[name]Hi[/name] - just wondering if anyone knows how to pronounce this name. It is listed in nameberry and Behind the Names as an elaboration of [name]Karen[/name] (my name), possibly influenced by [name]Carina[/name], an unrelated name, diminutive of [name]Cara[/name].
Is it pronounced just like [name]Carina[/name]? Ka-[name]REE[/name]-na?
Is it pronounced similar to [name]Helena[/name], well, Huh-[name]LAY[/name]-na? Kuh-[name]RAY[/name]-na?
Is it pronounced like [name]Karen[/name]-uh? KAH-rin-a? KAH like ca in [name]CAT[/name]. [name]Just[/name] like you would say [name]Karen[/name] then add “a”.
Is it pronounced like [name]Corinna[/name], Ka-[name]RENN[/name]-ah? Nameberry says [name]Al[/name] [name]Gore[/name]'s daughter is named [name]Karena[/name] after [name]Anna[/name] Karenina, which I understand is Ka-[name]RENN[/name]-in-a, not KA-ren-ee-na, so I think that is Ka-[name]RENN[/name]-a.
Totally just curious. [name]Karen[/name] being a Danish form of [name]Catherine[/name] and unrelated to [name]Carol[/name] (from [name]Charles[/name]) or [name]Cara[/name] (from Italian meaning “beloved”), but it could be any of those, I’m not sure which one is correct. I was called [name]Karina[/name] in Spanish class and one of the older girls when I worked at daycare was also [name]Karina[/name] (close to [name]Katrina[/name]), which is straightforward like [name]Carina[/name], Ka-[name]REE[/name]-na, but I don’t know if the E in [name]Karena[/name] changes anything.
Thanks! [name]Just[/name] bored, please entertain my question. <3
It sounds kind of made up to me, but it is close to a lot of names: [name]Karen[/name], [name]Carina[/name], [name]Cara[/name]. It could also be partially inspired by [name]Kalena[/name], a Hawaiian name pronounced ka-LEEN-ah.
Well I didn’t make it up, and I don’t know anyone with that name - I guess the Gores’ daughter counts. Behind the Names classifies it as “English (rare)” which usually does mean made up. I think because it assumes an appearance to [name]Helena[/name], it is open to at least as many pronunciations, [name]Helena[/name] being Huh-[name]LAY[/name]-na, HEL-in-a (basically just [name]Helen[/name] with an a added to the end), or Huh-[name]LEE[/name]-na, depending on preference. It doesn’t appear to have the provenance of an [name]Helena[/name] though, not the ancient origin, nor the extensive usage across some cultures. I was just curious all of a sudden this afternoon. It’s like a word stuck in my head! [name]Kalena[/name] turns out to be how [name]Karen[/name] translates in Hawaiian. http://hawaiiannames.hisurf.com/
…[name]Kalena[/name] would be pronounced with a short E, Ka-[name]Lenn[/name]-a, or like “ay”, Ka-lay-na, if it has a stress mark (kahako) over the vowel, which the site is not able to show. I don’t know that much about the Hawaiian language, I just got this from that site, could be mistaken.
Because I’m used to hearing and seeing the name of [name]Al[/name] [name]Gore[/name]'s daughter, [name]Karenna[/name] (she actually spells it with two Ns, although Nameberry has it listed with one N), my first inclination was to pronounce [name]Karena[/name] as kuh-[name]RENN[/name]-uh, just like [name]Karenna[/name] [name]Gore[/name].
I know a [name]Karina[/name] (kuh-[name]REE[/name]-nuh), and although I know a [name]Rena[/name] (ree-nuh), too, I for some reason wouldn’t think to pronounce [name]Karena[/name] as kuh-[name]REE[/name]-nuh.
I may be mistaken about [name]Kalena[/name] too; I only met one and that’s how she pronounced it. It’s possible she could have pronounced it wrong. [name]Carina[/name], I found out, is an Italian name that means “dear little one”. [name]Karina[/name] is a Scandinavian variation. Still no explanation for [name]Karena[/name].
I really have no idea but at first glance I would have gone for something like ka-renn-ah.
I can remember a funny exchange between a [name]Karen[/name] in my class in high school and a new girl who had just moved from [name]Jamaica[/name]. She kept calling [name]Karen[/name] ‘cah-[name]RIN[/name]’, instead of “CARE-in”, and [name]Karen[/name] rather unsympathetically kept trying to correct her saying "my name in ‘CARE-in’…“Yes, I know, that’s what I said - ‘cah-[name]RIN[/name]’!”.
…anyway, I think this is what brought to mind a softer pronunciation for [name]Karena[/name].
That’s funny, she got upset with someone’s accent, and by funny, I mean silly! It reminds me of a guy in high school who used to pronounce my name Kahr-en, like a car, but he was being dramatic. I prefer that well above the series of unfavorable nicknames I got in college (unrelated to my name, well, my first name).
