Claude
Claude is a soft-spoken French name that conjures up the pastel colors of Monet and harmonies of Debussy. In France, it is used for girls as well, in fact in the Tracy Chevalier novel Lady and the Unicorn, the protagonist is a female Claude.
Claudes have appeared in such iconic movies as "Chinatown" and "Close Encounters of the Third Kind." Actor Simon Baker has a son named Claude Blue.
A French classic, Claude was also a top 100 name in the US until 1922.
The attractive Italian version Claudio is occasionally heard in this country, and Claudius is the original Latin--which could be restored in the current Latin-loving climate.
Lists containing Claude:
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Yes, we tend to think of Claude as a male name and Claudia and Claudette as the female, but this ancient clan name is used in France for girls as well as boys, and could make a distinctively chic choice here too. You may be surprised to know that Claude was in fairly regular use for American girls in the 1880's and nineties, reaching as high as 553 in 1880.
In her native country, there have been some famous female Claudes, including Queen Claude of France (1499 to 1524), daughter of Louis XII, and another sixteenth century Claude de France, daughter of Henri II.
Later Claudes include the daughter of Claude Debussy, Claude-Emma (called Chouchou), the leading female character in Tracy Chevalier's novel Lady and the Unicorn, French actress Claude Jade and photographer Claude Cahun, and the widow of French Prime Minister Georges Pompidou.
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