[name_m]Hi[/name_m] Everyone! First post on this board. I’m sorry if it’s bad form.
Anyway, husband and I have struggled to agree on names for baby girl due in early Feb (he loves [name_f]Emily[/name_f] and was resistant to consider anything else). He finally stopped veto-ing everything in sight, and we started to really like [name_f]Cara[/name_f].
Now, I’ve done too much googling. We pronounce [name_f]Cara[/name_f] “Care-ah.” I know there are a few different variations to the pronunciation. I think the “car-ah” pronunciation is more common overseas (we’re in the US).
I have 2 questions:
1 - [name_m]How[/name_m] do you pronounce [name_f]Cara[/name_f]? Would we be setting her up to have to correct people her whole life?
2 - I saw somewhere that [name_f]Cara[/name_f] means “face” in Spanish. Not a terrible meaning or anything (the main meaning we’re focusing on is “friend” - latin or irish I think). We do live in a city with a large Spanish-speaking population - Is this something she could be teased for?
Overall, I’m overthinking it I think. Any advice is appreciated. Thank you!
I’m from [name_m]New[/name_m] Zealand, but live in the United Kingdom, and I pronounce it CAR-[name_m]AH[/name_m], not CARE-[name_m]AH[/name_m].
I think if it wasn’t a familiar name that meant something in another language, then maybe it would be tease-worthy… but [name_f]Cara[/name_f] is a very namey-looking name so I don’t think it’s a problem.
I say CARE-ah as well. I think the majority of Americans say it this way; it seems to be invariably pronounced that way. Although I knew an American who cold-read [name_f]Tara[/name_f] as TAR-ah, so I guess you can never be too sure? I think CAR-ah is nice, but I definitely like CARE-uh more, too.
I don’t think it is really teaseworthy… I much rather the Italian meaning–“cara mia” means “my dear/my darling”, I think, which is really sweet.
I don’t think you’re overthinking it. There are two pronunciations, so it’s reasonable to consider that. But I think in the US most people will intuitively say care-uh. Of course there will be times that people say car-uh too, but it’s easy enough to correct. I don’t think it should be a deal-breaker.
I don’t remember ‘cara’ meaning face in Spanish, but I think it’s familiar enough as a girls name that it won’t be a problem.
I’m in [name_f]Canada[/name_f] and say CARE-uh. Sure, you’ll have people who stumble on it, but it’s a quick fix. I have no knowledge of Spanish but I have heard [name_f]Cara[/name_f] [name_f]Mia[/name_f] thrown around and it’s super sweet.
Well, my name is [name_f]Cara[/name_f], so I feel more then obliged to answer this
I’m Australian and it’s been my experience that Americans tend to pronounce it Care-ah (or at least all the Americans I’ve spoken to anyway and on American tv shows I’ve watched) because of their accents. I pronounce Car-ah and so does everyone around me. I also have an English friend who pronounces it the same as me and a South African friend who pronounces it closer to the American way. That said, I don’t really mind the different pronunciations of it. It doesn’t bother me in the slightest nor does it happen often enough to irritate me. Of course, if asked, I’ll tell people to how I’m used to it being said but really, it’s just a different accent on the first syllable so its quite easy to correct and if not, there’s no harm done.
I’ve never been teased for my name ever. And there isn’t much teasing potential with just the word ‘face’. So I really wouldn’t worry about it.
I think mostly here in the US it’s care-uh, which is what I say… Actually I’d say that they are both pretty common ways and names, and no other options for spelling, so it’s both. Why can’t it be both? Yes they will inevitably find herself correcting people sometimes, but it comes with most names. I have the most simple name, always get questions.
I personally think that car-ah is the prettiest proununciation, I don’t know I just think that car-ah is the the prettiest. On the teasing part, I’m hispanic myself and I have been a child before and that is something she would definetely not get teased for.
I would just choose the pronunciation that you prefer. People screw up even the easiest names so if there’s confusion, you/she can say, “it rhymes with [name_f]Sara[/name_f].” Or if you go with the other pronunciation just tell people it’s [name_f]Cara[/name_f] like the word, car. p.s. I’m glad you ditched [name_f]Emily[/name_f]. It’s my feeling that [name_f]Emily[/name_f], a nice enough name, has seen its day (at least for the time being.)
Car-uh for me. We have the same thing with [name_f]Emmeline[/name_f], I knew she’d get it pronounced 2 different ways, but I liked either pronunciation so it wasn’t a biggie.
My name is [name_f]Cara[/name_f], pronounced care-uh. I’m from the United States, and, for the most part, people pronounce it correctly. Now I live in [name_f]England[/name_f] with my husband, though, and everyone pronounces it car-uh. I’ve pretty much stopped correcting people because it’s too much of a hassle.
I never got teased for it once growing up. My hometown also has a large Spanish-speaking population, and no one even mentioned that it means face. Overall, I quite like my name, and I liked it as a child.
1 - I say CAR-rah and I’m British. I do know some Americans say CAR-rah too (i.e. [name_f]Cara[/name_f] Gosselin is CAR-rah). I think people would correct her but some people would get it right, too. It can go both ways.
My name is [name_f]Cara[/name_f]. My mother was Sicilian and named me for the Italian term of endearment “[name_f]Cara[/name_f] [name_f]Mia[/name_f]”. I use the Italian pronunciation which is “Car-uh”. I am from Michigan and have grown up constantly correcting people on the pronunciation of my name. I usually get Care-uh. So I think if you’re planning to use the Care-ah pronunciation it won’t be too much of a problem, although I’m sure you’ll get Car-uh every once in awhile.
I’ll encourage you however to use the Car-uh pronunciation. I correct people a lot, but I also get tons of compliments, and the Car-uh pronunciation is unique (in the US anyway).
