Anonymous wrote:Clare. County Clare. Ireland. Ail 4 grand-parents emigrated from there. Both my girls have it as their middle name.

Forget to say it is also my middle name!

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Catholic spelling is Claire

You know that most French and Irish are Catholic, right?

Idgaf

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My grandpa's name was Clare although he was called by a nickname. I don't know how common that is though or if it was a man's name ever?

As a kid, my Methodist pastor was a man named Clair.

In Scotland, Clair was a male name.

Anonymous wrote:Love Clare. Claire with an i just looks ditzy to me. I had a friend with the Clare spelling-- she just got used to saying Clare with no I.

Dizty? It's the French spelling.

Anonymous wrote:Yes, I would go with family spelling. Isn't Clare a county in Ireland?

Plus 1

Anonymous wrote:Catholic spelling is Claire

You know that most French and Irish are Catholic, right?

Catholic spelling is Claire

Anonymous wrote:My grandpa's name was Clare although he was called by a nickname. I don't know how common that is though or if it was a man's name ever?

As a kid, my Methodist pastor was a man named Clair.

Clare. County Clare. Ireland. Ail 4 grand-parents emigrated from there. Both my girls have it as their middle name.

Anonymous wrote:My grandpa's name was Clare although he was called by a nickname. I don't know how common that is though or if it was a man's name ever?

Tess of the D'Urbevilles was in love with a male Clare

Anonymous wrote:Clare is the male spelling (not a common male name anymore though obv). I would go with Claire

No, Clare is the Irish spelling, Claire is the French spelling.

I used the I because my husband felt strongly about it but I prefer it without. I had a beloved elderly relative that used the Irish spelling as her middle name (was her confirmation name but then she just began using it as she preferred it over the original middle name).
The I seems stupid to me as it does not work in the name and when they start to learn phonics it won’t make sense to them. But oTOH, it’s easier to find crap like pencils and key chains and mugs with the I.

I like Clare. It's the family name, it looks pretty, and it's unique.

Claire

Do you have an Irish last name? If so, Clare for sure. If not, whatever you like. Agree that you will run into all kinds of spelling of names once your kid is in school. My name has a double letter, while it's typically spelled with just a single letter. No big deal to me, but spelled wrong all the time through the years. Even now at Starbucks!