Dara for a boy - but does it sound girly?

[YouDoTheMath]

I know it can technically be used for either sex, but if it was used for a boy, do you think it would sound feminine?

Never heard of it as a girl's name.

Dara O' Briain didn't change the spelling for work (what gave you that idea?) that's usually how it is spelled in Ireland (or at least where I'm from). Some Irish names can have multiple spellings.In Ireland it is pronounced with the 'a' as in 'apple'. The way Dara's name is pronounced on BBC sounds wrong to my ears. It shouldn't rhyme with Lara (although NI Mners may correct me there, it might sound different up north!)

I just assumed , which is daft because Ciara just has the a.

emeraldislander sitting here like a fool trying to think how to pronounce the a in apple, rhyme it with something, put me out of my misery please

The Irish spelling for the name is 'Daire' and it means 'oak' in Irish, which is a good masculine name origin, I would have thought!

From the Irish spelling, it should be pronounced with a short 'a' to rhyme with Farrah (Fawcett), not a long 'a' to rhyme with Lara. Spelling it 'Dara' is more usual in Ireland but Darragh is fine too (I don't like it but that's just me).

I did know one girl called Daire in Ireland but it was considered very unusual so it's really a boy's name. The Persian name 'Dara' has a long 'a' to rhyme with Lara, I think, so that's maybe where the confusion comes from?

okay, i'm irish, it's one of those unisex names, though more common for for boys, and it can be pronounced with a short or long first A, depending on whether you hail from the north or the south. i've known people of both sexes called dara. it means oak, or fertile, if this matters to you, and dara in irish also means second.

Puffin we have a world of madly spelled names (speaking as someone with madly spelled name). Random letters everywhere :)

'a as in the way you say 'apple', or 'ant', or ' anna'. InMyPrime explains it better than me - rhymes with Farrah :)

stripey 'dara' as in second pronounced differently though.

I get you now, only trouble is I now think I also pronounce Farrah wrong , bloody Belfast accent!!

:o :o

I'm Irish and in Ireland and know of several Darraghs, Daras and one Daire, male and female. I love it. Was on my boy's name shortlist both times but had girls.

Darragh - always masculine.
Dara - can be male of female
Daire - I believe this is a masculine form but the person I know with this spelling is female.

i don't get the difference between the pronounciation dara (as in lara) or darrah? Maybe it's a Scottish accent thing but I would pronounce them both the same

i don't get the difference between the pronounciation dara (as in lara) or darrah? Maybe it's a Scottish accent thing but I would pronounce them both the same

not to me. i would use Daria for a girl. Dara(gh) for a boy.

I think they mean that in Lara, the emphasis is on the first A and it is pronounced as an 'ahh' sound, as in open your mouth and say 'ah'.

L- AH - ra.

And though some people pronounce Dara like that, others pronounce it with a different, flatter a sound and the emphasis on the 'ra' ending.

D -a (as in apple)- RAH (as in rattle).

I am fully prepared to be wrong again

tbh I'd pronounce them differently as well. Lara would be more of a south of english ah. like balm, car. And dara because it's an irish name i'd say it like apple

even you are right - probably should have mentioned I'm English!

...instinctively it does sound a bit... but spelt Darragh it sound nicem and Irish...