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To be honest, I don't think dumbing down is ever a good idea because people can be easily educated. Most Carolinas I've ever known or heard of spell the name traditionally (I've never known any Karolinas which is also a traditional spelling). As someone who lives in Virginia, even we know that the name Carolina is pronounced ca-ro-LEE-na. I actually prefer it to Caroline which is my youngest dd Anna's mn but chose Caroline to avoid the ca-ro-LIE-na pronunciation. Sometimes, I question that decison. (As it is, I call her Anna Carolina or Anna Cara pretty often.)

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If you live in another part of the country, especially Texas, Arizona, California or New York, then I think you'd stand a good chance of her name being pronounced correctly.

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If you love the name enough, it'll be worth it to you. My name is Elena and 98% of the time, it gets pronounced the way I prefer.

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Edited to add that because my name is Elena, my first instinct is to say ca-ro-LAY-na with Carolena.

This message was edited 10/29/2006, 9:54 PM

Well, since I live in the Carolinas, I would pronounce it the way you don't like it. So, to avoid confusion, I would spell it Carolena.

Caroleena?

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Its a bit cre8tive though.

Well, I would pronounce Carolena care-uh-lay-nuh. So I would stick with Carolina, this I would pronounce care-uh-lee-nuh.

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♥ Kristen ♥

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Shake Your Body Like A Bellydancer.
Here is where you are
There is where you want to be
But you can't get there from here ♥

I prefer the spelling Carolina to Carolena, but Carolena isn't horrible. Carolina and Karolina just look better to me. The extent to which pronunciation will be an issue if you use the spelling Carolina depends on where you live in the U.S. I live in California, which has a large Hispanic population, and I have met a Carolina of Hispanic descent who pronounced her name kair-a-LEE-na. It's less of an issue here than in a place such as Virginia. I think that no matter where you live, people will eventually catch on though.

I like Steph's suggestion of Karolina. I wish I would have thought of that.

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I prefer Carolina to Carolena. Carolena makes me think lay-nuh not lee-nuh. With the spelling Carolina my first instinct is lie-nuh but I wouldn't be surprised if I was corrected and told lee-nuh.

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“It is better to keep your mouth closed and let people think you are a fool than to open it and remove all doubt.”
~Mark Twain

Carolena would solve the problem; however, as a Caroline I know my name is most often prn ka-ro-lynn and after I correct someone once they prn it correctly (ka-ro-line). I would presume that you would be about even with people prn it correctly and incorrectly. Also Carolena could be prn ka-ro-lay-nuh (like the last syllable of Elena)so you may encounter problems in each situation. Do whatever you think is best, as I think it is a lovely name either way.

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Karolina? That's only pronounced the way you prefer.