So Clara has been on my list since I pretty much started it haha. The personal story is: While spending a day with my grandfather we watched the 1927 silent movie “Wings” together on DVD starring 1920’s “It-Girl” Clara Bow. At the time I was loving Clementine (still do) and was fighting over it with one of my sisters. After watching the movie I had a new found love for the name Clara and gave up Clementine to my sister. I think it’s a great name, adorable, and pretty much started my vintage theme also it honors my great-GREAT Aunt Claire (my grandfather’s aunt; she’s in her 90’s!)
My question for you berries is which pronunciation do you prefer/think is better? Clah-ra or -Claire-a?
I love [name]Clara[/name] (fun fact: [name]Clara[/name] [name]Bow[/name]'s birthday was a day or two ago.) I think it’s classy and underused, compared to [name]Claire[/name]. I’ve been struggling with pronunciation too. I think only in the US is it pronounced [name]Clair[/name]-a. But I prefer Clah-ra.
I think [name]CLARE[/name] uh is the more intuitive pronunciation for the majority of people in the US, but if you’re willing to push for it a bit, CLAH rah can work too.
In Australia and the UK, it’s CLAH-ruh. I don’t like [name]CLAIR[/name]-uh at all, it sounds nasally and harsh, but that might be because I’m not used to it.
As pp, I think it’s generally [name]Clair[/name]-uh in the US and Clah-ruh in [name]England[/name] & pretty much everywhere else. To me the pn differences make it two completely different names. Being an Aussie, I know and love it as Clah-ruh. I also like the idea of the nn of [name]Ari[/name].
I think if you wanted the ‘English’ pn in the US it would be a frustrating uphill battle, conversely if you like [name]Clair[/name]-uh just be prepared to have pn issues when not in the US.
The same pn issues apply to [name]Tara[/name], [name]Cara[/name], [name]Karen[/name] and probably lots more I can’t think of right now
Thanks for the input everyone! I agree that in the US it’s more likely to be pronounced [name]Claire[/name]-a. I do prefer Clah-ra though. When I get to use this name in the future I think I’ll take the chance and pronounce it the European/non-American way
Me, too! I think clah-rah would be butchered in [name]America[/name], but I think it sounds so much prettier than [name]CLARE[/name]-ah. I do like [name]CLARE[/name]-ah a lot, though. If I ever use it, I would probably just opt for whatever pronunciation is more accepted in your country, just to make it easier. My heart lies with Clah-rah, though.
also it honors my great-GREAT Aunt Claire (my grandfather’s aunt; she’s in her 90’s!)
