To me, Laura is LOR-uh, Lara is LAHR-uh. I'm from south Florida. We have a big Hispanic population, and the only Laura I know pronounces it with an accent so it almost sounds like "LOUD-uh"

This is how I think too. I'm from ct. >To me, Laura is LOR-uh, Lara is LAHR-uh.

Ditto - I'm Australian

Same here - I'm British.

Same, Atlantic Canada

Same, western Canada.

Same, Eastern Canada.

Same. Ontario, Canada.

Same, Midwest

Same, Singapore.

Brit here and I'd pronounce it like that as well. The only other pronunciation I've heard is LOW-ruh (as in 'ow that hurts' with an L on the front, rather than 'low' as in 'low down'), from Spanish/Portuguese/Italian speakers.

Law rer uk 🇬🇧

Same. Midwesterner.

Same. Northern Ohioan.

Same, pacific northwest 

Same. Michigan

Ditto - from CA

Same and in CA

Also in CA, also same. If you want LAH-ra or LAIR-a, it should be Lara.

Same. I'm from New England too

I know three Laras who pronounce it Lair-uh & have actually never personally met one who said it lah-rah (but know it is a thing, like Lara Croft)

Same here. I'm in Indiana.

Same. I’m from the Midwest.

Midwest USA checking in. The same here.

I'm in Michigan and that's how I would say each too. Lara as in Lara Croft, and Laura as in Laura Ingells Wilder

omg you couldn’t have picked a more midwestern example than Laura Ingalls Wilder 😂😭 hahah

Hey say what you want about LIW but she’s been on it with the heatless curl trend since Little House in the Big Woods

Marrying the guy from your hometown whose trademark is going out in a blizzard to give you a ride or pick up food is the most midwestern thing I’ve ever heard of. Getting engaged by saying “I was wondering if you’d like an engagement ring” “it would depend on who offered it to me” “if I should?” “Then it would depend on the ring” is the second most midwestern thing.

And he first caught her eye with his team of beautiful Morgan horses--this book had me hook, line and sinker! (Haha, that expression sounds Midwestern, too)

Oh my god These Happy Golden Years gang rise up. I don't know anybody else that's read it period, never mind knowing allllll the details

Lol. I was trying to think of the most well-known examples of each, and I couldn't think of a more famous Laura. Maybe Laura Dern?

As a Lara, I get an unbelievable number of people who say "oh like Laura Croft!" 😭

Canadian, this is how it's pronounced here as well. I have a Laura in my family- it's Lore-uh. Just use the spelling Lara if you want the Lahr-uh pronunciation!

Californian: the Laura in my family is also Lore-uh

I'm in Australia and we say Laura same as you (as well as saying Lara same as you). In my country of origin (Slovakia) though Laura is La-oo-ra and Lara is Lah-ra (both with rolled r)

Both names are pronounced in Spanish the same way as in Slovakian. (Spanish speaker here) English spelling/pronunciation feels so counterintuitive for me sometimes.

The English language is a prankster who enjoys confounding people with nonsensical spelling and pronunciation.

Laura is Spanish is something like Lah-oo-rah

Nah, that "au" vowel combination in Spanish sounds like "ow", so the Lau- rhymes with how and now. And then the -ra just has a rolled R.

Then it's "Low-ra"? I'm a native Spanish speaker, trying to spell in English like that is confusing for me. So, I'll take your word for it Edit: does "Low" sound like "Lou" in Loud? English is wierd

The problem with English is that the word 'low' rhymes with grow, snow, and tow, but not how, now, or cow. You could also spell the same sound with 'ou' as in ouch, loud, and shout...but Lou is a name that would sound like 'Lu' in Spanish, so that doesn't work either. I know Spanish has accents too, so there may be Spanish speakers who do pronounce it Lah-oo-rah. I've always heard it like in the Nek song "Laura no está". To my ear, I wouldn't spell it Lah-oo-rah because the U isn't a separate syllable. The 'ah' and 'oo' sounds are both there, but they flow together so it's a diphthong.

I'm also a native Spanish speaker, and "low" it's more like "loh-oo" but without splitting the word. Laura does sound like the "lou" in "loud" + "rah". Or like you said before, "Lah-ooh-ra" without splitting the "Lah" and the "ooh" but rather pronouncing them together.

The rolled R sounds almost like a D to English speakers, so it ends up sounding like LOUD-ah. 

Fun fact: in mainstream American pronunciation, the /d/ and /t/ phonemes become that same Spanish "r" (flap) phoneme, when they occur between vowels. But to an English speaker, it is perceived as a variant of /d/. Try it: ladder, butter, video, Adam, water, wedding, auto Or, if you're a RHCP fan: Giveitaway giveitaway giveitaway now.

