Spelling Poll

sundaesprinkles

How would you spell this name....Keira or Kiera? (I pronounce it Keer-ah.) I'm pretty sure both are accepted spellings, but I'm not sure which one looks the best. Also I'd rather pick the more common spelling so it's less likely to be misspelled but I'm not sure which one that would be.

This is one of those names where I love the sound of it more than the way it looks. This is one of our top picks but when I write it down I start to doubt myself. Before I always thought I would spell it Keira but when I write it I think of Keisha and I hate that name! It's silly but there it is.

[Poll]

lasfresasrojas

I have had multiple students names "Keira" and "Kiera" and they have all pronounced it "Key-ear-ah" or "Key-are- ah"

I have no idea how I would spell "keer-ah". Both of those seem incorrect to me. 

rels09

We have an old family friend by that name (same pronunciation), and she spells it Kiera, so that is my default. I knew her before I knew of Keira Knightley.

sundaesprinkles

lasfresasrojas:

I have had multiple students names "Keira" and "Kiera" and they have all pronounced it "Key-ear-ah" or "Key-are- ah"

I have no idea how I would spell "keer-ah". Both of those seem incorrect to me. 

I'm not good at writing out pronounciations. I'm not sure how else to explain it. When I say it, it's definitely a two syllable name, whereas your two versions look like three syllables to me. But maybe I'm not understanding it right? 

strawberrytree

I would be more inclined to pronounce Kiera as Kee air ah. If you don't like how Keira looks, what about Kira? That's how the girl I knew growing up spelled it and she never had any pronunciation or spelling issues.

Zimger

I think when spelled with a K that Keira would be less likely to get misspelled. I prefer Ciara.

kaylynne

Keira= keer-ah like actress Keira Knightley

Kiera= key-are-ah or key-air-ah

Ciara= see-are-ah or see-air-ah

MrsAery-to-be

I went to HS with a girl named Kera, pronounced keerah. I don't if its a legit spelling but a thought I guess. I like the spelling Keira out of your choices. Kiera makes me want to say keyairah.

sundaesprinkles

strawberrytree:

I would be more inclined to pronounce Kiera as Kee air ah. If you don't like how Keira looks, what about Kira? That's how the girl I knew growing up spelled it and she never had any pronunciation or spelling issues.

I just had that idea a few minutes ago. I should have put that in the poll....oh well. Now that I think about it, I think the one girl I knew with this name spelled it this way. But Kira still looks a little strange to me...

strawberrytree

kaylynne:

Keira= keerah like actress Keira KnightleyKiera= keyareah or keyairahCiara= seeareah or seeairah

Ciara is the original Irish name, pronounced Keer ah. Any other spelling is an Anglicisation, just like how Reese and Reece are Anglicised spellings of Rhys but all are pronounced the same.

But it likely would often be mispronounced as See air ah in the US, I agree.

sundaesprinkles

kaylynne:

Keira= keer-ah like actress Keira Knightley

Kiera= key-are-ah or key-air-ah

Ciara= see-are-ah or see-air-ah

Thanks for this. I definitely don't want it pronounced the second way. I guess I'll have to go with Keira or Kira or something else I haven't thought of yet!

AmandaDjokaj

Keira is a lot better. If you spell it the other way I would pronounce it Keyera and not Keerah. Pretty name :

moonglow_84

When I was in HS I wrote a story in my English Writer's Craft book about a girl with this name and I just spelled it Kira.  I really like the name.  I do agree that Kiera looks like it would be pronounced Kee-ehr-ah but because I'm such a pronunciation nerd I also think that Keira looks like Kay-ra.  So to me Kira just works best.

DH's input:  Why not just spell it Keerah.  Men.

lasfresasrojas

makeupgeek:

lasfresasrojas:

I have had multiple students names "Keira" and "Kiera" and they have all pronounced it "Key-ear-ah" or "Key-are- ah"

I have no idea how I would spell "keer-ah". Both of those seem incorrect to me. 

I'm not good at writing out pronounciations. I'm not sure how else to explain it. When I say it, it's definitely a two syllable name, whereas your two versions look like three syllables to me. But maybe I'm not understanding it right? 

Definitely three syllables here ... sorry I can't be of much help! 

kaylynne

strawberrytree:

kaylynne:

Keira= keerah like actress Keira KnightleyKiera= keyareah or keyairahCiara= seeareah or seeairah

Ciara is the original Irish name, pronounced Keer ah. Any other spelling is an Anglicisation, just like how Reese and Reece are Anglicised spellings of Rhys but all are pronounced the same. But it likely would often be mispronounced as See air ah in the US, I agree.

I am aware of this.  The pronunciation guide I gave was based on how people I know who have those names pronounce them.  I've known three Ciaras, and none of them pronounced their name traditionally. 

I'm in favor of traditional pronunciations, but I thought the op wanted to know how most people would pronounce the different spellings. (And in my experience, most people pronounce these "wrong," but they all seem to come up with the same wrong way... at some point the "wrong" way has/will become accepted as correct too)

madamsmurfette

If you are going for keer-ah as the pronounciation, I would spell is Kira or Kyra, like Kyra Sedgwick.

Kiera and Keira are both pronounced key-air-a.

ThePolishHammer

Keira

RedInLove

Of your choices, I like Keira and would pronounce it KEERra.

My BFF spelled her DD's name Kyra, same pronounciation as above.

AlyssaRoseKeane

I chose Kiera. My son's name is Kiernan, a for of Kieran, the (more) masculine form of the name, so that's why I chose it

jupiterthecat

strawberrytree:

I would be more inclined to pronounce Kiera as Kee air ah. If you don't like how Keira looks, what about Kira? That's how the girl I knew growing up spelled it and she never had any pronunciation or spelling issues.

Yes, this. I know two adult Kiras and they're both spelled that way. 

KearaD

My name is Keara (pronounced KEER-uh), and I wish it was spelled Kira. I like the way my spelling looks, but it is always getting mispronounced. 

SouthernBellaKS

I pronounce Keira like "Keer-uh" and Kiera as "Kee-air-uh"

sundaesprinkles

Thanks everyone! This was really helpful. If we choose this name, we will either go with Keira or Kira.

shaina1215

I would pronounce both of those spellings as Keer-uh, I think like you are saying, but personally think Keira is a better way to go. But I was also going to suggest Kira, which I have also seen, and which is a pretty straight forward spelling for the pronunciation you are looking for.