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I prefer Clara. I pronounce it KLER-ə.

I say both so the first syllable rhymes with 'Car', 'Tar' etc. There's a girl in my year called Cara who says it like that, and Clara's said like that on Doctor Who and Sherlock too. I've never heard if any other way here, although Im aware they can be said with an 'air' sound elsewhere (but I really dislike that). I definitely prefer Clara, because I just prefer the sound, meaning (slightly), and the Doctor Who connection.

Cara! I pronounce it KAHR-ə. I pronounce Clara the same but with an "L" so KLAR-ə =)

CAHra and CLAHra.

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Cara is dated and was never really the thinking parent's choice. Clara all the way.

My preference is Clara, but I don't dislike Cara.

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I say Clara - CLAR-rah, and so does everybody I know.

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I say Cara - CAR-ruh, but with a slight Welsh accent because the only Cara I know is very Welsh!

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I'm not Welsh, I'm English and living in the West Midlands. :-)

I prefer Cara over Clara. Usually, I pronounce Cara rhyming with the word care (KER-ə) because I know a couple of people with this name who use this pronunciation. With Clara, it varies on how I instinctively say it since I have heard so many different variations but often either KLAH-rah or KLAR-ə.

This message was edited 11/19/2014, 5:26 AM

A friend had a baby Cara about a year ago and I think it's a sweet name. I pronounce it cah-ruh

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I always pronounce Clara clair-uh - I got this pronunciation from my British mother who used to grow a cultivar of tulip called "Dame Clara Butt" after a British singer. Otherwise I never heard the name growing up. I don't like clah-ruh because I'm unused to it and I also think that this must have been the way Hitler's mother - a Clara - pronounced it, and that makes me shudder. When I asked an American friend how he says Clara he said it to rhyme with para (as a previous poster also does). I'd not considered that pronunciation before, but I wonder whether that's how it was said in Dickens' day - there are two people called Clara in "David Copperfield". It's like the beginning of Clarence. Anyway, I saw a very recent television adaptation of Copperfield in which Clara was pronounced Clah-ruh which I suspect is a modernism.

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So, which do I prefer - Cara or Clara?

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Cara because I feel Clara would always be correcting people who would say Clah-ruh when I want Clairuh

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However, because Cara is a fairly "new" name I'd use something well-rooted in history like Elizabeth or or Louise or Rosalind or Sylvie for a middle name.

I'm really not sure which I prefer. Cara is my middle name, so I guess I'm a bit biased towards it.

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The way I pronounce both names is really difficult to explain in text. Pretty much it's not an R-controlled vowel. I use the same A that's in words like "cat". I think the pronunciation of these names are very regional. People in the northeast US have no trouble pronouncing Cara the way my name is, but people here in the southeast usually say "care" or "car".

Cara. Car-uh

I prefer Cara.

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I say it Kahr-a, rhyme tiara.
I say Clair-a for Clara, rhymes with the para in paradox.

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Pronouncing Cara as Kair-a would be much easier for me to adapt to, than pronouncing Clara as Klahr-a. The latter actually seems wrong to me. If it were spelled Klara, it would be easier for me to adapt to saying Klahr-a because the K makes it seem like it could be "correct."

This message was edited 11/18/2014, 4:39 PM

I prefer Clara, although I find the 'cl' sound kind of awkward to say. I pronounce them KLAHR-a and KAHR-a.

I think the majority of people in the US would not pronounce Cara or Clara in multiple ways; Cara would be Care-uh, and Clara would rhyme.

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I much prefer Cara (Kara especially) no contest.

Clara, definitely Clara.

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I say KLAH-ra/KLAHR-ra, as opposed to CLAIRE-ra which I think of as the American way of saying it. I say Cara the same way just without the L. I like both names, but Clara is one of my absolute favourites and it will beat Cara every time.

Clara hands down. Cara is pretty, but feels thin. The L gives more of a bell like quality to the sound.

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I saw CAYR-ah and CLAYR-ah.

Clara, hands down.

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Clara is the best without a doubt. I say Clara instinctively as Clare-uh vs. Clarr-uh, though I like both pronunciations. I don't like Cara because it makes me think of the word care and then Care Bears. I also hear people say it like Car-uh.