Comments
Meaning
Usage
Pronunciation
Famous
Impression
Other
Oof, not the comments saying they like the "Sierra" pronunciation better. Your loss for not appreciating the Irish language! It's a bit frustrating living outside Ireland where people always pronounce it wrong, but I still love it.
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I think this looks like See-Air-uh.
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I honestly prefer the see-air-uh pronunciation to KEER-ah. It just sounds prettier to me. And no, it just isn’t the same as spelling it as Sierra, Ciara looks prettier IMO. Anyways, this is probably best as a middle name to prevent confusion on how to pronounce it since that’s what 99% of people here are complaining about.
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Not a fan of the pronunciation.
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I’m quite surprised nobody has commented in 2 years.
Anyways, my middle name is Ciara. I pronounce it as see-air-uh not the other way. Personally I don’t know what to say about this since people are debating on how to pronounce this name.
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Anyways, my middle name is Ciara. I pronounce it as see-air-uh not the other way. Personally I don’t know what to say about this since people are debating on how to pronounce this name.
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I wouldn't use this name, it has too many different pronunciations. Just look at the comments arguing over which pronunciation is right and people complaining about people mispronouncing their name.
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My name is Ciara and I pronounce it like Kyara. I know some people pronounce it as Siara, Shara, and Kira or similar things to that— but I guess this is just the case of a name with several possible pronunciations. But then, it's also common for people to pronounce it a different way from you. So, it gets kinda frustrating when I have to painstakingly correct people each time. I think it's a pretty name (maybe mainly because it's mine), but it's annoying to have to say every single time that my name is spelled or pronounced wrong.
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I pronounce my name see-air-ah. I think all of the pronunciations are pretty. It's silly to get so defensive of how you prefer to pronounce a name. I love this spelling. If your name is see-air-ah a nickname could be cici or cia. If its key-air-ah kiki or kia.
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My name is Ciara pronounced "see-air-ah" in the English language, that how you're supposed to pronounce it. I am American, so that's how it is pronounced here most of the time.
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There was also a Saint Ciarán of Clonmacnoise (c. 516 – c. 544) who was one of the Twelve Apostles of Ireland.
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Yeah, don't even go there with the name Awen (Irish to English pronunciation).
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My name is Cíara with a fada on the I which is not too common in Ireland - but more common among northern and Western Gaeltacht regions (Irish speaking areas in Ireland). Ciara is the more common spelling in Ireland. I am Irish, live in Ireland, born in Ireland. It is pronunced key-Ra. Simple! :) My alter ego, who sometimes appears on a night out after a few Uisce beatha is called Sierra as the name stuck with friends when foreigners called me that. Nicknames people call me include, key, Kiki, CiCi and Kiwi is strangely common! All said in good spirit and humour! Key-uh-ra - nope, never ever been called that unless someone is having a laugh! Some of my foreign friends just can't get their heads around my name at all to the point where my Irish friends force them to say my name and laugh! Usually it's a mumbled ki -air-ah or ki-rah. It was only when an Aussie friend came to visit he was like omg I've heard your name like ten times since being here- I get it now! We were even in a supermarket and some other people were calling out the name Ciara looking for their friend. Before that he didn't really think the name existed! :)
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People will pronounce this wrong if you are not from Ireland.
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Coming from Irish heritage, I've always pronounced it "kee-ar-a", but the first two syllables merged into a mixture of "keer" and "kee-ar".
I personally have no idea when the pronunciation "see-air-a" came from.
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I personally have no idea when the pronunciation "see-air-a" came from.
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Ciara Quinn Bravo (born 1997 in Alexandria, Kentucky) is an American child actress.
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The reason there are a few ways of pronouncing it is because there are different dialects of Irish - for example a lot of Irish names in the Munster dialect have an extra syllable eg Seán, Niamh etc.
That said, pronunciation See-air-ah is not Irish at all.
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That said, pronunciation See-air-ah is not Irish at all.
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My sister is called Ciara and I think it's a lovely name, but I know that my sister hates it when people pronounce it Sierra, when the Irish version anyway, is pronounced Key-a-ra.
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My name is Ciara (KEE-ra). I personally don't like the name, but that's just from years of having it butchered. I used to be called kee-AH-ra, kee-AIR-ah, KAR-ah, KY-ra, even CLAIRE-ah, but now I pretty much only get see-AIR-ah (which drives me crazy, everyone associates the name with the singer, who I can't stand). I live in Canada, but I know a lot of Irish people, and in my opinion, they're the only ones that can make the name sound nice.
As far as nicknames go, I shorten my name to Ra. It's pretty unusual (like I said, I know a lot of Irish people and I can practically feel them cringe when I refer to myself as Ra) but it suits me.
