I’ve been thinking a lot about [name]Chiara[/name] lately, as it’s a long time love that I’ve recently remembered. I think I may have abandoned it for pronunciation purposes, but I’m not sure how much of a problem that would actually be. Would this work for a baby with no Italian heritage?
NB: I’m not interested in [name]Kiara[/name] or [name]Keira[/name] or its variants, despite their beauty. I need a ‘C’ name to commemorate my late mother, [name]Cathy[/name]. Also, there’s something about the way [name]Chiara[/name] looks that I find indescribably beautiful.
I agree that it’s absolutely beautiful, but in all honesty, I believe MOST people are not aware of this name or its pronunciation. Therefore, most will pronounce it CHEE-ar-ah or CHEE-air-ah. I have a student named [name]Kiara[/name] and even though I totally agree that [name]Chiara[/name] is much prettier, [name]Kiara[/name] is a lot more obvious and self-explanatory within the English language. Basically it comes down to if it would bother you to constantly correct people on the pronunciation. If you can really imagine that you would take it in stride, then a potential daughter would probably have a similar view on those type of things and it may not be a problem for her, either.
I know a little [name]Chiara[/name] who is half Italian, though she’s the only kid in her family to have an Italian name. However, her name does get messed up a lot. The English language is complicated- people will wonder ‘ch’ is pronounced as in march or in archaic. The ending will get trouble, as well. A [name]Kiara[/name] I know responds to both Key-are-uh and Key-air-uh, though she says the former is correct.
It’s a beautiful name, a lot prettier than [name]Kiara[/name] [name]IMO[/name], but it might cause prn problems.
[name]Chiara[/name] is gorgeous.
I think people once told, would have problem with the pronunciation.
I actually also new a girl called Chiarastella (bright star) who went by [name]Chiara[/name] mostly. She was Corsican.
And yes, the name is Italian, but I think that these short names ending in -a are en vogue enough that you don’t need to have any Italian heritage in order to use it.
[name]Love[/name] [name]Chiara[/name]… It’s just so classy
I think [name]Chiara[/name] is wonderful and I’d love to use it myself. Unfortunately there probably will be pronunciation problems outside of [name]Italy[/name], unless a celebrity makes the name more well-known.
[name]Chloe[/name] is different because of the l; chl is always pronounced kl. Like chlorine and chloroplast. [name]Chi[/name] in English is usually pronounced like tch, as in child or [name]China[/name]. An exception would be chiropractor. But I digress.
I don’t think you need Italian heritage in order to use it. It’s not like the name has a religious or cultural significance, like [name]Cohen[/name], that makes it inappropriate for non-Italians. Okay, admittedly if I came across siblings called [name]Chiara[/name], [name]Matteo[/name] and [name]Gennaro[/name] I’d think the family has Italian roots. (And I mean that in no disrespectful way at all.) But if I came across siblings called [name]Chiara[/name], [name]Remy[/name] and [name]Imogen[/name] I’d just think the parents have eclectic taste in names.
I prefer [name]Ciara[/name] because of the pronunciation difficulties. The only reason I know how to pronounce [name]Chiara[/name] is because of my love for [name]Kiara[/name] - and [name]Chiara[/name] is a name I’ve come across whilst research the latter - however I think that [name]Chiara[/name] works perfectly fine on a child without Italian heritage, and in reality every kid gets their name mispronounced at some time in their life (even my best friend [name]Eve[/name] did!) so if you and your daughter can cope with telling people how to actually say and spell it, then it is a beautiful name worth your love.
paprika - you’re absolutely right about ch- followed by a consonant. I guess I didn’t think it through that much. Thanks for that helpful perspective!
I actually think [name]Ciara[/name] would have just as much pronunciation difficulties, as Ci- is generally pronounced with a soft ‘c’ in English. I know this is a traditional spelling with this pronunciation, but it just doesn’t look quite right to me.
[name]Chiara[/name] is beautiful. I live in an area with a large Italian-American population, so the pronunciation is not an issue for me. I say go for it.
My cousin’s name is [name]Chiara[/name] [name]Isabella[/name], she is half italian though it isn’t SO Italian you couldn’t use it. I love the meaning and spelling, definetly over [name]Kiara[/name]. Not many people have ever called her Chee-ar-uh, I think it’s common enough. Beautiful, go ahead!
I’m glad to hear so many people like the name despite the potential pronunciation problems. [name]Just[/name] to be clear, I’m not expecting, just thinking about names. Thanks everyone!
