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Help[Opinions] Clarice?
One of the prominent baby-naming websites suggests Clarice as a name is dead due to Silence of the Lambs. Curious to know if others think that would be a dominant association for a baby girl born in 2016. There is no other very famous Clarice in recent memory (though I remember Clarice from the Rudolph Christmas special!), and I'm not very focused on pop culture, but I wouldn't think that the name is "ruined" by the (admittedly creepy) Hannibal Lecter association.
Would love to hear other thoughts!
Would love to hear other thoughts!
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I am the one person who hasn't seen Silence of the Lambs, so, no bad vibes for me, it's a good name.
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I disagree with that site. It's a nice name and I'd say a lot of people who are having babies right now have probably never seen that movie. I'm older than that movie and I haven't even seen it, mainly because I hate scary movies.
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I didn't think Clarice was ruined by Silence of the Lambs at all. However... I tried to think of other uses of the name Clarice in pop culture, and this is all I came up with:
1. Silence of the Lambs (already mentioned)
2. It Takes Two (not hugely famous, but I was a huge Mary-Kate & Ashley fan as a little girl - anyway, Clarice was the villain who nearly became Ashley's stepmother)
3. Precious (her real given name is Claireece Precious Jones)
4. Fahrenheit 451 (Clarisse is the independent thinker who gets killed)
So... yeah, Anglophone pop culture tends to associate the name Clarice (any spelling) with either negative characters, or negative / tragic environments.
1. Silence of the Lambs (already mentioned)
2. It Takes Two (not hugely famous, but I was a huge Mary-Kate & Ashley fan as a little girl - anyway, Clarice was the villain who nearly became Ashley's stepmother)
3. Precious (her real given name is Claireece Precious Jones)
4. Fahrenheit 451 (Clarisse is the independent thinker who gets killed)
So... yeah, Anglophone pop culture tends to associate the name Clarice (any spelling) with either negative characters, or negative / tragic environments.
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Hi !!!!
In my mind Clarice is only Clarice Starling I'm sorry!!!! Ahahahahahahah
But I think that it is a very elegant and upper-class name but not snobbish. I can see it on a young, shy, very sweet girl who loves art, ballet, nature and haute couture.
I like the Italian variant: Clarissa.
It is also the common name for a nun (of franciscan order of Saint Clare).
Byeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee
In my mind Clarice is only Clarice Starling I'm sorry!!!! Ahahahahahahah
But I think that it is a very elegant and upper-class name but not snobbish. I can see it on a young, shy, very sweet girl who loves art, ballet, nature and haute couture.
I like the Italian variant: Clarissa.
It is also the common name for a nun (of franciscan order of Saint Clare).
Byeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee
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One of the prominent baby-naming websites suggests Clarice as a name is dead due to Silence of the Lambs.
Nameberry: "The fictional detective Clarice Starling may not have been murdered by Hannibal Lecter, but her name unfortunately was."
I think that commentary just reflects the age of the people who write that website. And their denial that it negatively affects their ability to stay on the pulse of baby naming! In my unhip opinion. It's like they are trying to make the name die because they don't like it, using their supposed influence.
Clarice was out of style in the 1960s (when they were young) so to them, Clarice is an old-lady name. They probably feel about it the same way that I feel about Doris, and the way that many 25-year-olds probably feel about Carolyn (associating it with old women).
Silence of the Lambs came out in 1991. Most of the people who'll be naming babies in the next 20 years, were born after 1991. It's an old movie to them. Jodie Foster is in her fifties. The number of people who've seen that movie declines with their age. People who haven't seen the film can't associate Clarice with horrific images. Anyway, the character was sympathetic and attractive.
Clarice went out of style because of its sounds. Not because of the film. It went out with Bernice and Clara. Whether it comes back depends on how parents will feel about how it sounds and looks, far more than anything - which isn't very predictable to someone like the writers of that website (or to myself).
I think it's equally possible that the use of the name Clarice in that film would boost Clarice in the future, because otherwise the name would have had little public exposure in between old ladies and the present/future.
Nameberry: "The fictional detective Clarice Starling may not have been murdered by Hannibal Lecter, but her name unfortunately was."
I think that commentary just reflects the age of the people who write that website. And their denial that it negatively affects their ability to stay on the pulse of baby naming! In my unhip opinion. It's like they are trying to make the name die because they don't like it, using their supposed influence.
Clarice was out of style in the 1960s (when they were young) so to them, Clarice is an old-lady name. They probably feel about it the same way that I feel about Doris, and the way that many 25-year-olds probably feel about Carolyn (associating it with old women).
Silence of the Lambs came out in 1991. Most of the people who'll be naming babies in the next 20 years, were born after 1991. It's an old movie to them. Jodie Foster is in her fifties. The number of people who've seen that movie declines with their age. People who haven't seen the film can't associate Clarice with horrific images. Anyway, the character was sympathetic and attractive.
Clarice went out of style because of its sounds. Not because of the film. It went out with Bernice and Clara. Whether it comes back depends on how parents will feel about how it sounds and looks, far more than anything - which isn't very predictable to someone like the writers of that website (or to myself).
I think it's equally possible that the use of the name Clarice in that film would boost Clarice in the future, because otherwise the name would have had little public exposure in between old ladies and the present/future.
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