Please help us resolve a naming dilemma. The good news: my husband and I actually agree on a girl’s name for (gender undetermined) [name]Baby[/name] #2, due in [name]January[/name]. The bad news: we’re at odds over how to spell it so that it will be pronounced correctly. The name is supposed to basically rhyme with and have the same rhythm as the the adverb “merrily.” I prefer “Kerraly,” in line with names like [name]Emily[/name] and [name]Kimberly[/name], but my husband thinks people will accidentally stress the second syllable, saying “kurr-ALL-ee.” He prefers the spelling “Kerralee.” I worry that people will stress the last syllable, making a more subtle and therefore less correctable error. We recognize that an “ie” ending might solve the problem, but we’re trying to avoid it because that is how my name ends. Additionally, neither of us likes “[name]Caroly[/name],” the name off of which this is based. I’d be so grateful for your thoughts on this!
Kerily, I like this best.
[name]Hope[/name] I helped! Good luck 
Spelled Kerralee, it makes me think the name is pronounced. Kera-lee ( as in two completely seperate names) and I agree with your husband about the pronunciation of the way you want to spell it. I think Kerralie or Kerrily (like merrily ) are your best bets. Or, if you don’t mind the “Leigh” spellings, you could do Kerraleigh.
When I look at all the options, Kerrily looks the best to me. With only one “r” it looks miss-spelled in my opinion. Kerralie is my second favorite.
I prefer the letter C so I would spell it [name]Caralee[/name].
I think where you are losing me is the choice of [name]Kera[/name] instead of [name]Kara[/name]. Sometime on nameberry it’s good to tell us what kind of accent you have so we can make sure we are pronouncing it the same way I am from the US so if I see Kerrily I see a “cur” sound like “kerchief”. If you are going for “Kare-ily” like “care” I think you need an A.
I agree with missyby, my favorite spelling is [name]Caralee[/name] or [name]Karalee[/name]
I like [name]Caralee[/name]!
I’d spell it Carily. I like C’s better. I actually like the ie endings a lot, but Carilie doesn’t look right.
I just want to point out that caralee and kerrily would not be pronounced the same way in my part of the country. I think the best way to get the [name]Merrily[/name] sound would be Kerralie.
I think it is important to take into account where you live, since as woodensandals pointed out, this could make a huge difference.
I would actually do two words: [name]Kara[/name] [name]Lee[/name]
I think there are several advantages to this:
- Here in the US, familiarity with the (brand) name [name]Sara[/name] [name]Lee[/name] makes this name not look too made up (which I’m guessing it is, right?)
- This familiarity would then make the pronunciation more intuitive and straightforward. You could also go with Carol Lee although I don’t like this so much.
You could still have a middle name, without the name looking “crowded”, even using [name]Kara[/name] [name]Lee[/name].
ps. You will still occasionally run into situations where people put the stress on the wrong syllable, but let’s face it, with a made up name people are going to have differences on how they pronounce it anyway, and after hearing the correct version once or twice, it will stop. The only way to avoid pronunciation challenges is to go with a COMMON name, and even then it will differ on where your daughter travels/lives etc.
I know someone whose name sounds like the name you want and it is spelled [name]Carolee[/name].
i thinkk Kerrily too
Why not go for Kirrily?
I like [name]Caralie[/name] like [name]Coralie[/name] or [name]Rosalie[/name], I think it is intuitive to pronounce it like Kerrily (at least where I’m from, which is central [name]Canada[/name]) or perhaps if you really want to ‘illy’ sound instead of the ‘ah-lee’ sound you could do Carillie which looks kind of funny in my opinion but as other pp’s have mentioned, I also prefer C names to K names. [name]Caraleigh[/name]/Carileigh is also pretty IMHO.
In my opinion, [name]Caraleigh[/name], sounds totally different that it ‘merrily’, but then again - I’m in the UK, so ‘[name]Cara[/name]’ sounds like ‘Caahhrr-ah’ (same sound as in ‘arm’ or ‘farm’) rather than ‘Kehrr-ah’ (same sound as in ‘hair’). [name]Even[/name] if you do decide to use that spelling, I prefer [name]Caralie[/name] which looks so much prettier to me, plus it’s a lot more familiar, as it has the bonus of looking like [name]Coralie[/name] as well as [name]Cara[/name] (and [name]Carlie[/name]!)
So basically, my vote goes to [name]Caralie[/name] (assuming you’re in the US… in the UK I would use Cerillie).
I second the vote for Kirrily. It’s an established name here in Australia so to me it looks right! It might depend on your accent though. Otherwise I vote for Kerrily. : )