque, Gothic sophistication and poetic beauty about it. Clara seems like a Gothic Lolita name to me, as I picture porcelain-faced ladies with dark or auburn ringlets, white roses, corsets, 19th-century vampire novels and romanesque cathedrals (all of which are lovely things to me).

Wow, shotgun_wedding, you nailed it for me! That's a perfect description of the picture in my mind when I think of Clara--very "Po-esque," as you said. (Well, Clara Bow also works her way into the picture as well, as she's so iconic.)

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Anyway, I absolutely love Clara--my favorite variation of all the "Claire/Clare" names (of which there are quite a few).

Clara is a beautiful name. Much less common than Claire, which is also pretty but Clara sounds more exotic and foreign.

I prefer the pronunciation "KLAH-rah" to "KLER-uh", but this is a lovely name nonetheless; simple yet elegant, not excessively popular, unique without the immature trendiness that seems to sell these days, and just plain lovely and dignified.

When I was younger, I thought this name was a hideous grandmother name. However, even though the Finnish equivalent Klaara certainly is old-fashioned, this name is very pretty in English, and it's pretty in other languages too, as long as the vowel sound in the first syllable is SHORT. This is very important, because otherwise it does sound grandmotherly and unattractive. I don't see why this name should sound much worse than Sara, Tara, and the awesome name Kara. It's a pretty, simple name that doesn't sound tacky, trashy, or immature.

I absolutely adore the name Clara. I loved it since I was a little girl and wanted this name to be mine. :) I am from Czech Republic and the name is spelled Klara there. We named our little girl Clara, we chose spelling with C since we live in US and it also seems a bit softer to me. I also love the meaning of the name, which some of you noted already: clear, bright. My choice of pronunciation is Clar-ah. We also call our daughter Clarka or Clarinka.

A beautiful name. I much perfer it to be spelled Claira, as that's kind of uncommon and looks much better on paper.

This is my middle name, and though I don't use it much, I like it a lot. I pronounce it Clar-ah or, as other people here have been saying, Clah-ruh. 2 of my great-grandmothers had this name, one of whom was Swiss.

My Italian grandmother is called Clara. I think it is a lovely name.

I just don't like the sound of this name, reminds me of clowns and cows. Not that I don't like clowns or cows, it just this name I don't like. I much prefer Claire which is more elegant.

I much prefer the pronunciation Klah-ruh to Klair-ah.

I think this is one of the most beautiful names in the world. I think it suits a little girl, but is elegant and classy enough for a woman. It is relatively uncommon and has a pretty sound - how could you not love this name? This will be my first daughter's name without a doubt!

I don't like the name Clara because I think of Clarabell the clown or of a cow (I have a friend who named her cow Clara).

I think Clara is an elegant, delicate name.

I love this name - it's old-fashioned yet isn't very popular so it could be made into something really modern and individual when teamed with another name, such as Clara-Leigh, Clara-Rose, Clara-Elle or Clara-Tilly.

I have never really liked this name. I don't mind the name Claire though.

This is my grandmother's name, she has never liked it and thus goes by her middle name, but I have always thought it was quite lovely.

My name is Clara pronounced like Klaire-Uh and I love it so much!

My sisters name is Clara, she loves it! It is a very old fasioned name, and I have never met anyone by the name of Clara, except for my sis of course! Clara Barton started the American Red Cross.

Clara is my name, and I absolutely LOVE it! Also, I pronounce it clair-uh, FYI. I've heard it pronounced klah-ruh, and I dislike that a lot.

My name is Clara and I think it's a cool name because it means clear, bright!

I used to think Clara was an awful name. But I've come to realize it's not bad at all. I like it.

Clara is a very sophisticated-sounding name. It simply rolls off the tongue.