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As far as nicknames go, I shorten my name to Ra. It's pretty unusual (like I said, I know a lot of Irish people and I can practically feel them cringe when I refer to myself as Ra) but it suits me.
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The original pronunciation IS and ALWAYS WILL BE KEER-ah, Where are people getting KEE-ar-ah from? That's just a bastardized pronunciation. Besides, you don't pronounce Ciarda, Ciardha CEE-ar-dah, do you? No! It's KEER-dah. Anyways, both Ciarda and Ciara are lovely names, with the right pronunciation that is.
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I was given the name via a perfume from Revlon, and I've heard it pronounced differently SO many times- like sarah or sierra, kara, key-ah-ra, see-ah-ra, see-ay-ray, ugh. Sierra and see-ah-ra are the two most common ones people say to me- my parents call me see-ar-ra, but I personally like kee-ra, which is what I understand to be the correct way to say it. I find it not only more true to the name Ciara, but more pretty and simple than the three-syllable versions.
When I meet people, I usually note that they can say my name however they like- including Clara. It's something you've got to get used to!
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When I meet people, I usually note that they can say my name however they like- including Clara. It's something you've got to get used to!
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In TLK2 the spelling of this name was changed to Kiara, which is how I was introduced to it. When I discovered this original spelling, I instantly fell in love with it. Although I find it entertaining that they named a golden-colored lioness "Black."
As for the pronunciation of this name, people who are habitually offended should not be allowed to bear it. I've had my name mispronounced numerous times. It takes very little time and effort to politely correct the person addressing you.
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As for the pronunciation of this name, people who are habitually offended should not be allowed to bear it. I've had my name mispronounced numerous times. It takes very little time and effort to politely correct the person addressing you.
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This name sounds lovely. I just wish people would *CHILL THE HECK OUT* when it comes to pronouncing this name. Sometimes I accidentally pronounce it the same as the name Sierra because when I was younger I always thought it was said that way.
So, seriously you guys, calm down.
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So, seriously you guys, calm down.
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I love this name! It sounds so much better than the trashy Sierra.
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How many Irish people have to say in these comments that the native Irish pronunciation is Keer-a before people get it?
It's not Key-re, Key-are-a, Key-air-a, Sierra or anything else. In native Irish tounge it is Keer-a.
I might be wrong about this but I'm pretty sure that in Irish when two vowels come together, only the first is pronounced: I. E Ciara = Keer-a, Siobhán = Shi-von not Si-o-von, Orlaith = Or-la not Or-lat.
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It's not Key-re, Key-are-a, Key-air-a, Sierra or anything else. In native Irish tounge it is Keer-a.
I might be wrong about this but I'm pretty sure that in Irish when two vowels come together, only the first is pronounced: I. E Ciara = Keer-a, Siobhán = Shi-von not Si-o-von, Orlaith = Or-la not Or-lat.
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My parents named me Ciara after a perfume from the 1970's - we pronounce it "See-Ah-ra". Many times people pronounce it in ways I've never heard before! I absolutely love my name - it was always so different from every other person's name around me, and still is, to an extent. However, when completely capitalized, many people make the mistake of reading my name as Clara- and then expect an older woman. The great thing about my name, for my family, is that whenever they don't know what to get me for a gift, they buy me the perfume I was named after.
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Let's just say that I strongly prefer the original pronunciation of ''kee-A-ra'' and especially the pretty-sounding ''KEE-ra''. I dislike the pronunciation of ''see-A-ra'', as it reminds me of the name Sierra, which I dislike, and the bland r'n'b singer that had success with a couple of crappy tracks back in 2005. HOWEVER, if you're going to use this name in America and pretty much any country where the name doesn't originate from, be prepared to have hissy fits and clench your fists in frustration and grit your teeth in righteous anger as people don't know how to pronounce it. It's not just an American thing, trust me. It's European. It mst be universal. People are kind of used to the idea that when a 'c' is followed by an 'i' or an 'e', it is pronounced as an 's' sound. It becomes automatic to pronounce it so, and it takes practise to remember which names and words are exceptions. Celtic is one, and it takes some time before people get it right outside Britain. So, if people are unfamiliar with the name, they WILL pronunce it wrong. DEAL WITH IT. It's automatic. Might as well spell it Kiara or Kiera, which look prettier anyway.
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I never knew the correct Irish pronunciation until I was listening to an Irish song called "Ciara" and he pronounced it: "Kee-ar-ah". When my sister who'd never heard the song named her baby Keira, I asked her if it was spelled Ciara. She looked at me as if I was stupid.
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Also meaning dark-haired.
