Claire vs Julia vs Sophia

See the results of this poll: Which name do you like the best?

Respondents: 59 (This poll is closed)

  • Claire : 13 (22%)
  • Julia : 28 (47%)
  • Sophia: 18 (31%)

First of all, congratulations. All three names are beautiful. [name_f]My[/name_f] order of preference is [name_f]Sophia[/name_f]/[name_f]Sophie[/name_f], [name_f]Claire[/name_f], and [name_f]Julia[/name_f]. I do not see an issue with your ex co-worker having a [name_f]Sophia[/name_f] and you having a [name_f]Sophia[/name_f]. As to popularity, I have lived in four states and worked with children and parents and have never met a [name_f]Sophia[/name_f] or [name_f]Sophie[/name_f]. I know of a [name_f]Sophie[/name_f], my good friend’s niece. I have not met a [name_f]Claire[/name_f] but know two [name_m]Julias[/name_m].

[name_f]Do[/name_f] you like [name_f]Clara[/name_f]? Maybe to incorporate the spelling you could spell it [name_f]Claira[/name_f]. It is similar to all of those names.

I prefer [name_f]Julia[/name_f]. I hear [name_f]Sophia[/name_f] and [name_f]Claire[/name_f] all the time, but [name_f]Julia[/name_f] feels like a breath of fresh air. Have you considered something like [name_f]Julia[/name_f] [name_f]Sophie[/name_f] or [name_f]Julia[/name_f] [name_f]Claire[/name_f]? Or perhaps [name_f]Juliet[/name_f]?

[name_f]Julia[/name_f] is gorgeous! [name_f]Sophia[/name_f] is much too popular. I was also going to suggest [name_f]Clara[/name_f].

For a middle name for [name_f]Julia[/name_f], how about simply [name_f]Elle[/name_f]?
Also, I second (third?) the suggestion of [name_f]Clara[/name_f]. I think it has all of the qualities you like about [name_f]Claire[/name_f], but it is a little less simple.

I know [name_f]Sophia[/name_f] is so popular, but there is something about [name_f]Sophia[/name_f]. I really like [name_f]Sophia[/name_f]. I don’t think the co-worker thing is a big deal. If it were an uncommon name, she might’ve felt like you “stole it” but since [name_f]Sophia[/name_f] is more common, it shouldn’t matter. I agree with you about [name_f]Claire[/name_f], it feels almost too simple. So I also love the suggestion of [name_f]Clara[/name_f]. As for [name_f]Julia[/name_f], I find it kind of boring. I know so many [name_m]Julias[/name_m]. I actually know less Sophias than I do [name_m]Julias[/name_m]. Congrats on your baby girl! Good luck!

I second ‘[name_f]Julia[/name_f] [name_f]Claire[/name_f].’

What are they types of interesting middles that you would be looking for to complete [name_f]Julia[/name_f]?

Thank you!

I like [name_f]Clara[/name_f] a lot, but for some reason my husband doesn’t. I can’t figure it out! I’ve brought it up several times over the years, but he’s never warmed up to it. It’s funny how the popularity of names varies by area. I hear [name_f]Sophia[/name_f] a lot when we are out, but almost never [name_f]Claire[/name_f] and [name_f]Julia[/name_f] once in awhile. I do also like [name_f]Juliet[/name_f], but I’m not sure if it seems like it’s trying too hard? There was actually an adorable [name_f]Juliet[/name_f] in my son’s preschool class this year. It might be odd for us to use it as a first name because we will likely run into them around town and it’s not exactly a common name like [name_f]Sophia[/name_f]. I’m friendly with her mother, so I’m sure she’d ask the baby’s name. It is one of my favorites for a middle name, but obviously we can’t use it with [name_f]Julia[/name_f]. We’ve also talked about [name_f]Juliana[/name_f], but my husband thinks it’s “too much”.

For middle names, I’d rather not use [name_f]Claire[/name_f] simply because it’s become sort of the go to middle name over the past few years (like [name_f]Ann[/name_f]/[name_f]Anne[/name_f]) in my generation. I’d like a more unusual combo since we are looking at well used first names. I guess when I say interesting, I’m not necessarily looking for a super unique name, I just don’t want the response when I announce my daughter’s full name to be “Oh, my cousin has a [name_f]Julia[/name_f] [name_f]Claire[/name_f], too!”. Some of the types of middle names I’m drawn to are [name_f]Juliet[/name_f], [name_f]Beatrice[/name_f]/[name_f]Beatrix[/name_f]/[name_f]Beatriz[/name_f], [name_f]Amelie[/name_f] (too bad this clashes with our last name!), [name_f]Charlotte[/name_f], [name_f]Genevieve[/name_f], [name_f]Rosalie[/name_f] (again clashes with out last name), [name_f]Emilia[/name_f], [name_f]Alice[/name_f], [name_f]Mariella[/name_f], [name_f]Juliana[/name_f].

