Thoughts on the baby name Carla with Spanish pronunciation?

[FLAMENCOQUEEN]

In Spanish i love it - it reminds me of ELITE (A show i like) and carla from scrubs, but i prefer ELITE pronounciation (CARR-LAH) - in english i dont like it, too old lady lol _ thoughts????? coming back to me after watching Elite and a few videos on leanring spanish

It’s beautiful, but do you live in England? If so people will pronounce it the way you don’t like.

its quite hard to get away from the schwa sound in English names I’m afraid

Nah, won't happen

I'm afraid it'll be impossible to enforce. Not to mention that many English people cannot pronounce the Spanish R correctly, and it would seem very cringe to get them to try. If you don't like the English pronunciation, I would choose a different name.

If you live in England it will be pronounced the English way so if you don't like that then choose something else

So many names sound prettier in Spanish: Paula, Claudia, Patricia…. But I think it’s unlikely people will pronounce it in a Spanish way. And even if they did, it would sound odd. I speak French and Spanish but when I am talking in English I don’t say “ParEE” or “BartheLOHnah”.

If you live in Scotland then the pronunciation is pretty much the same (rolled R).
Otherwise - not going to happen I'm afraid! People aren't going to put on a foreign accent to say someone's name.

I'm Scottish and was trying to work out how else you could say it apart from carr-lah 😂. Is the issue that some English accents don't pronounce the r? It's nice name, although I prefer Cara personally (again, it's probably better in accidents that pronounce the r strongly!)

How do you intend to make this happen? You can't force someone to put on another accent whilst saying a name. Living in the UK, you'll just have to accept the English pronunciation.

Unfortunately, nobody here will pronounce it the way you wish.

It'll just sound like Cah-lah.

It would be more like the Spanish way if you were in Scotland. I'm assuming you're not, though.

It’s not though because in a Scottish accent, while you will get the rolled R, you still get the schwa sound with the a meaning it’s actually quite ugly.

Cara in a Scottish accent gets the schwa on the last a rather than the first and sounds much prettier.

Unfortunately OP, because Carla is a commonly known name in English you won’t be able to dictate the pronunciation.

Is this for the hypothetical future baby you are not currently trying to conceive @FLAMENCOQUEEN ?

Thoughts on Alejandra as a future baby name choice | Mumsnet

You might benefit from re-reading @KnitWitsAnonymous's post of· 07/04/2026 15:43, @FLAMENCOQUEEN .

The OP of this thread is obsessed with/fixated on Spanish names (particularly feminine ones) and starts multiple threads about them (often the same names) for some unknown reason.

I was wanting to call my eldest Laura - pronounced in the Italian way, after remembering Petrarca falling in love with her across the court

😭 it wouldve been pronounced loor-rah where i live so moved on swiftly

Me too. I've been saying Carla and Carr-lah but to me they're exactly the same.

Brits would end up pronouncing it wrong

That's insane to have a baby in a country that speaks one language and want people to say it in another language. My name is pronounced differently in the uk than in my home country because, who would have thought, they speak another language!! And in French it's said in yet another way, and Germany another. Crazy, huh?

I think she might have said she was writing a book or something.

@whatwouldlilacerullodo , the OP isn't having a baby.
@EmpressaurusKitty , that was KarolGFan Adriana or Lorena for a character in my creative writing? | Mumsnet.

I think it would be hilarious and bonkers if baby Carla's English parents instructed everyone to adopt a Spanish accent when addressing their child.

If wee Carla has Spanish. Scottish and Canadian relatives and friends she will usually hear her name as CARR-LUH.

I like both ways.
Carla is lovely.

What is a schwa sound?

Identical to me too

I’m so confused… what is the difference in pronunciation? Carr-lah. So car like a car you drive. La like do re me so far etc. What other way of pronouncing it is there?

(I would google Spanish pronunciations but I have a sleeping toddler next to me so can’t use sound on my phone!)

There is a Spanish kid in my daughter's class called Paula and everyone pronounces it Pow-la not Paul-a. So it is possible.

I've been thinking and I think that some English people wouldn't provide the r at all. So it would be Cahla maybe?