How do you pronounce Clara?

Girl Names
1

See the results of this poll: How do YOU pronounce Clara?

Respondents: 89 (This poll is closed)

  • with the ‘ARE’ sound : 22 (25%)
  • with the ‘AIR’ sound : 63 (71%)
  • neither way: 4 (4%)
2

I think it’s pretty much dependent on where you are from - the British pronunciation is most definitely the version with ‘are’ sound in it, rather than ‘air’. For the ‘air’ sound it would need to [name]Claira[/name] (the same as [name]Claire[/name] but with an ‘a’). It’s like all the other similar names Tare, [name]Cara[/name], [name]Lara[/name] all contain the ‘are’ sound and not ‘air’.

3

I say the A sound with the same sound as the beginning of apple. It’s not really either of the pronunciations you have there. I guess it’s closest to the [name]AIR[/name] one, though.

4

I say [name]Clara[/name] with the same -ara as in parachute.

5

I accidentally voted for the ARE pronunciation. I do generally say it with the [name]AIR[/name] pronunciation but only because I think it’s inevitable that everyone else near where I am would say it that way. I love the lilting, softer sound of the more English CLAH-rah.

6

I do as well. I think it is like a combination of the [name]AIR[/name] and ARE sounds.

7

I think it depends on your accent; I’m Australian and would pronounce it with the ‘ARE’ sound, same as [name]Tara[/name] & [name]Lara[/name], as I think most British people would, but I think most Americans would say ‘[name]AIR[/name]’, for all these names, rhyming with ‘[name]Claire[/name]’ (a much shorter vowel sound).

I’ve only just realised this, and it explains something that was confusing me, because I recently posted a question about what niicknames would you use for [name]Clara[/name] and some of the answers were talking about [name]Claire[/name]-bear, which seemed like a very odd connection to me until I figured out the accent/pronounciation issue, as to me they are completely different names.

ps. the nn I liked for [name]Clara[/name] was [name]Ari[/name], which follows ‘my’ pronounciation

8

I’m also Australian and pronounce it the “are” way “CLAH-rah” - I think this would be the norm here.

I first discovered this phenomenon with the name [name]Tara[/name] (pronounced “[name]TAH[/name]-rah” here) which sounds like “[name]Terra[/name]” to me with an American accent.

9

It’s definitely a regional thing! It seems that most people in the USA that I’ve had this conversation with pronounce it clair-ruh, but most English people {like me} will pronounce it cl-are-ruh

10

I’m from New Zealand, and pronounce it the “are” way “CLAH-rah”.

11

I, too, think it depends on the accent of the person speaking the name. I’m American (Californian) and would say it with the ‘[name]AIR[/name]’ sound.

For the record, I’m [name]Lara[/name] but get called “LAIRuh” all. the. time. I guess most people assume my name should sound the same as [name]Tara[/name], [name]Sarah[/name], [name]Kara[/name], etc, and in the U.S. those names have the ‘[name]AIR[/name]’ sound, not ‘ARE.’ (I also get called “[name]Laura[/name],” which seems preposterous when you consider the spelling.)

12

Hmm. That’s just so weird to me, I guess.

I’m 100% American. Never lived anywhere else or even visited another country. I pronounce it with the “are” sound. I actually don’t like the way it sounds the “American way” as “air”.

What’s even more strange is that, as mentioned previously, you would assume the name would be spelled like [name]Claire[/name] if it were to have the “air” pronunciation - [name]Claira[/name]. That would make sense. But [name]Clara[/name] is a Latin name. If it were intended to be pronounced with the “air” sound, I would think it would be spelled Clera, since the E in Spanish makes an “eh” sound… cleh-rah…very close to claira. However, the A in Spanish makes an “ah” sound…clah-rah.

When I say the name [name]Clara[/name], I think of the Spanish word, clara, which means “clear”…which is the same meaning as the name. The Spanish word, clara, is pronounced with the “ah” (or “are”) sound.

I guess I just don’t get why people (Americans) started pronouncing it with the “air” sound…

13

I’m also Californian (NorCal). Never lived anywhere else.

I would pronounce [name]Lara[/name] as lah-ruh or law-ruh. But [name]Laura[/name], I would pronounce as loh-rah. The only way I’d do the lair-uh pronunciation is if it was spelled Laira, which looks kinda ridiculous. Lol.

But you’re right. I pronounce [name]Tara[/name], [name]Sarah[/name], [name]Kara[/name]/[name]Cara[/name], etc. all the same…with the “air” sound.

14

For [name]Clara[/name], I say “cl-[name]AIR[/name]-uh”. I say the same for all the other -ara names. :confused: [name]Lara[/name], [name]Sara[/name], [name]Cara[/name] are all -AIRuh names to me. [name]Kara[/name] and [name]Tara[/name] I might consider the ARE-uh pronunciation, but I’d probably guess the -AIRuh pronunciation first. For the record, I’m from [name]Louisiana[/name].