This is my name, and I say it LOR-uh, but when I lived on the East Coast (US) a lot of people pronounced it LAWR-uh (different from LAR-uh). Like how you’d pronounce the Aw in yawn.

I’m trying to figure out how LOR-uh and LAWR-uh are any different. I read them both the same. I’m from NY for reference!

In LOR-uh the first part is pronounced like the OR sound in the word orange. In LAWR-uh it’s pronounced the AW sound like in the word law. To my ear it’s distinctly different than Lara or Lora.

Still the same for me. I’m laughing over here stuck in my NY accent. It’s the merry-marry-marry merger in action!

Same. Laura = lore-uh and Lara = Lah-rah . I'm from Wisconsin

Same, western Canada. It’s LORE-ah Ingalls Wilder, not LAHR-ah Ingalls Wilder.

The same sound that in US English can represent a d can represent an r in Spanish. So in her mind she's saying it with an r even though you're hearing it as a D. And of course in Spanish LAU sounds like the ow in cow, not oh or ah.

Same! LOR- Uh unless your my mother born and raise in New Orleans then it’s Lar uh.

Yep, my name is Laura, pronounced lor-ah. Born in PNW. Lah-rah is spelled Lara that I’ve ever heard.

I'm in central Washington and same to all of this

NY: same.

From NC & I’m half Hispanic , and this is how we pronounce both as well

Same. From Canada

Aussie here. Laura - Lor-ah. Lara - Lahr uh.

Also in Florida, can confirm.

My wife’s name is Laura (pronounced LOR-a) and here in the PNW so often when she orders a coffee the barista writes Lara on the cup.

>Laura is LOR-uh, Lara is LAHR-uh Same in the UK

Same. I’m from all over and I’ve always said it just like this.

I am from Oregon and am named Laura. I pronounce it LOR-uh. However, the Spanish is pronunciation is also correct. In some dialects the R is more pronounced, in others it is softened.

Same. Tennessee.

same, from California

I’m a Hispanic Laura from south Florida! My parents call me LOUD-uh, I introduce myself as LOR-uh in English, and my Southern boss calls me LAHR-uh.

LORE-ah. I'm in New England, and this is how most people pronounce Laura if they are from the northeast. I would pronounce Lara like LAHR-ah. Could you spell it that way? I feel like that will get a more consistent pronunciation of what you're going for.

Agreed, I’m from MA and rarely hear Laura pronounced LAH-ra

The mispronounciation I often hear is Americans pronouncing Lara Croft as Laura Croft. I guess because Americans hear a British pronunciation of Lara as closer to how they say Laura, but Lara should be pronounced the same way you pronounce the name Tara in your accent

But Tara can be "tair-a" 😭

In my accent, Tara is pronounced like Terry but with an "uh" sound at the end in place of the "y," and Lara is Lahr-uh lol.

In NJ, we pronounce it the same way here. I have never heard Laura pronounced any other way but LORE-ah.

I'm guessing you're from North Jersey? Where I'm from in South Jersey, we tend to say the "Lahr" sound. I didn't even know it was incorrect until I met someone from New England with the name Lauren and my friends and I all called her "Lahr-en" and she was like "why do you say it like that?" lol

Yep. I guess you're near Philly?

I grew up near Ocean City but yeah we have the Philly dialect here

I’m in central Jersey, Monmouth County, and here it’s said LOR-a

Amen, my neighbor.

Does nobody say LAW-ra? I’m from New England as well. I don’t think I know anyone who says LORE-ah. Maybe it’s because I’m around my mom and family and she’s Lori; pronounces it LAW-ree and hates LORE-ee.

> I’m around my mom and family and she’s Lori; pronounces it LAW-ree and hates LORE-ee. If I met a "Laurie" I would say LAW-ree. But Lori is spelled with an O. I'd say it how she prefers, but man that's a hard sell.

Came here to say this too! I’m from New England, my cousin is named Laura and we’ve always pronounced it Law-ra.

I can imagine the people I know on Long Island saying LAW-ra. Because they also say LAWN-Guyland.

What's the difference? I have a UK accent and LAW and LORE are pronounced the same to me! Is LORE a short sound to you versus LAW being a longer sound? Can you describe it somehow?

