View Message

On a girl?
1. Carissa
2. Clarissa
3. Claire

---

On a boy?
Clare... and only if it's short for Clarence.

Claire

I like Claire best. Clare is pretty much the same, so I like that equally. I think Clara is nice too. I don't like Clarissa at all, sorry.

I like Carissa but spelled Karissa. I don't know exactly why, it just has always caught my eye!

Clare

---

but i'd prefer Clara

Clare. It's neat, tidy, clean-cut, unfussy and closest to the Latin original (I think you've overlooked Clara!).
Claire: why use a French spelling with an English pronunciation?
Clarissa: 18th century elaboration. Sounds better than Clarice (which you also left out) but better isn't the same as good.
Carissa: is a useful hedge plant where I live, with huge, menacing thorns and nice fruit for people, birds and monkeys to eat. The only human Carissa I've ever known was less than appealing.

Right now, I'd choose Clarissa. It's fun and spunky.

Claire, of those. Clara too. Clarice is also nice.
I'm neutral on Clarissa. I think Clare is harsh looking. I think Carissa is sort of icky, reminds me of the word caress.

This message was edited 9/21/2010, 6:07 PM

At the moment, Claire

---

Depending on my mood, I'm more partial to Claire or Clara. I like Clara when I want a charming, old-fashioned name, but Claire when I want something pretty and to the point.

I've always liked Claire, but I would love to encounter more people named Clarissa. It's beautiful and underused. I like Carissa as well.

---

Lately, I've really been liking Clarisse. I might use it as a middle name.

Clara!

---

1. Ages the best.
2. Classic.
3. Needs to be used more.

Clarissa, for sure. I like the nickname "Clary" for it. Claire would be my second favorite.

Clarissa.

---

It's intelligent, and strikingly beautiful.

Claire. I love Claire. It's such a beautiful name.

I like Carissa and Clarissa, but they seem a little much. I do like Clara a lot, though - it's short, sweet, to the point, and it reminds me of Clara Schumann.

Claire -- I like Chiara as well.

Claire

---

It sounds and looks so pretty. It's elegant, but light and sweet. That spelling looks nicer to me (compared to Clare, not that I dislike that spelling). Plus my grandfather's mn is Clair.

---

I dislike Clarissa and Carissa because I really don't like the -issa sound.

Clara.
Clare/ Claire come in second. I like how it sounds but neither spelling makes me happy. Clare looks to me like I've forgotten something, but Claire looks like it has too much. It just can't win with me. *shrug*

From the ones mentioned my fave is Clarissa, but in general I prefer Klara (or Clara if you want C).

I think they all have completely different feels:

---

Claire / Clare (I'm indifferent to spelling) - is friendly, girl-next-door

---

Clarissa - hair in bun, elegant but it has an 'edge' to it, which I think makes it feisty. Some people may interpret it to be 'prissy' but I can imagine a powerful dominating woman bearing it more than someone in a tutu.

---

Carissa - young cheerleader. I guess that L makes all the difference?

---

What about Clarisse and Clara?

---

Tough one.

---

I'm not overly fond of Claire or Clare. It just doesn't grab me. I do have a bad association with it---a very strange girl named Clare whom I knew as a teenager---but I don't think that's the sole reason I don't like Claire\Clare much. Another thing is that it makes me think of eclairs. Every time I hear Claire\Clare I can just about taste eclairs. And while I like eclairs just fine, I just can't really like any name that has a food association for me. (This one is pretty obvious. Some aren't---like why does Debbie make me think of figs and Hannah chicken soup?)

---

But I digress. Anyhoo--there's those two things and the fact that I just don't think Claire\Clare is very nice sounding--it just isn't to me.

---

On the other hand---I hate names that end in "ISSA". They are so darn obvious. They stand on a mountaintop and scream to the world how pretty they are. Some have complained that names such as Victoria and Isabella are "pretty pretty princess" names. In my opinion, those two can't hold a candle to names such as Melissa, Alyssa, Marisa, Carissa, Clarissa for being "oh so pwetty pwetty pwetty look at me I am so darn pwetty don't you just want to take me home and pet me."

---

Ahem. So I prefer Clara.

Clara?

---

I do enjoy Clara. It's old fashioned but not limp, like Clarissa can be, and has a touch more "zip" than Claire.

Clara! Or Claire.