I think you should go for [name_f]Sophia[/name_f], since that seems to be where your heart is and you can use a more unusual middle name. Sometimes it can be hard to find a name you like when you’ve already found one and are just trying to talk yourself out of it. (I’m having this problem with [name_f]Nora[/name_f] right now). She could always go by the middle name if she wants to distinguish herself, but more and more I’m just thinking that popularity doesn’t matter so much, it’s not like it was when I was growing up.

I love [name_f]Julia[/name_f]!
Perhaps a similar/more modern mn could be [name_f]Julia[/name_f] [name_f]Eloise[/name_f], [name_f]Julia[/name_f] [name_f]Elodie[/name_f] or [name_f]Julia[/name_f] [name_f]Lenora[/name_f].

Thanks, Anaxandra. We do hear the name [name_f]Sophia[/name_f] when we are out fairly often, but somehow there are zero in my son’s preschool of over 120 kids! He’s also somehow the only [name_m]Ethan[/name_m] at the school, so common names are definitely not as overused as they were a generation or more ago.

Ironically, this afternoon I added [name_f]Julia[/name_f] [name_f]Elodie[/name_f] as a potential name to run by husband. I don’t think he’ll go for it, but he can be hard to predict. I mentioned [name_f]Julia[/name_f] [name_f]Charlotte[/name_f] as a new possibility this evening, which he likes fairly well.

ETA - I added a poll. Wish I would have thought of that sooner!

[name_f]Sophia[/name_f] [name_f]Juliet[/name_f] seems like a clear winner. It’s got a lovely, sweet, classically beautiful first name, and a less popular middle that still ties in a name you and your husband like.

Also, I work with children and I’ve only met a maybe four Sophias under the age of ten over the course of the last year. I’ve probably known more Ethans. [name_f]Sophia[/name_f] gets a lot of attention because it’s the #1 girl name, and people tend to pay more attention to girl names for whatever reason. It was the most popular name, but that doesn’t mean there’ll be one in every class; it’s no [name_f]Jennifer[/name_f].

[name_f]Julia[/name_f] [name_f]Grace[/name_f] is beautiful. x

Thanks for the reassurance, Axps123. [name_f]Sophia[/name_f] [name_f]Juliet[/name_f] is actually my top combo for [name_f]Sophia[/name_f]. I [name_u]LOVE[/name_u] it. [name_f]Julia[/name_f] [name_f]Grace[/name_f] is also very pretty.

[name_f]My[/name_f] husband is now stuck on having either [name_f]Julia[/name_f] (no variations) or [name_f]Eleanor[/name_f] somewhere in her name. It’s tiring for me, but I understand him wanting to fit one of his favorites into her name. I wrote down some of my favorite combos last night and his comments were: [name_f]Claire[/name_f] [name_f]Julia[/name_f] (or [name_f]Claire[/name_f] [name_f]Eleanor[/name_f]), [name_f]Julia[/name_f] anything (he loves the name so much I could pick any reasonable middle) and [name_f]Sophia[/name_f] [name_f]Eleanor[/name_f]. Maybe I should revisit this with him when I’m super hugely pregnant and uncomfortable. I may get the pity vote.

He seems to be really set on [name_f]Julia[/name_f].

What about [name_f]Julia[/name_f] [name_f]Claire[/name_f] or [name_f]Julia[/name_f] [name_f]Sophie[/name_f]?

I think [name_f]Julia[/name_f] [name_f]Claire[/name_f] or [name_f]Julia[/name_f] [name_f]Sophie[/name_f] work well. When I was considering [name_f]Julia[/name_f], I paired it with [name_u]Winter[/name_u]. Although I ended up preferring [name_f]Juliet[/name_f].

I love love love [name_f]Julia[/name_f] [name_f]Charlotte[/name_f]!

Of the three I prefer [name_f]Julia[/name_f]. It feels less common than [name_f]Sophia[/name_f] and [name_f]Claire[/name_f], and it’s lovely.

I like [name_f]Claire[/name_f] best x1000

It’s got a crisper sound, with the one syllable as opposed to three. [name_f]Sophia[/name_f] is fine but not very interesting, would prefer [name_f]Susannah[/name_f] or [name_f]Sabrina[/name_f].

I no longer like [name_f]Julia[/name_f] at all. I used to. I can’t deal with it anymore. It does have the advantage in feeling unexpected and of an era that’s not trendy, but in that case I’d much rather see similar-feeling names like [name_f]Cecilia[/name_f], [name_f]Katrina[/name_f], or [name_f]Felicia[/name_f].