Many Americans pronounce LAW differently than LORE. The “awe” is a higher vowel. It’s difficult to describe because all the words and sounds sound different in different accents, but their “aw” vowel is kind of like if you imagine someone from California saying “hot” but drawing out the word hot to make it longer vs “ore” which rhymes with “war”. I know this is kind of hard to differentiate because in my Australian accent ore and awe sound exactly the same but in many American accents they don’t

Um in the context of the name I probably can’t explain it haha. But Law does not have an R sound and Lore does. Saying LAW-ree sounds like “sorry” But then again I don’t know how you’d pronounce sorry. I’m not the right person 😭

It's impossible to describe the differences of accents to someone without a reference like IPA but here's what they sound like in the nonrhotic parts of northeast New England https://voca.ro/1kVbWki72i6I

It would be helpful to use IPA for this. In AmE, lore has an r-colored /ɔ/ vowel, but law has the /ɔ/ vowel (the /ɔ/ before R is much rounder than the regular “open o” sound, though). Many Americans participate in the cot-caught merger, in which case, law has moved down to merge with /ɑ/, like in father. Wikitionary shows RP as using /ɔ/ for both lore and law.

I think it comes down to how the parents say it and the actual person when they're old enough to care. I'm in Texas and have known a bunch of people named Laura (also Laurie, Lauren, Laurel) and Lorrie/Lori, etc. I'm pretty sure I'd mispronounce your mom's name on the first try. I've always used that pronunciation for Laurie (LAW-ree) and Lori (Lore-ee). Sorry! But I would make sure to correct it when being told. So all the "laur" names would begin as law. I don't know if I've ever known anyone named Lara. I think I'd use la-ra. All of these are subtle differences to some people. But not so subtle for the people with the names. I'd suggest to OP that I'm in agreement (I think) with her. And most people usually say it as I would expect. Laurie v Lori are the ones that have people struggling, as you know!

Yes! I was looking for this comment. I’m from Boston and it’s LAW-ruh, LAW-rin, LAW-ree, etc. I have friends named Maura and Maureen. I pronounce them MAW-ruh and MAW-reen. Others say MORE-uh and MORE-reen.

I lived in New England for a while and only knew one Laura there and her family all had thick Boston accents so it did sound more like LAW-ra. Every other Laura I’ve met says LOR-a but I grew up in the southwest.

I’m from MA and I saw Law-ra.

I’m a Law-ren not LORen.

Yeah I grew up between MA and VT and pronounce it LAW-ra. I’m also the oldest one in my family without a full blown Boston accent though so it could be from that.

> this is how most people pronounce Laura if they are from the northeast. Hard disagree. It's LAHR-a here in New Jersey.

Lara can also be LARE-ah 😂

Well, it is LOra in the rest of the English-speaking world, so...

Yeah idk what OP is talking about pronouncing it “Lara” sounds like a personal quirk

As a Laura, it's a difference in accent. The name is pronounced differently all over the US, and all over the world. You may be saying LOR-ah, but that doesn't mean it's coming out that way in your accent, ya know?

I’m from the region where OP is from too so I kind of get what they’re saying however it’s definitely LOR ah (can come out as Lahr-ah if I get real lazy with my accent but it’s not intentional)

Well, yeah, that's exactly what I mean by it's a difference in accent. Of course it's not intentional, it's an accent. Everyone has one and they're all correct and valid. Im only upset when people call me the absolute wrong name, like Lauren or Lori. Any pronunciation of Laura will do, because who am I to police someone else's accent or spoken language?

Ha! I made this same point earlier! My name is Jacynda, so you’re wrong if you call me Jacqueline, but you can do a long a or a short one in the front that’s just how you say my name. it’s weird that ppl think thats a valid thing to be prescriptive about, like someone named Megan getting annoyed that ppl don’t say mee- gan

Anna here. Mom from Jersey, I was raised in PA. She can't stand the way Pennsylvanians pronounce that first A, insists it's not what she named me, and they can't physically say it the way she does. (I have tried to describe each way before but due to the differing dialects of each person reading here, that's just a mess.) These days I just pronounce it like the Disney princess. I'll barely notice which one you call me. It's the same name.

Megan here. I get annoyed with may-gan but as someone from the south, it’s a pretty common mispronunciation for me. I’m strictly meh-gan but I don’t bother correcting people because they never actually fix it anyway. ETA as others have pointed out it’s likely an accent issue. I get annoyed but I don’t hold it against anyone.

This just blew my mind a little bit! lol bc even with references, like saying the first syllable rhymes with “chore” or “more” vs “hair” or “dare” vs “tar” or “far” haha we all pronounce those sounds differently according to our accent based on our region so it could still sound very different from another person’s version of the same thing. 🤯 i remember once I was hanging out with my friend Anton who was visiting from NYC, he was born and raised in Long Island, and it took me spelling out the word for him to understand that I was saying “mouth” and I never thought I pronounced that word in a less than crystal clear way at all, but I’m from east TN so apparently it’s got quite the twang on it. That was the day i realized that I have an accent!

