My brother and his wife are pregnant with a little girl so they obviously came to me for some naming advice! I suggested the name [name_u]Ara[/name_u] (AR-uh, rhymes with [name_f]Zara[/name_f]) and they like it but are unsure how others would react to it as it’s pretty unusual/uncommon. So… thoughts?
I love [name_u]Ara[/name_u] so much! It’s the perfect combination of simple yet powerful. If they are still hesitant to use it, might I suggest [name_f]Aria[/name_f]/[name_u]Arya[/name_u]? It is a name that’s extremely similar in both spelling and pronunciation. Also, it’s growing in popularity and is in the tops for baby names in 2016, so if they’re worried about [name_u]Ara[/name_u] being too unique [name_f]Aria[/name_f]/[name_u]Arya[/name_u] would be an excellent fit for them!
Best of luck to them! 
I really like [name_u]Ara[/name_u]. I love -ara names ([name_f]Zara[/name_f], [name_f]Clara[/name_f], [name_f]Mara[/name_f], [name_f]Elara[/name_f]) but don’t really like many [name_u]Ara[/name_u]- names (there aren’t many!). As a nickname I can only think of [name_f]Araminta[/name_f], [name_f]Arabella[/name_f], and Aralynn (I do really like the latter.) I guess there’s also [name_u]Arya[/name_u].
I think [name_u]Ara[/name_u] is great as a stand alone name
What about [name_u]Ari[/name_u] or spell it [name_f]Aria[/name_f] as someone else suggested but I like the flow of the short AR names. [name_f]Azaria[/name_f] could be her first name it means “God has helped” or “help from God” in Hebrew and [name_u]Ara[/name_u] as a nn
It’s not my style.