Clara is a strong, lovely girls' name that's always ranked among the US Top 1000 girl names but has been climbing since the turn of this century. It now ranks right at Number 78, making it a modern classic that's neither too popular nor unfamiliar.
 
Long relegated to an Olde World backwater, the European-flavored Clara was long less fashionable than sleeker sister Claire. Now, though the vintage chic Clara is still less popular, it's arguably the more stylish of the two names. 
 
Clara was a Top 10 name in the 1880s, at one time associated with the silent screen 'It Girl,' Clara Bow, and before that with German musician and composer Clara Schumann and Red Cross founder Clara Barton, who was born Clarissa.
 
Clara is beloved for her leading role in The Nutcracker ballet and as Heidi's invalid friend. Actor Ewan McGregor was an early celebrity adopter of the name for one of his daughters.
 
Other Clara variations you might want to consider include Clarissa and Clarina, though Clarabelle still seems fit mainly for cows.

Clara

Cora is a lovely, old-fashioned girls' that has been recently rejuvenated by its contemporary-feeling simplicity. In fact, Cora seemed headed straight for the top of the popularity list when the coronavirus pandemic somewhat weakened its appeal.
 
Though she has never been completely out of favor, Cora has had her ups and downs. A Top 20 name in the 1880's, she had sunk to Number 876 in 1988 before reversing course yet again. A more recent inspiration is the appealing American-born Cora Crawley, Countess of Grantham on Downton Abbey. 
 
In classical mythology, Cora—or Kore—was a euphemistic name of Persephone, goddess of fertility and the underworld. Kore was the name used when referencing her identity as the goddess of Spring, while Persephone referred to her role as queen of the Underworld. 
 
Cora gained popularity as a given name after James Fenimore Cooper used it as the name of his heroine, Cora Munro, in his 1826 novel The Last of the Mohicans. 
 
While a complete name unto itself, some parents who love Cora may want to use it as a short form for such names as Cordelia or Coraline. Cora's fashionable sisters include Clara, Nora, Corinne, Corinna and Coralie.

Cora

A concise choice with a hint of chic, Sabine is the French, Dutch, and German form of the Latin Sabina. While it has never charted in the US, Sabine saw a slight increase in use in recent data, with 107 babies given the name (compared to 70 called Sabina). 

The original Latin Sabina derived from that of the Sabine Tribe, a people who lived in ancient Italy and went to war with the Romans. According to legend, the Sabine women were kidnapped by the Romans but later affected peace between the warring sides. While the exact origins of the name are unknown, one theory is that it means "of one's own".

In French, and likely English too, the name would be pronounced with two syllables, as SA-BEEN, while in German and Dutch, it would be said with three: za-BEE-nuh, and sa-BEE-nuh respectively. 
 
Notable Sabines include tennis player Sabine Lisicki, racing diver Sabine Schmitz, and physicist and Youtuber Sabine Hossenfelder, while in fiction, it appears in the movie Mr Bean's Holiday and on a character in the Star Wars franchise, Sabine Wren. 
 
The Sabine River runs through Louisiana, making this a place name too.

Sabine

hayitsalana's list "Favs" of 3 great name ideas: Clara - Sabine!

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