Caris or Carys?

Girl Names
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I realize they have different origins, but would you pronounce them the same way? If so, how do you pronounce them and what part of the world are you from? I have a preferred spelling and a preferred pronunciation, but according to nameberry they don’t go together. I’m trying to get an idea of how much of a headache that would cause. Thanks!

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I pronounce them exactly the same way: CARE-iss, which is my preferred pronunciation. As far as I know… isn’t [name_f]Caris[/name_f] a spelling variant of [name_f]Carys[/name_f]? They have the same meaning and Welsh origin, according to what I’ve read about them. I’m more than happy to be corrected if I’m mistaken. I really like both, and I’m from the US!

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According to nameberry, [name_f]Caris[/name_f] is Welsh and Greek and can be pronounced CAH-riss or CARE-iss. [name_f]Carys[/name_f] is only Welsh and is pronounced CA-riss not CARE-iss.

Thanks for your comment! It’s helpful!

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Oh man, how interesting! I’d probably assume Caris was a misspelling of Carys, to be honest, so I definitely prefer Carys. Which I think is a really beautiful name!

As for Greek Caris, it should actually be spelled Charis? It’s Χάρις in Greek, and Χ names are usually spelled with ‘Ch’ in English (Christopher [Χριστόφορος], Achilles [Αχιλλέας], Chloe [Χλόη], etc.) With the Greek pronunciation it should be CAH-riss or HAH-ris (like Harry with an S at the end), definitely not CARE-is, the letter A in Greek names is always pronounced like “ah”. I hope that helps! x

Edit: Forgot to answer which part of the world I’m from; I’m from Greece, currently in the UK! I’d pronounce them both the same, like CAH-ris.

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I’d pronounce them both Ca-riss (ca like the sound at the beginning of [name_f]Cat[/name_f] or [name_f]Catherine[/name_f], riss rhyming with miss). I much prefer [name_f]Carys[/name_f]!

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I’d pronounce them both Ca-riss, with the first sound sounding like the ca in cat in my accent, which is Australian. I know someone named [name_f]Karys[/name_f] who pronounces it like that. Out of [name_f]Carys[/name_f] and [name_f]Caris[/name_f], I much prefer [name_f]Carys[/name_f]

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I pronounce them both as @Greyblue and @LeafTree described. I’m in Australia.

[name_f]Carys[/name_f] is my favourite.

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I’m probably not the best person for this, because I know a [name_f]Charis[/name_f] (CARE-iss) and now pronounce [name_f]Carys[/name_f], [name_f]Caris[/name_f], and [name_f]Charis[/name_f] all the same :sweat_smile:

[name_f]Carys[/name_f] is better than [name_f]Caris[/name_f] stylistically, but [name_f]Charis[/name_f] trumps both for me.

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I prefer [name_f]Carys[/name_f].

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I’d pronounce them the same way, yes. KA-ris - I’m from Poland.

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So after a little research, I have determined that this is most likely an accent issue. I’m from the southern US and I couldn’t for the life of me figure out how y’all pronounce an A with R following it like the A in cat. :joy: I had to look it up. Where I’m from AR is either pronounced like the word “are” or the word “air”. Never like cat. However, I have a name nerd friend in [name_u]New[/name_u] [name_u]England[/name_u] who I’ve debated with for years over whether [name_u]Harry[/name_u], [name_f]Carrie[/name_f], [name_m]Larry[/name_m], and [name_f]Mary[/name_f] all rhyme. She says they don’t, but I say they do. lol So, in conclusion, if a [name_f]Carys[/name_f] or [name_f]Charis[/name_f] from outside of the US were to visit certain parts of the US, they would definitely be called CARE-iss even if they told people it was CAH-riss. Does that make sense? lol Accents are so interesting! I love conversations like this! Thank y’all for participating!

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I much prefer Carys!! Would pronounce kah-riss

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[name_f]Carys[/name_f] :purple_heart:

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I prefer [name_f]Carys[/name_f] as well! [name_f]Lovely[/name_f] name :sparkles:

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I prefer [name_f]Carys[/name_f] (CARE-iss) but I did just see a thread on here where [name_f]Carys[/name_f] was pronounced (Cah-REESE)

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I went to school with a [name_f]Charis[/name_f] (ca-riss) so i would automatically think you’d miss-spelt the name using [name_f]Caris[/name_f]. But [name_f]Carys[/name_f] i have seen used most often.

Its an awesome name and she was one of a kind.

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[name_m]Hi[/name_m]! I named my little girl (my one and only daughter) [name_f]Carys[/name_f].

