The name Ciara is a girl's name of Irish origin meaning "little dark one". Ciara and is often added to lists like Names That Mean Dark and discussed in our forums with posts like "Heaven Hell Purgatory -- GIRLS".
From the experts:
Ciara is very popular in Ireland, more familiar here as the Anglicized Kiera or Keira. The uninitiated will tend to pronounce Ciara as the Italian Chiara, a form of Claire—kee-AHR-a or even see-AHR-a, like the American singer-songwriter Ciara. In the US, Ciara peaked in 2005, when it was the Number 150 name; it's since fallen down to Number 882.
Comments
stellarvra99 Says:
headintheclouds Says:
The "correct" original pronunciation of Ciara is like Keira "KEERa", but upon first glance, my intuition is to say it like "see-ah-ra" rather than how you would pronounce Kiera or Chiara or Sierra (And I think this is the name pn of the famous singer?).
All the ways you can say this name are beautiful, but I personally really like the see-ah-ra pronunciation; to me it makes the name seem lush and regal (I think because it makes me think of a crown, rhyming with tiara and all). Varying pronunciation would definitely be something that you'd have to deal with if one chooses this for a baby name.
irishdancer428 Says:
I agree
irishdancer428 Says:
I never heard of Ciara (the singer) until I realized it was Russell Wilson's wife. I agree with fluffykitten101
irishdancer428 Says:
I really disagree. This is actually the traditional way to spell Keira, because the Irish language doesn't have a K, just C's. That goes for Keiran as well..
abertawe Says:
KEER-ah: Beautiful.
see-ERR-ah: Ugh. I don't like Irish names to be mangled.
Daiseymae Says:
You are right, because there are 4 different pronunciations of this name. I like Kira the best.
eveyalecia Says:
My childhood best friend's little sister was named Ciara, pronounced like Sierra, and that along with the singer made me assume that was the common pronunciation. Only recently learned the original pronunciation, and my first instinct is still "see-air-uh."
Fluffykitten101 Says:
Thats weird. I have never heard of the singer and pronounce it the right way. Anyone who likes the pronunciation 'see-ar-uh' should just stick to Sierra.
cmcd Says:
My name! My mom saw the name in the paper and assumed it was pronounced see-air-ah (Sierra). I used to always have it mispronounced as a child by teachers or really anyone who reads my name... I would know to respond to Kira, Keara, Chiara, Clara etc. Clara happens a lot when people are transcribing something with my name on it like a form to the computer or reading off an email or something. I only know two other Ciaras (both my age), one who pronounces it like me and the other pronounces it like Kira. Much more common for people to pronounce it "right" as I have gotten older, or to ask me if it is Sierra or Kira... probably because of the singer? I like my name and get called C or Cici a bout as often as I get called Ciara because people are lazy about 3 syllable names.
snowsbeloved Says:
I have two cousins (one on each side), both 20-somethings, who pronounce it "see-AR-uh". It's only been recently that I learned that it's pronounced like Keira. It's pretty, though inauthentic, to pronounce it with a soft "C", I think.
EllaYu Says:
I love it and it was in our top 4 names. But we would have spelled it Kira because there are just too many people out there who would get it wrong.
EllaYu Says:
nope. Nope to all of that.
TaliaCat Says:
I thought it was pronounced "see-AR-uh" but I see I'm wrong!
(It would be prettier pronounced that way)
Zoey_Artemisia Says:
I love the sound of this name a lot more than Chiara but I'm afraid people will pronounce it Key-air-uh though.
Guest Says:
I think everyone who sees this name pronounces it like the singer Ciara does.
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In Spain it's pronounced see-AH-ruh, different to Sierra (see-EH-rah), but we can't use Sierra here anyways because its the name of a tool. I love the Spanish pronunciation though ♥