Cara / Kara pronunciation

Girl Names
1

Hey y’all! I’ve always liked the name [name_f]Cara[/name_f] / [name_f]Kara[/name_f], but it always comes with the caveat that there is some ambiguity on the pronunciation (care uh vs. car uh).

I’m wondering where you are located and if you can discuss which pronunciation you hear more often / are more familiar with? Is one predominant where you are, or is it more ambiguous?

Personally, all of the C/Karas I have known in my area (American South) have been care-uh, and I have only heard the car-uh pronunciation a couple times, from TV and social media.

2

In the UK, and I’ve only heard it as Car-uh here - the same with most of the -ara names - [name_f]Clara[/name_f], [name_f]Lara[/name_f], [name_f]Zara[/name_f] etc.

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3

In the US [name_m]South[/name_m] and also have only heard Care-uh! However, I wouldn’t be surprised to hear the other.

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4

I’m from southern US, and I say it Car-ah. my first language is not [name_f]English[/name_f] however, so :shrug:

I pronounce [name_f]Clara[/name_f] Clah-ra and [name_f]Lara[/name_f] lah-ra

5

Canadian here, my sister is “care-uh”

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6

I’m from the Midwestern US and I’d say Care-uh, but I’ve met Car-uhs from the same area.

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7

Care-uh for [name_f]Cara[/name_f] and Car-uh for [name_f]Kara[/name_f]

8

I’ve only ever heard care-uh in the southern US.

9

I live in new york, and here it’s said caa-ruh, like the word cat! Which is different than care-uh.
I prefer car-uh, though!!

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10

[name_m]East[/name_m] coast USA and I’ve only ever heard Care-uh, but my preference is to Car-uh.

12

I’m an Aussie and I have a relative with this name we say Car-ah. I had no idea there was any other way to say this!

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13

I’m in [name_f]Ireland[/name_f] and [name_f]Cara[/name_f] is just Cah-ra here, same with [name_f]Clara[/name_f], [name_f]Lara[/name_f], [name_f]Zara[/name_f] etc. I’ve only seen the Care-a pronunciation mentioned online, would never have thought about it otherwise!

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14

I agree with the PPs: in [name_f]Ireland[/name_f] and the UK it’s always pronounced car-uh. To get the care-uh pronunciation here you would have to spell it a different way, like [name_f]Kera[/name_f].

15

Uk born and bread, currently living in NZ. I’ve only heard it as Car-uh in both those countries

16

I’m in the UK and it is car-uh here, never heard it as care-uh except on American TV.

17

Same, I’d say the majority here are “care” but i know a few “car”s

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18

A general rule of thumb I’ve seen with names like this one (and others that can be pronounced with both the “air” and “ah” sound like [name_f]Clara[/name_f] or Tara) is: If the accent in your region pronounces the “a” in “trap” and “bath” differently, you’re more likely to get the “ah” version of those names; if those two words have the same “a” sound where you live, then you’d probably get the “air” pronunciation by default.

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19

cue me, now wondering how trap and bath can be pronounced differently:

20

You can read more about this accent feature at the link below:
Trap–bath split - Wikipedia

21

I am from [name_m]New[/name_m] [name_f]England[/name_f] and tend to see [name_f]Cara[/name_f] pronounced as car-uh and [name_f]Kara[/name_f] pronounced as care-uh