Anna Earth Mother type. Will can her own fruit and make her own salsa.
Cassandra Stylish jet setter with expensive taste
Clare Academic type with frame glasses and sensible shoes
Erika Athletic girl that dresses hot
Susanna Likes to ride horses and churns butter
Without looking at other answers, IMHO
Anna – nice, classic but also a little trendy right now
Cassandra – nice, good nickname potential
Clare – will be mispelled
Erika – will be misspelled
Susanna – Oh Susanna! and has the potential to be misspelled
Anna: I know a little girl named Anna. She’s cute, bright, and funny. I like it better than Ann(e).
Cassandra: I know a woman in her 40s named Cassandra. She goes by Cass, which suits her better. It’s a bit unwieldy, I think, but Cass rocks.
Clare: Put an “i” in it. It’s not one of my favorite names, but it worked for the Huxtables. I think I don’t like the vowel sound–it’s too harsh to my ears.
Erika: I have a bias–my niece is named Erika. I like it, but (don’t tell my sister), I prefer it spelled Erica.
Susanna: I have to admit, I immediately think of the song. I should like it–it’s a classic name–but the darn song gets in the way.
I love this thread!
I happen to have an Anna and a Claire. Go figure.
Anna Pros: Easy to spell, easy to write, easy to pronounce, no odd spellings, simple, classy.
Cons: Common - been in the top 20 for seemingly ages and ages, rhymes with “Hannah” which was very popular the year my daughter was born
Claire Pros: Another classic name that doesn’t (to my ears) sound very dated
Cons: That pesky “i.” She will spend the rest of her life as “Claire-with-an-i,” just as I have insisted on the supposedly silent H in my name forever. A minor con is the fact that since my daughters are only 2yrs apart, the youngest has been “Quaire” to her sister until recently.
My sister is an Erica (not Erika). I’m a Rachel (not Rachael). We both get annoyed, because our names have perfectly legitimate alternate spellings. That we get to correct. Over and over. For the rest of our lives.
Other than that, she seems okay with it.
I think Cassandra is a lovely name, but it comes with serious baggage. The classical Cassandra was an incredibly unhappy person, and I don’t know that I’d tag a child with it.
No, liberty3701 is thinking of the character Claire in the movie The Breakfast Club, who is an uptight preppy homecoming queen who is taunted about her name by the rebel biker kid, Bender. I have to admit, every time I hear the name Claire, I think of this bit of dialogue:
Bender: Claire?
Claire: It’s a family name.
Bender: It’s a fat girl’s name.
Claire: Thank you.
Bender: You’re welcome.
Claire : I’m not fat.
Bender: Well not at present, but I can see you really pushing maximum density. See I’m not sure if you know this, but there are two kinds of fat people: there’s fat people that were born to be fat, and there’s fat people that were once thin but became fat… so when you look at 'em you can sorta see that thin person inside. You see, you’re gonna get married, you’re gonna squeeze out a few puppies and then, uh…(makes sounds and gestures to indicate getting very fat)
Also, I had a friend named Claire when the Blair Witch Project came out, and her husband promptly dubbed her The Claire Bitch Project. That also stuck with me. Thus, by virtue of these two negative associations, the name Claire has been ruined for me. Unlikely anyone else will be hung up on such things, though.
Claire/Clare, for me, is a rather elfin woman with holycrap long red hair.
Anna is nice, more interesting than Anne or Ann, but it’s a name that doesn’t really impart much for me. It’s not a name to live up to, it’s a name that – to me – says nothing about the person.
Cassandra is a kick-ass name, but it’s the opposite of Anna in that way: very hard to support.
Susanna I like, but the teasing prospects are painful. Then again, I got teased plenty – just rarely about my name. Samantha is hard to mess with (except for Toucan Sam and Sam I am).
I hate Erika because I’ve hated every Erika I ever knew. No offense to any local Eric/kas.
Or maybe he’s not sure he has a sister?
I would like to predict right now that you will one day soon post that the baby arrived, and that you named her Savannah.
::holds pocket watch up::
::your eyes get all swirly::
Oh, yes. You will.
We’re actually thinking on Bob.
However, based upon this thread my wife has changed her mind on the spelling of both Claire and Erica so if we go with either one we will use the more traditional spelling. We had both thought the two spellings were much closer in usage then it turns out. However, Susanna is the more traditional way to spell it.
All just lovely. They all pass the Supreme Court test, i.e., you can picture someone saying “The Honorable Susanna LastName.” I have a slight preference for Susanna, since you don’t hear that name for often, but any of them would be a darn good choice.
Gah! That’s me, not Left Hand.
Anna - Nice, pleasant woman, sensible
Cassandra - A pessimist of the first water. Doomsayer, and eager to be able to say, “I told you so!”
Clare - At the moment, automatic associations with the title character from Audrey Niffenger’s The Time Traveller’s Wife. Artistic, faithful, smart and clever. Also more than a bit tragic.
Erika - Hip. Sarcastic, and just a bit abrasive. What’s odd, for me, is that Erica leaves me with the impression of a nicer woman, while still being hip and sarcastic. I don’t understand my brain, sometimes.
Susanna - Old fashioned, elegant, and perhaps, just a bit befuddled by the modern world.
Even the names I like least on this list, Cassandra and Erika, are still good, sensible sounding names to my mind. I wouldn’t be too worried about my reactions if you have your heart set on them. Kids will find something to tease about any name, should they want to - you can’t give a kid a teflon name, alas.
I prefer the following binary test - which sounds more natural:
And now, the President of the United States, ___________.
Next up on the Lusty Beaver main stage, give a warm welcome and folded singles to __________!
My favourite is Clare, without the ‘i’. I might be a bit biased, because it’s my sister’s name. If you prefer Clare over Claire, go for it. My sister doesn’t find it a hassle having to occasionally correct people over the spelling. I also have a French name with less common, ‘Irish-ised’ spelling, and spelling out my name for people has never bothered me.
Honestly, with all the trendy names these days you’ll get people trying to spell Clare with a ‘K’, or Erika with a ‘-kah’ anyway, so just use the spelling you like the best.
When my son was born, an acquaintance asked what we named him. I told her “Scott”. She said that although she loved the name, she could never name her son Scott, because everyone would call him “Scooter”.
Well, Scott is 14 now, and so far nobody has called him Scooter.
Missed the edit window: thoughts on the other names-
Anna: first thought, a bit boring. With a name like Anna though, you can give her a more ‘fancy’ middle name, and it’ll work with almost any last name. Brings to mind a pretty, dark-haired woman.
Cassandra: I like it, but not a huge fan of Cassie as a nickname. Or Sandra, for that matter. Cassandra is a beautiful name, Cassie is a dogs name, and Sandra is a woman in her forties.
Erika: my least favourite. For some reason I think ‘bitch’ when I hear that name.
Susanna: it’s okay, and I didn’t automatically think of the song.
I vote for Clare, or Anna.
I’m only 34. :mad:
Oooh, that’s good. I wish more prospective parents would do that test.