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I pronounce them Clah-rah and Lah-rah
I really hope no one would pronounce Lara as Laire-ah, that sounds horrid to me and Claire-ah sounds just plain odd

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I prefer Clara, sound a nice old fashioned name that can still be used!

Well, I'm not an English native-speaker, but I spent some time in UK, and I have British accent now and I love British English, so I pronounce both names clah-rah and lah-rah. claire-ah and laire-ah aren't as charming and beautiful as Clah-rah and Lah-rah. I love the name Clara, and all related and similar sounding names. Lara is also pretty, but I'm not a big lover of it.

I live in the U.S. and I pronounce Clara as claire-ah but I have heard quite a lot of people pronounce it clah-rah so in the US, I'd feel comfortable saying either way is acceptable. I have heard Lara pronounced both ways as well. Personally, I say lah-rah unless someone with that name specifically tells me to pronounce it lair-ah. I think it really just comes down to your personal preference.

Clara: Clair-ah
Lara: Lar-ah

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I prefer Lara.

No no no, not Claire-ah! I'm British, and I say Clara. I didn't realise that Claire-ah was even an accepted pronounciation until I came onto these boards.

I pronounce them Clar-uh and Lar-uh (they rhyme), but several other pronunciations don't sound wrong to me. Many names are pronounced differently depending on a person's accent; for example, my name (Charlotte) - my family has always said Shar-lut, but my high school French teacher said "shar-LOT." It was never a big deal; I always knew who she meant.

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I've heard Claire-uh and Clar-uh about equally since I was a child. I think Lar-uh / Lar-ah is the most common pronunciation I've heard for that one. Living in Canada here, but like most Canadians I watch a ton of US tv/movies and less but still quite a lot of UK tv/movies.

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Clara is one of my favorite names, and I do prefer it to Lara, though Lara's nice too. :)

Clara pronounce the way you are pronouncing it sounds pretentious to my American ear. We mostly use the Claire-ah pronunciation and I think it sounds prettier anyway. I much prefer Clara to Lara.

I'm in the US, but I pronounce them the same way you do. (This is in large part because I watch a show with a character named Clara who pronounces it clah-rah, so I've grown accustomed to it. And I've always pronounced Lara as lah-rah because of Lara Croft.)

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Clara is my favorite of the two by far; it's one of my favorite names.

I pronounce them your way, but I'm not American either.

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I once met a British family with a little girl, Clara, pronounced Clare-ah; they explained that they couldn't choose between Sarah and Clare, so they combined them. I was horrified, but they were pretty proud of themselves.

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I just hear the Dr Zhivago tune when I see Lara, and it doesn't make me warm up to it at all. I quite liked the book, but not the movie. However, Laura is one of my very favourite names, and Lara seems silly next to it. I like Clara, and a lot of northern European names actually, but I'd be more likely to use Clare.

CLAR-uh and LAR-a, I'm from the UK.

I usually pronounce Clara as Claire-uh, but I do know a few who say klahr-uh.

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Lara is always pronounced lah-rah to me. Even if I say Claire-uh for Clara, I would still say lah-rah for Lara.

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If it helps, there are TONS of words and names in English that are spelled similarly but not pronounced the same.

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Of the two.. I have a soft spot for Clarisse variations, and Clara is probably my next favorite. However, I have a lovely Aunt Lara... so I think they are both on par as great names.

I would pronounce them both the same way you do, this is how the Clara's I've met have pronounced their name (Also not in the US) however I've only ever met Lara's who pronounce their name LAIR-ah.

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I absolutely adore Clara and have never been particularly fond of Lara.

I live in the U.S. and I pronounce them like you do. A big short-a, as in "mat".

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I think in a lot of parts of the U.S. people would say CLAIR-a. It's kind of a geographical thing. I don't know about Lara, that's a good question!

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I prefer the simplicity of Lara. I think, like Mara, it's an overlooked gem.

I pronounce them the same as you. I think they are both beautiful names, though I slightly prefer Lara.

I pronounce them the same way as you do. The KLAIR-ə pronunciation confuses me, but I guess it just comes more naturally to people with American accents than KLAH-rə does.

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I'm constantly going back and forth on Clara, but I like it at the minute, and prefer it to Lara.

I say Clara as Clair-ah. Lara, though, as Lah-rah. I have to make a bit of an effort to say Lara that way, though.

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I like Lara best. don't really like Clara, I prefer Claire.

I pronounce them the same as you and also prefer Clara.

Claire-a and LAR-a

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I like Clara better than Lara, but am not a big fan of either of them. I don't generally like -a names, they seem too frilly for me. I do love Claire, though.

This message was edited 7/10/2015, 4:57 AM

I pronounce Clara claire-ah and Lara lah-ra. I prefer Clara.