What are your thoughts on [name]Clodagh[/name]? Is the spelling Cloda more understandable? Is it too “cloddy”? What images does it call up? Any comments are appreciated. Thanks in advance!
As an irish girl myself, I appreciate the significance, but the “clod/cloddy” sound is off-putting and I think it’s just not suitable for a person’s name. There are so, so many beautiful gaelic and irish names beginning with C that have equally powerful meaning. I would go with one of those instead. If you have your heart set on this, look at the CLA- spelling of the word instead.
It’s a beautiful looking name when it’s written down and it’s apparently extremely popular in ireland. But I think in the US it will be a bit underappreciated. i can understand wanting to use something traditionally irish, but when i look at this name and say it out loud, i just think “cloddy”. Here are some other traditional irish names that i like though:
[name]Aislinn[/name] / [name]Aislin[/name] / [name]Ashling[/name]
Brannagh
Caireann
[name]Cailin[/name]
Caoilainn
[name]Caoimhe[/name]
[name]Catriona[/name]
Daireann
[name]Darcy[/name]
[name]Davina[/name] (Traditionally spelled Daimhin and prn daw-veen)
[name]Deirdre[/name]
Eibhleann (prn ave-linn) This one is out there, but it’s my favorite so i couldn’t NOT suggest it.
[name]Enya[/name]
[name]Fiona[/name]
[name]Iona[/name]
[name]Maire[/name] (prn my-ra)
Maolisa (prn mail-issa)
[name]Mona[/name]
[name]Nessa[/name]
Naimh (prn Neev)
[name]Nora[/name] / [name]Norah[/name] / [name]Noreen[/name]
[name]Ryanne[/name]
[name]Shauna[/name]
[name]Siobhan[/name] (prn Shiv-awn) / [name]Shavon[/name] or [name]Chevonne[/name] are nice english spellings.
[name]Sorcha[/name]
[name]Teagan[/name]
Assuming you live outside [name]Ireland[/name], it’s a risk…definitely one of those names she will be explaining (pronunciation/meaning) a lot throughout her life. That said and all of it with a grain of salt, I like the Clodah/Cloda spelling better as a name, as it will better reinforce the lovely CLOH-dah pronunciation in American dialects, rather than the unfortunate “Clod/Cloddy” sound. In [name]America[/name], most people will assume its a reference to the Claddagh ring, notthe river…but that’s not a terrible thing.
Ultimately, if you love it and that is simply her name, go for it.
I knew a [name]Clodagh[/name] (cloh-da) rhyme the first bit with slow when I was little, she was adorable. Her big sister was [name]Roisin[/name] (ro-sheen) and the family was English and lived in [name]England[/name]. As far as I know, no one mispronounced their names. 
I really like [name]Clodagh[/name] as an alternative to [name]Chloe[/name] etc.
If I didn’t have the explanation written out like that I would have no clue how to say it, I think it sounds prettier than it looks though. I’m just not sure she wouldn’t end up disliking it. I have a friend who says her name is [name]Sarah[/name] when she orders drinks at Starbucks because her name is so difficult ( although very pretty)
to anyone unfamiliar with Irish names-- and that will be the entire United States-- people will say ‘clod’ and stop there.
I agree with all the previous comments, especially that it would be underappreciated. Cloda, unfortunately, would probably be easier. I also love [name]Clover[/name] as a nickname.
I love [name]Clodagh[/name]. I’ve struggled with it as well because the [name]Clodagh[/name] spelling is so complicated, but I hate to move away from the traditional spelling, even if Cloda looks better.