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HelpWDYTO Clara?
What do you think of the name Clara? It has been on my mind a lot recently. How do you prefer to pronounce it?
I always liked Clara when I was little because of Clara from The Nutcracker play. I pronounce it like Lara but with a C / K in front. I also like Claire and the pronuncation for Clara that's like Claire but with an A on the end. The Lara pronunciation feels more correct to me.
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I always liked Clara when I was little because of Clara from The Nutcracker play. I pronounce it like Lara but with a C / K in front. I also like Claire and the pronuncation for Clara that's like Claire but with an A on the end. The Lara pronunciation feels more correct to me.
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Favorite Names:
Leona, Fiona, Artemis, Hazel, Luna, Serafina, Adelina, Callisto, Stella, Aurora, Ursa, Augustine, Citrina, Vivian, Dorothea, Eleanor, Iris, Maple.
Kieran, Connor, Rowan, Cedar, Arthur, Magnus, Finn, Theron, Xavier, Teagan, Quinn, Cedric, Adrian, Julian, Tristan, Gavin, Gryphon.
This message was edited 9/18/2016, 4:09 AM
Archived Thread - replies disabled
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Replies
I'm with you on the British pronunciation. The Nutcracker was a big part of my childhood, although I'm fairly certain the American pronunciation was used.
I dislike claire-a, a lot. It reminds me of a cow. Clar-a is prettier. I used to love Claire / Clare, but now I'm starting to see how it can be seen as week.
Also: I wouldn't use Clara in the US, at least around here. Everyone will be familiar with the claire-a pronunciation and think that clar-a was weird.
I dislike claire-a, a lot. It reminds me of a cow. Clar-a is prettier. I used to love Claire / Clare, but now I'm starting to see how it can be seen as week.
Also: I wouldn't use Clara in the US, at least around here. Everyone will be familiar with the claire-a pronunciation and think that clar-a was weird.
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I love Clara. It's also a family name so using it was a no brainer to me. I prefer the German pronunciation as you do, but i don't mind the American pronunciation and using the American pronunciation would prevent correcting everyone, so i went with the American pronunciation. The family member went by both pronunciations, depending on the speaker. She was German-American.
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Clara is my girlfriend's name, so naturally I like it!
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Clara is nice. I don't love it nor do I hate it. I pronounce it CLARE-uh.
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I don't like it very much. It's okay, but like Martha, a little starchy and homely. I picture a milkmaid? haha no, it's not that bad! but it does not feel urbane or stylish to me. Intelligent, but more mature and sedate. I much prefer Claire, which gives me a much brighter, more energetic, spiffy impression.
I pronounce it like the first part of "clerical" +a. Not quite as long an "AY" as Claire, but definitely not like the A in cat, and not like the A in car either.
I think that the "A as in cat" pronunciation would be a dialect of American English that I don't speak - it sounds Midwestern to me, or possibly New England. There are basically no words, that I can think of, that have A followed by R and I pronounce them with a short A like in "cat." The way I speak, AR can only be either "ah" (car, Lara) or "ay" (care, Clara).
I kind of agree with RoxStar that it seems artificial - it's not pretentious exactly, but affected - to pronounce it in the US like Lara (car), unless you have a European accent. Because I've never heard anyone say it that way here. I've only seen Americans say on name boards that they would prefer it that way.
I pronounce it like the first part of "clerical" +a. Not quite as long an "AY" as Claire, but definitely not like the A in cat, and not like the A in car either.
I think that the "A as in cat" pronunciation would be a dialect of American English that I don't speak - it sounds Midwestern to me, or possibly New England. There are basically no words, that I can think of, that have A followed by R and I pronounce them with a short A like in "cat." The way I speak, AR can only be either "ah" (car, Lara) or "ay" (care, Clara).
I kind of agree with RoxStar that it seems artificial - it's not pretentious exactly, but affected - to pronounce it in the US like Lara (car), unless you have a European accent. Because I've never heard anyone say it that way here. I've only seen Americans say on name boards that they would prefer it that way.
This message was edited 9/18/2016, 12:22 PM
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I love Clara.
I like it pronounced Claire-a.
I like it pronounced Claire-a.
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In the US, the Lara with a C pronunciation is unusual and sounds a bit pretentious, unless you've got a European accent of some kind.
I don't like Clara, because it feels like a maid's name, but it is more spirited than Claire. Claire is weak and watery and pale, but Clara has a bit of a spring in her step.
I don't like Clara, because it feels like a maid's name, but it is more spirited than Claire. Claire is weak and watery and pale, but Clara has a bit of a spring in her step.
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I can definitely see why some people would find that pronunciation of Clara pretentious. I think it is slightly less common of a pronunciation in the US. With the Claire pronunciation being more common. Every time I've seen a version of The Nutcracker with narration they pronounce her name CLAHR-ə / CLAR-ə. I maybe have once heard them pronounce it differently. So as a kid my first introduction to the name was the CLAHR-ə pronunciation.