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Ciara pronounced "Sierra" or "See-ARE-uh" simply is NOT the same name by origin as the Irish Ciara pronounced "Keera" or "Kee-uh-ruh". It is a transfer from the trade name of a perfume made by Revlon that was popular in the USA, which was introduced in 1973. I haven't been able to find out how Revlon came up with the name of the perfume, but I think it's highly unlikely that they had the Irish name in mind, and that the relationship between the perfume and the Irish name is a pure orthographic accident. So there really should be separate listings on this site for the two different Ciaras, just as there are separate listings for names such as Colin, Bao, Aina, Aliyah, etc., that have more than one true linguistic origin. [noted -ed]
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Revlon, by the way, wanted the name of the perfume to be pronounced "see-ARE-uh", but many customers said "Sierra", which is how that pronunciation became the common one in the African-American community. Other perfume or cosmetic names that have led to baby names include Chanel, Aviance, Toccara, and Coty.
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Si-ah-rah/Sierra is the proper pronunciation in English, because a c in front of a soft wovel is pronounced like an s. Like anonymous said, however, is this not the case with the Irish language. So to all you people "not understanding" how anyone can mispronounce this name, it really isn't that obvious to a non-Irish-speaker.
Then again, all languages put their own spin to all names without any version being wrong. It's not wrong, it's not right - it's just different.
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Then again, all languages put their own spin to all names without any version being wrong. It's not wrong, it's not right - it's just different.
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Seeing as I'm Irish and actually called Ciara, I had to comment on the proper Irish version of this name. :-)
First, it's not 'Key-Rah' or 'Keer-Ah', it's 'Kir-Ah' ('Kir' to rhyme with 'Fear' and 'Ah' to rhyme with 'Da', with no stop between the 'Kir' and the 'Ah' ). So that it's pronounced 'Kirah'. The 'Kir' bit is slightly elongated as well. I hope that makes sense because when I read the comments, I actually didn't find any that made that point. I think when you see 'Keer' written it looks like it should be 'Kee-Rah' ('Kee' to rhyme with 'Key' and 'Rah' to rhyme with 'Da') which is wrong.
Also in response to Anonymous, I've never in my entire life heard of a Ciara nicknamed Kiki. Not even once and I know other Ciaras and as I said, am Irish myself. In fact the only time I've ever heard of the name Kiki was as an American nickname or as the name of a cat. No offense meant! There is no set nickname for Ciara as such in Ireland. It's whatever your friends call you: Ciar, Ciars. Anything really. :-)
In reference to the whole Ciara / Sierra thing. I think it's a case of a name being made up and spelt as it sounds, as happens sometimes in America. Such as: Mykil instead of Michael etc.
The thing with the proper Irish name Ciara is that words aren't spelt how they are pronounced in the Irish language and there is actually no K in the alphabet, hence the hard C. So that's why it's hard for people who aren't Irish to know how to say it!
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First, it's not 'Key-Rah' or 'Keer-Ah', it's 'Kir-Ah' ('Kir' to rhyme with 'Fear' and 'Ah' to rhyme with 'Da', with no stop between the 'Kir' and the 'Ah' ). So that it's pronounced 'Kirah'. The 'Kir' bit is slightly elongated as well. I hope that makes sense because when I read the comments, I actually didn't find any that made that point. I think when you see 'Keer' written it looks like it should be 'Kee-Rah' ('Kee' to rhyme with 'Key' and 'Rah' to rhyme with 'Da') which is wrong.
Also in response to Anonymous, I've never in my entire life heard of a Ciara nicknamed Kiki. Not even once and I know other Ciaras and as I said, am Irish myself. In fact the only time I've ever heard of the name Kiki was as an American nickname or as the name of a cat. No offense meant! There is no set nickname for Ciara as such in Ireland. It's whatever your friends call you: Ciar, Ciars. Anything really. :-)
In reference to the whole Ciara / Sierra thing. I think it's a case of a name being made up and spelt as it sounds, as happens sometimes in America. Such as: Mykil instead of Michael etc.
The thing with the proper Irish name Ciara is that words aren't spelt how they are pronounced in the Irish language and there is actually no K in the alphabet, hence the hard C. So that's why it's hard for people who aren't Irish to know how to say it!
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I absolutely hate it when people mispronounce this beautiful name. My sister is called Ciara and sometimes people will think I'm her (there's only two years between us and we look almost the same except Ciara's slighter smaller) and call me Ciara (mispronouncing it) and I just want to smack them. How hard can it be to pronounce a name?!
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Ciara is one of the most popular names for girls here in Ireland at the moment. I know many women and girls called Ciara, including my own six year old niece, and I have only ever heard it pronounced as Keer-ah. The masculine form of the name, Ciaran, is pronounced Keer-ran. Unfortunately Keira is becoming an alternative spelling of the name in Ireland, mainly due to certain celebrities having that name and also due a lack of knowledge about the spelling of Irish names.
