Ciara

[Psychology90]

Thoughts on Ciara? I think I love it, but want to be 100%!

Key-ara in Italian would be CHIARA. Which is, handily, the actual spelling of the name.

It's a beautiful, Irish name. I know one and she's beautiful inside and out. I saw her name written before I met her and I knew how to pronounce it.

key arr ah

Argh, autocorrect.. Sorry not key arr ah at all!!

Keer rah

Psychology90
Ciara is lovely! I had it on my list if ds had been a girl, beautiful name and I'm sure most people will have no difficulty pronouncing it!!

Cinnamon is pronounced with an S sound

I'm with Psychology here.

Just because a name in ENGLISH that begins with 'Ci' is pronounced in one way it really does not mean that all other languages have to follow the same rules.

Ciara is a Gaelic name. The Gaelic alphabet - let alone Gaelic spelling - is different from English. It does not contain certain letters that are found in the English alphabet, and it uses certain combinations of letters to reproduce sounds that most English words do not contain.

Ciara is the feminine form of male names Ciar and Ciaran (English equivalents Keir and Keiran, as previous poster says). It is based on a word that means 'dark-haired'.

Saying that 'Ciara' is pronounced 'See-ah -rah' is a bit like saying 'Siobhan'
is pronouced 'Si-oh-ban' rather than as it should be ( approx 'Shiv-awn') or that (in Scottish Gaelic) Seonaid is pronounced 'See-on-aid' rather that (approx) 'Shonn-idge'

Really like it and it was on our list for a girl (as was Ciaran for a boy). We went with a name meaning fair in the end which was handy given we have a very blonde, blue eyed boy.

My Ciar went from a dark baby to being a blond toddler....he's a dark teenager though.

I like it, but so many people can't pronounce/spell it, so that would put me off

I know a Ciara with the Irish pronunciation: Keer-ah. And I know a Ciara who pronounces it See-ah-rah.

I don't like it either way. Keer-ah (Ciara, Kiera etc) all sound nasally and whiny in my accent. Plus they strike me as a bit outdated.

Add to that the inevitable spelling and pronunciation issues, and I'd avoid.

I have a Ciara (Irish DH). She gets called Key Ar Ah a lot but she is now 6 & corrects people herself. I guess it looks like tiara hence the incorrect pronunciation.
The name Ciara has been around since the 7th century. Keira didn't exist until the 21st century.
I love the name. Aoife was our next name choice but fortunately we had a ds next so went for something easier.

"Cinnamon is pronounced with an S sound!!"

Yes but cinnamon is not an Irish name.

I know both an Irish and Italian Ciara, pronounced very differently. The Irish Ciara has lived abroad and has found people cannot pronounce her name the typical and best attempt is usually Key ra.

The only people I've ever known with the name pronounced it KEY-AH-RA or CHEE-AH-RA. I had no idea it could be pronounced the same as Keira.

My Ciara is 18. Keera It gets mispronounced alot. We took it from the Irish meaning small and black (or so said a baby book at the time) I love it.

Keira is an Anglicised version of the original Ciara, Fenella.

Lovely name, OP. There were 2 in my year at school and 2 friends named their daughters it, but they're the only ones I know, so it's not too popular, in my experience.

Hmm - Kiera (i before e) is the anglicised version, it's the female version of the anglicised Kieran from Ciaran, Keira with the "e" before the "i" comes from the scottish surname Keir (also associated with Kerr). It's a different thing completely.

All of the reasons above were why I didnt use this name for DD2. Shame, but saved a lifetime of aggro for her!

Much prefer Cara. Simpler, classier and less hassle.

Also know a Ciara pronounced Cara. Most people try to say kee-ar-a rather than Keera. No one says it correctly- in her case!

I find it very dated - like Nichola/Joanne. Same with Sinead, Grainne, Siobhan, I went to school with loads (am in NI).