Truthfully I love both pronunciations. I was hoping that Clara CLAHR-ə wouldn't seem too pretentious since Lara usually seems to be most often pronounced LAHR-ə. Well most Lara's I have met pronounce it that way. Also I see Sara pronounced SAHR-ə / SAR-ə about equally often as SER-ə.
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Truthfully I love both pronunciations. I was hoping that Clara CLAHR-ə wouldn't seem too pretentious since Lara usually seems to be most often pronounced LAHR-ə. Well most Lara's I have met pronounce it that way. Also I see Sara pronounced SAHR-ə / SAR-ə about equally often as SER-ə.
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This message was edited 9/18/2016, 10:33 AM
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In the US, the Lara with a C pronunciation is unusual and sounds a bit pretentious, unless you've got a European accent of some kind.
This is making me think that I misunderstood how the OP is pronouncing Lara. I pronounce Lara so that the A in the first syllable is the same as the A in "cat." So I pronounce Clara like Lara that way with a C in the front, and that's the only way I've ever heard any American pronounce it. If Lara instead is pronounced so that the first syllable rhymes with "car", and thus Clara is also pronounced with the first syllable rhyming with "car", then I agree with you.
This is making me think that I misunderstood how the OP is pronouncing Lara. I pronounce Lara so that the A in the first syllable is the same as the A in "cat." So I pronounce Clara like Lara that way with a C in the front, and that's the only way I've ever heard any American pronounce it. If Lara instead is pronounced so that the first syllable rhymes with "car", and thus Clara is also pronounced with the first syllable rhyming with "car", then I agree with you.
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queenv I did mean rhymes with car. Sorry for the confusion.
I was thinking that Lara only had three pronunciations but it has at least four: 1. LAHR-ə / LAR-ə first part rhymes with car in the US, 2. LAWR-ə identical to Laura, 3. LAH-rah seems to be common in Europe and is similar to 1. but has different emphasis, 4. LER-ə first part rhymes with Claire and sounds the same as an animal lair.
Most Lara's I've met pronounce their name like 1. but I have also meet a fair amount of people who pronounce it like 2. just as an alternative spelling for Laura. I assumed people would know that I didn't mean the Laura pronunciation and that 3. is uncommon in the US. I completely forgot until queenv mentioned it but I did meet a person once who used pronunciation 4. She implied that most people aren't expecting that pronunciation. She told me she has to explain her name a lot to people. I mean it is not that confusing and shouldn't be unexpected since it is like one of the Clara pronunciations only without the C. Also A's often make that sound in the English language. I was tired last night so I forgot that Lara could be pronounced like LER-ə.
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I was thinking that Lara only had three pronunciations but it has at least four: 1. LAHR-ə / LAR-ə first part rhymes with car in the US, 2. LAWR-ə identical to Laura, 3. LAH-rah seems to be common in Europe and is similar to 1. but has different emphasis, 4. LER-ə first part rhymes with Claire and sounds the same as an animal lair.
Most Lara's I've met pronounce their name like 1. but I have also meet a fair amount of people who pronounce it like 2. just as an alternative spelling for Laura. I assumed people would know that I didn't mean the Laura pronunciation and that 3. is uncommon in the US. I completely forgot until queenv mentioned it but I did meet a person once who used pronunciation 4. She implied that most people aren't expecting that pronunciation. She told me she has to explain her name a lot to people. I mean it is not that confusing and shouldn't be unexpected since it is like one of the Clara pronunciations only without the C. Also A's often make that sound in the English language. I was tired last night so I forgot that Lara could be pronounced like LER-ə.
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This message was edited 9/18/2016, 10:35 AM
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Absolutely love it!
Clara is one of my all time favourite names! But I only love the CLAH-ruh pronunciation. It just sounds so much better and more beautiful to me. A lot of the reason I love it is the Doctor Who character. It's one of my favourite shows and she was awesome (played by Jenna Coleman she had to be!); feisty, adventurous, sassy, energetic, really good dress sense. Anyway, it has a lot going for it, even a good meaning. I wouldn't use it as a first, as it's quite popular where I live, and has a vintage vibe that's very on trend so will probably keep going up. It makes a great middle too.
Clara is one of my all time favourite names! But I only love the CLAH-ruh pronunciation. It just sounds so much better and more beautiful to me. A lot of the reason I love it is the Doctor Who character. It's one of my favourite shows and she was awesome (played by Jenna Coleman she had to be!); feisty, adventurous, sassy, energetic, really good dress sense. Anyway, it has a lot going for it, even a good meaning. I wouldn't use it as a first, as it's quite popular where I live, and has a vintage vibe that's very on trend so will probably keep going up. It makes a great middle too.
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I want to like it more than I do, because of its nineteenth-century flavor. But something keeps me from really liking it, and I think that something is that it makes me think of a cow. I also pronounce it like Lara with a C in front. I don't pronounce it so that the first syllable sounds like Claire.
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