If you live in a country where they pronounce your baby's name differently...

[NancyinCali]

Does it bother you?
I love Clara for dd2 but I don't like the American pn: Clair-a. We live in California and won't be leaving any time soon. Should I choose a name that is pronounced the same in the uk and the us?

[barebranches]

my dds middle name is clara after her great grandmother... my nan pronounces her mum's (now dead) name as clair-a...we've gone with the usual pronunciarion instead... i think you should go for it and just say the name way you want it said. love the name!

[NancyinCali]

Lots of interesting perspectives, thank you everyone!

Nadia yes we know a Tara and the pn is very strange to our ears :)

I like the idea of asking a local to pronounce names, I may have to try that.

[NadiaWadia]

Footle, same here, I had an ancient great aunt from Yorkshire named Clara, pronounced 'Clair-uh', as was the norm. Perhaps we are distant cousins! It is the original English way to say it, you are right. Shame it is being lost. I find it pretty and a softer sound than 'Clah-ra' (although I don't dislike that, but always think it sounds like it should be spelt Klara).

[diddl]

When I was a kid (am 50 now) I knew a Clair-uh but I think now that the European way is more used.

[SconeRhymesWithGone]

This is interesting because when I first saw the OP, I thought she was objecting to Clair-a (ai sound as in air) as opposed to Clar-a (with the first a sounding like the a in fat). These would be two ways that the name would be pronounced in the US, with the latter preferred in the South. It's probably a subtle difference, I suppose. Clah-ra with a long/broad a is much less common in the US and I think it may be hard to get people to say it that way, unless you were in a heavily Spanish speaking area.

[itsnothingoriginal]

We could never move to the states as they pronounce my DDs name completely differently and my DS has a girl's name over there! I'd have to change both their names

Must say it would really annoy me to hear the name I love being pronounced in a way I don't like and to have to constantly correct people. I love the name Clara but agree the Clair-a pronunciation doesn't sound as nice. Good luck with your decision!

[HolidayCriminal]

I know that it wouldn't bother me in the slightest OP, but since it bothers you a lot then you must not use it. Perhaps Clara as a middle name & you can use it in future?

[SconeRhymesWithGone]

When I was a student in Scotland, I knew another American student who had the surname Lamont. In the States, this is usually pronounced La-MONT. It is a Scottish surname, and in Scotland it is pronounced LAM-ent She just had to get used to it.

[diddl]

"She just had to get used to it."

Why did she have to get used to her surname being pronounced incorrectly?

[SconeRhymesWithGone]

When in Rome, diddl, or in this case, when in Edinburgh.

[LillianGish]

The question is does it bother you? If it does then don't do it.

[ratqueen]

My Grandma had an Auntie Clara (pron. Clair-a). They lived in Hull!

[pigsinmud]

Dd1's name is a Welsh/Scandinavian name (slightly different spelling to English spelling) and is always pronounced as the English equivalent. Really annoys me, but after 10 years of correcting sometimes I let it go. I have corrected certain people loads of times and they still say it wrong.

[temporarilyjerry]

We moved to France when DS2 was 4. I'm sure that the different pronunciation of his name added to his difficulty in settling at school.

[ikeaismylocal]

I think it is hard because both countries are English speaking countries so it is more of an accent issue rather than a language issue.

My name is Amy, in the south of the UK that is pronounced as ay-me my family in Manchester say my name "errr-muh" it would be really rude of me to insist that they called me ay-me because it is their accent rather than them just pronouncing the name wrong.

Ds is half English and half Swedish, his name is pronounced nearly exactly the same in both languages, that was really important to us. But for Dc2 we are considering giving either a very English or very Swedish name and just educating our families as to how to say it.

If we choose a name which works in both languages but sound very different (such as jenny "yennu" Erik "ear-ik") I would expect to use the Swedish version as that is where we live.

[NadiaWadia]

But I don't think it's as simple as an accent issue, ikea as with your name, Amy. With 'Clara' it is more like a different version of the name (although spelt the same).