We’ve compromised a lot and have now arrived at a girls name (narrowed it down to 2 options and asked our 2yr old). I ‘lost’/got the middle name and now we have to decide on spelling.
How would you spell Kee-ruh?
Keira (Anglicized spelling)
or
Ciara. (Traditional Irish spelling)
I dont love the meaning of this name (dark haired) because it doesnt offer the same depth as our other daughter’s name (intoxicating, shining light, & has a myth attached) and this child will likely be either ginger or blonde. One redeaming factor is the Gaelic connection, but I worry that if we spell it in the traditional way people will confuse her name with that of the singer (See-aa-rah). How would you spell it?
[name_m]Hi[/name_m], so personally I like both option but based on the info you gave I want to say [name_f]Keira[/name_f], but [name_f]Ciara[/name_f] seems lovely and I quit like it and if you teach your child the correct way of pronouncing it it shouldn’t be an issue.
I prefer the [name_f]Ciara[/name_f] spelling! Inevitably, she’ll have some people pronounce her name “see-ah-ruh.” But the is seems like the spelling you prefer, and some people will get it right on the first try! I know a [name_f]Ciara[/name_f] (“kee-ruh”) with that spelling, and a [name_f]Ciara[/name_f] (“see-ah-ruh”), and I don’t have any trouble switching between the two. Everyone I know that also knows the [name_f]Ciara[/name_f] (“kee-ruh”) that I know has no trouble with her name. We’re used to it! I am in the US if that helps. [name_f]Beautiful[/name_f] name either way, but I’d vote for the [name_f]Ciara[/name_f] spelling!
I think it depends where you live. I live in Atlantic [name_f]Canada[/name_f] and we have a relatively strong Gaelic background and I would still expect most people to pronounce [name_f]Ciara[/name_f] to be pronounced like see-AIR-a, which over time I would become pretty tired of. I do like the [name_f]Ciara[/name_f] spelling a lot but as a first name I think I’d go with [name_f]Keira[/name_f] here.
I would spell it [name_f]Keira[/name_f]. I live in [name_u]New[/name_u] [name_u]England[/name_u] (US). I am not familiar with traditional Irish names but it is beautiful and the “K” spelling would be less correcting of the pronunciation!
I think [name_f]Ciara[/name_f] would definitely get mispronounced a lot. That said, a lot of names get mispronounced and if that spelling makes you happy then go for it. But if you don’t want her to have to correct the pronunciation as often then [name_f]Keira[/name_f] is a better bet. I personally prefer [name_f]Kira[/name_f] over both spellings though.
Both spellings are beautiful, and I tend to prefer “traditional” spellings, but if you live in a place where [name_f]Ciara[/name_f] wouldn’t intuitively lead to “kee-ruh”, I would just go with [name_f]Keira[/name_f] as the spelling
I love both spellings, but I think my answer depends on where you’re located. If you’re in the UK, I feel like [name_f]Ciara[/name_f] is a more likely option, as in [name_u]England[/name_u], [name_m]Wales[/name_m], [name_u]Scotland[/name_u], [name_u]Ireland[/name_u], it’s already very familiar and almost exclusively pronounced the way you prefer.
In the US and [name_f]Canada[/name_f] however, I feel like [name_f]Keira[/name_f] is more likely to get you what you’re looking for, because the singer [name_f]Ciara[/name_f] is pretty prominent and the [name_f]Ciara[/name_f] spelling is commonly used as an alternative to [name_u]Sierra[/name_u] here.
As for other areas of the world, I’m not entirely sure what’d work best, but perhaps [name_f]Keira[/name_f] is the way to go if you’re concerned about people mispronouncing [name_f]Ciara[/name_f]?
Going only by the title I would spell it [name_f]Kira[/name_f]. I think it has a better meaning than ‘dark-haired’. I pick [name_f]Keira[/name_f] because it is closer to [name_f]Kira[/name_f] and also similar to how I instinctively spell it.
For context, we live in an area of the US south with a lot of Irish culture\community. In those pods it would be easier use the C spelling, but in larger groups, school, etc. the K spelling would be less likely to be misused.
Russian for throne is трон pronounced like tron. (Russian berry here). Kira (Кира) is popular there, through, and I would probably spell it like this intuitively
[name_f]Beautiful[/name_f] name either way, but I’d vote for the [name_f]Ciara[/name_f] spelling!