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"KEER-a"? The native Irish pronunciation is "KEE-a-ra"; it should be spelled "Kira" if it's pronounced "KEER-a".
Ciara and Kira have different origins: Kira is a Russian feminine form of the Greek/Persian Cyrus, which is means "sun" or "far-sighted" while Ciara is derived from "ciar", which means "dusky" or "dark" in Gaelic; their sounds are similar but their meanings are opposites. And then there's Italian Chiara, which is an Italian form of Clara; Clara means "clear".
Counfounded English pronunciation.! As a Gaelic learner, I can't stand hearing this lovely name being mangled into "Sierra", a totally unrelated name.
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Ciara and Kira have different origins: Kira is a Russian feminine form of the Greek/Persian Cyrus, which is means "sun" or "far-sighted" while Ciara is derived from "ciar", which means "dusky" or "dark" in Gaelic; their sounds are similar but their meanings are opposites. And then there's Italian Chiara, which is an Italian form of Clara; Clara means "clear".
Counfounded English pronunciation.! As a Gaelic learner, I can't stand hearing this lovely name being mangled into "Sierra", a totally unrelated name.
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Maybe all this confusion could just be avoided by spelling it Kira or Keira or Kiera. :]
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Kira or Kiara just doesn't sound the same.
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It's just how they pronounce it. Most people don't know the meaning of their name. Maybe they wanted Sierra but wanted her to be unique! Ever thought of that?
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It SHOULD be pronounced as KEER-ah as it comes from the name Ciaran, which is pronounced KEER-en. However, this name is commonly mispronounced & misspelled. If you want SEE-air-ah, please use Sierra and if you want KEY-air-ah, please use Chiara.
These misconceptions are probably why people avoid this spelling, Kiera / Keira are easier alternatives as Kyra can sometimes be as well, although the latter may also be pronounced KY-rah.
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These misconceptions are probably why people avoid this spelling, Kiera / Keira are easier alternatives as Kyra can sometimes be as well, although the latter may also be pronounced KY-rah.
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American pronunciation (even though I'm not American but I know this anyway) is Si-E-Ra.
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I agree the correct pronunciation is KEER-uh, nothing else. In Ireland I have never once heard the name Kiki used as a nickname in all my 18 years of life and knowing about 20 people with this name. Not being rude or putting anyone's opinion down, keep the Irish spelling the way it's meant to be.
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I love this name and like the pronunciation Keer-ra. I think it's simply ignorant to pronounce it like Sierra. Obviously if someone wants it pronounced like Sierra, they should spell it Sierra.
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This name is really popular in Ireland, where it is pronounced KI-AH-RAH. Kiki is the normal nickname.
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This is an Irish name. The "ciar" prefix is pronounced "keer." Therefore, this name is pronounced KEER-uh. It is not pronounced key-AIR-uh, nor is it pronounced see-AIR-uh. It is KEER-uh, and there is no way around it.
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In conclusion: Damned if you do, damned if you don't. No matter how you pronounce the name you're bound to irritate someone or another. Why bother using it?
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It is pronounced key-ar-ah It irritates me to no end when I hear people pronounce it si-air-ah (it would be spelled Sierra if you were to say it this way). Sierra is a Spanish name; Ciara is Irish! That's why it is pronounced key-ar-ah; it is the feminine form of Ciaran which is prnounced either key-ar-on or keer-on. It is definitely not an Italian name and it certainly wouldn't be spelled Chiara. It is too beautiful a name to be butchered like this.
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I think it can be pronounced in many ways. Ki-ar-a (if you're looking for an Italian thing going on), see-ara-a (if you want to spell it like a Portuguese, Brazilian or Spanish would do). It depends on who's using it. I, personally, love that name pronounced see-ara-a because I would only spell it ki-ar-a if it was written Chiara.
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It's funny that it's pronounced kee-air-a when I pronounce it like sierra. It's actually really irritating when people try to pronounce it kee-air-a.
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This is my name. I love it, it was also my great grandma's name. I pronounce it ki-ar-a.
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The singer Ciara is a famous bearer.
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The singer Ciara's name came from a perfume that her mother often wore. The name may be Irish in origin, but to many people it looks like "Cee-air-a". No one I know would pronounce it "Keer-a" right off the bat.
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My name is Ciara and I hate it when people pronounce it wrong. It's key-ra (the way I say it) or key-a-ra but it's certainly not see-air-ra. That pronunciation really annoys me.
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My cousin is called Ciara, said Key-a-ra but I've also heard it pronounced key-ar-rar. I think Key-a-ra is the nicest.
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Why does the American crunk music singer Ciara spell her name that way when she pronounces it Sierra? I don't think her parents knew much about the beautiful Irish name.
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I agree. I first thought that it was pronounced "see-AIR-a" by looking at it, but I think the indicated pronunciation is prettier.
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