Iraa - Hindu baby girl name

[TheKindRoseExpert]

Hello,

I live in the UK but originally from India. I wanted to keep the baby girl's name as Iraa. Would it be too close to or remind people of 'IRA' (Irish Republican Army)?

The pronunciation is ee-ruh so was thinking eera or eyra. What do you all think?

I like Eyra, it's really nice

I know a little boy Irah. They added the H to avoid the IRA thing. But honestly I’ve always seen the name Ira and thought Jewish, so Iraa doesn’t recall the IRA for me. I think the capitalisation really matters for recognition because it’s an acronym.

Could Iraah work?

Very pretty name!

My DD has a friend called Ira. Also Hindu.

I grew up in London during the bombing. I didn't make the association at all. Probably because I was used to hearing it before seeing it written down.

I have a female friend called Irah, could that be an option?

Means ' the earth". As a Hindu by birth, am a big believer in choosing names that appeal to us and not necessarily to the wider public. They can learn.
Irawati was a famous Sanskrit scholar in Vedic times and a more recent Irawati was India's first woman anthropologist. You can mention that!

I used to work with two Ira's, short for Irina.

I grew up at a time when everyone had a fear of the bombings but I never once associated the name Ira with that.

It's a lovely name OP.

I’m English, late 40’s. I did think of the IRA straight away, I think partly because the double a at the end of the name is an unexpected name ending for names in my limited experience, so i subconsciously “corrected the typo” back to Ira.
That said, I don’t think I’d give it a second thought once introduced to someone, one of those fleeting “initial associations” that’s swiftly replaced by the actual person and learning the name.

Ah, then maybe Era? I don't think you'd need the double 'e' at the start.

@TheBirdintheCave I thought that would be pronounced as 'aye-ra'. We want the entire 'e' alphabet to be pronounced and 'ra' or 'ruh' at the end.

For example with 'eel', you pronounce the alphabet 'e' and then the phoneme for 'l'.

@TheKindRoseExpert Era (said as you want it pronounced) is literally a word in English so there'd be zero confusion :)

I think to get the pronunciation you're after Eera works well.

But to be honest I would just stick with Ira. Most people wouldn't associate with IRA and would learn to pronounce it as you want it.

Same

I’d go with Eira to get the pronunciation you want, alternatively Eyra

Beautiful name & meaning

Iraa did make me think of the IRA but I'm Irish so maybe not as much of an issue in the UK?
I think Eira and Lyra are both lovely names

@BeanBeliever Eira is already a Welsh name pronounced 'eye-ra' or 'ay-ra' deprnding on where in Wales you are. It would just cause more confusion to OP who wants the name to sound like 'era'.

The safest option would be 'Eera' but I find 'Eira' to be a bit more stylish. Therefore might go with the latter. I think the name would need explaining in terms of pronunciation for the first time but then people will learn. Also, I live in England and have not come across an 'Eira'. Atleast it easy to pronounce and not a mouthful.

Sorry, but I think its awful.why not just call her Ear.

That's totally different name and original.
No one is called Ear.

I think this is a great option - I am Hindu origin too and I think the spelling fits the pronunciation well

Not heard Eira as a welsh etc name living all over England (school, university etc) so it must be either v unusual or very regionally specific to Wales / I don’t think you will have any problems with people confusing your spelling for this name

With the name Ira I think of Jewish Ira. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ira_(name)

I'd avoid the spelling Iraa. It is too close to IRA.

There are some good alternative spellings suggested here.