"Absolutely not a pain in the butt to say cahSAHNdra. That's how it's pronounced. cahSANDra is only a borrowing from
Alexandra. I'm in the US, I've always heard it your way except from yokels :)"
DITTO. That is exactly right.
From your list, I don't care for
Cassandra Tansy or
Cassandra Janis, as the short A sound those two names contain makes me want to stick the same sound in the middle of
Cassandra, like ca-SAN-dra JAN-is/TAN-see. I think it encourages that nasally tendancy.
Cassandra Phyllis fits well from an origin and rhythm standpoint.
Cassandra Joan is too curt, IMO.
Cassandra Joanne?
Janine?
Jeanine?
Cassandra Miette - very pretty, good rhythm too
Cassandra Silence / Tapaz - I don't care for word names, especially with a classic (literally) such as
Cassandra.
Some combos I personally enjoy:
Cassandra MiriamCassandra Rosamund (the only ros- name I like, since it has nothing to do with roses)
Cassandra Vilmonde (an old French fem. form of the
William group, probably by way of emulating the V sound from the
German forms...accent 2nd syllable)
Cassandra SabineCassandra Hazel (which I see you list with
Cleo)
Cassandra IreneCassandra Thisbe would be nice.
From the Clea combos, I like:
Clea Thisbe
Clea Parmelia
Clea Alexandrine - the -a/A- meet-up is bumpy.
Clea
Faustina - I would love Clea
Faustine, but the repeated long E/final A combo bugs me...I find it sing-songy.
Clea
Hazel - not bad
Clea
Melisande - I love
Melisande passionately. This is a nice combo. I would be more inclined to go for
Cassandra Melisande, myself.
Other suggestions:
Clea
XantheClea
Sophronia
Cassandra & Clea: Good names. :)