She was born 2007. [name_f]My[/name_f] family is of Welsh descent with a sprinkle of [name_m]Scot[/name_m] and Western [name_u]England[/name_u] (Chester, Malpas). But we are 5th Generation Canadians, and but I’ve lived in the U.S. for 25 years. I’ve only met one other [name_f]Carys[/name_f] and it was spelled [name_f]Keris[/name_f] which is actually Greek with no relationship (K, Q, V, X and Z are not included in the Welsh alphabet).

Anyway, we pronounce it CARE-is. When we visited [name_m]Wales[/name_m] and [name_u]Scotland[/name_u], the locals say CAR-is. The [name_f]English[/name_f] mostly said CARE-is.

[name_f]Carys[/name_f], [name_f]Cerys[/name_f] and [name_f]Caris[/name_f] are definitely CAR or CARE-is - it’s a dialect thing. Both are acceptable.

It is the feminine version of [name_u]Cary[/name_u] - as in [name_u]Cary[/name_u] [name_m]Grant[/name_m]. We named her after my Great Uncle [name_u]Cary[/name_u] who died at a tragically young age. When you think of [name_u]Cary[/name_u] [name_m]Grant[/name_m] - it’s CARE-y [name_m]Grant[/name_m].

In Welsh Celtic, “y” or “ap” are used to conjugate first and last names So,

  1. The last name “Pryce” comes from [name_m]Son[/name_m] of [name_u]Rhys[/name_u] = Ap [name_u]Rhys[/name_u] = [name_m]Prys[/name_m] = [name_m]Pryce[/name_m] (or [name_m]Price[/name_m] when it’s Anglocized).
  2. [name_f]Marys[/name_f] versus [name_f]Maryn[/name_f] vs. [name_f]Maris[/name_f] - all our Welsh. Anything ending in S like or “wyn” is typically Welsh or starting with “rh” like [name_f]Rhiannon[/name_f].
  3. For example, [name_m]Jones[/name_m] (son of John) is the Welsh version of “Johnson”.

So because the spellng [name_f]Carys[/name_f] has both the Y and the S is the heavy Welsh Gaelic. [name_f]Carys[/name_f] comes from “La Coeur” (pronounced “ker”) which means heart in [name_u]French[/name_u]. When the Normans invaded the UK in 1066, you see a lot of [name_u]French[/name_u] name influence over the Welsh, as well as the Huguenot Protestants fleeing from Catholic [name_u]France[/name_u] in the 1400-1500s. They settled in Wales/England. Surnames like St. [name_f]Claire[/name_f] or Sirett came into existence.

Oh, when you make it possessive, you need to be the apostrophe on the end, i.e. Carys’ homework, Carys’ parents.

Some famous women named [name_f]Carys[/name_f]! Singers, writers, actresses:

  1. [name_f]Carys[/name_f] Bannister was the first female [name_f]British[/name_f] Neurosurgeon
  2. [name_f]Caris[/name_f] Wooler was the main character in A World Without End - great book by [name_m]Ken[/name_m] Follet and the sequel to Pilllars of the Earth(also on HBO)
  3. [name_f]Cerys[/name_f] [name_m]Matthews[/name_m] is a Welsh musician and BBC broadcaster. When I bought my daughter a traditional Welsh doll (1400s) at the Cariff National Museum, the doll’s name tag says “Cerys”
  4. [name_f]Carys[/name_f] Zeta-Douglas (daughter of [name_u]Michael[/name_u] [name_u]Douglas[/name_u] and [name_f]Catherine[/name_f] [name_f]Zeta[/name_f] [name_u]Douglas[/name_u] - she is Welsh).
  5. [name_f]Carys[/name_f] [name_f]Eleri[/name_f] is a Welsh actress and singer, writer, composer and presenter, She does a one-woman, comedy-science-music-show called 'Lovecraft" and is close friends with [name_f]Charlotte[/name_f] [name_m]Church[/name_m] who is an amazing singer.

[name_f]Karis[/name_f] with a K is Greek and has a wholly different meaning. No “k” in Celtic!

That’s my 2 cents as a mother of a real [name_f]Carys[/name_f]! Both spellings are right - choose depending on what it means to you!

  • [name_f]Heather[/name_f]
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Yes - dialect is everything! Here in Idaho, I say pronounce it like [name_u]Paris[/name_u] but with a C. But yeah, when I’m in [name_f]Canada[/name_f] or overseas, I quickly change to CAR-is because that’s the local dialect. Names and their origins are definitely interesting!

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Mine too - I’m a mother of a [name_f]Carys[/name_f] thought. I’m biased!

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