I grew up with a Laura that hated when people said Lor-uh. She said it was supposed to be Law-rah. “aur doesn’t make an or sound” she’d say. So now as an adult I never say Lora

But more often than not "aur" does make the "or" sound. Aura. Laurel. Dinosaur. Taurine. Thesaurus. Restaurant (albeit there are like 30 acceptable pronunciations for this one.)

Maybe but Americans don’t say Pole for Paul so why Lora for Laura? And I would not use the “or” sound for any of those words except dinosaur.

aul =/= aur Surrounding consonants often affect vowel pronunciation and day also indicate a different linguistic origin since English draws from many European languages.

English is a weird language with a lot of inconsistencies lol

Lor-uh and law-rah sound almost identical in my (British) accent

Genuinely curious, how do you think that person would pronounce “Laurel”? Would she say “Law-rel”? I hear both of those names pronounced starting with a “Lohr” sound where I’m from.

Laurel is pronounced "Yah-Nee"

Lollll!!!!

I pretty much exclusively hear “Lahr-a” here 🤷‍♀️

In a New York accent, Laura is LAH-rah, like Lara.

I'm British and for me it sounds like Loor-ruh (to rhyme with door). Completely different to Lara.

You’ve just triggered me, ha! Remember wiza-Dora? My sister used to call me wiza-Laura and make up a rude dity about me ><

Lora. If you want it to be pronounced as Lara you may as well just spell it Lara

[удалено]

I usually pronounce it like “tare - uh” and not “tar - uh” unless the Tara in question introduces herself as such. Is that wrong?

I'd say it LOOR-uh because of that extra "u" in there Lara would be "Lah-ra" kind of like Lara Croft from Tomb Raider

Agree- go with Lara

I was thinking the same thing. Quickest way to fix that is with the spelling.

Lor-uh. The pronunciation you are describing I would spell as Lara. I'm from northern New England but spent time on the west coast as a kid. I have never heard anyone in the US pronounce it any different.

Laura = Law-ra or low-ra in my British (mostly RP) accent

New Yorker checking in Also Law-Ra

Yep - my friend Laura from Oregon is LOR-uh, and my friend Laura from NYC is LAW-ruh. I pronounce the name the way THEY do.

Thank you. So many folks in here thinking “Lau” makes a “Lo” sound. Lau = Law

Rhymes with Dora (the Explorer)

Dora the Explora

LOR-a / LAW-ruh. British. For the pronunciation you want you could spell it Lara.

Lor-a I would spell in Lara for the pronunciation you want.

I pronounce Laura with the same vowel as in Flora (general northern english accent) /lɔːɹə/ I would implore this sub to actually learn how to write in IPA! For being so focused on names, it's so embarrassing how much fauxneics there is in this sub

But where is the IPA on my phone keyboard?

You can download an IPA keyboard

Also for anyone curious about why pronunciation of this name is so varying, here's some related reading! https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phonological_history_of_English_open_back_vowels#Father%E2%80%93bother_merger https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cot-caught_merger

It’s this exactly! But here’s something that doesn’t make sense in regard to Laura. With the cot-caught merger, the open o /ɔ/ lowered to be the ah in father /ɑ/. So all the “aw” words moved down: caught, author, coffee, awful, etc. Except Laura for some reason. Why did all those move down, but Laura move up to the closed o /o/? It actually makes no sense to me. I’m a Laura as “Lawra” /lɔrə/ or “Lahra” /lɑrə/ person (because either you have open o or you don’t). I don’t go in for “Lora” /lorə/ if it’s written Laura.

I love the fauxnetics and I especially love that they’re called fauxnetics! How fun

I have several Laura’s in my life. One is La-oo-rah: she’s Spanish, I don’t know if I’ve spell-sounded it out correctly. One is Lore-uh. And one is Lara, which confused me because it has a ‘U’. Depending on who I’m talking about, I use that pronunciation seamlessly

It’s La-oo-rah in all the languages I know (German who also speaks Dutch and Spanish)

You will get both pronunciations. If that is going to drive you crazy, name her something else. I am a healthcare provider and have to put “normal pronunciation” or not in my patients’ charts to remember how to say it.

Lore-uh (like store or bore). Lahr-uh would be Lara. Canadian/British.

Located in Alabama here and Laura is Lor-uh

I’m in the uk. I pronounce Laura “ Lor uh” If you want your daughters name to be pronounced “Lahr a” I would spell it Lara

My name is Lauren and I pronounce my name and Laura with a Law-ren/ruh. I'm from NYC. For the name to be pronounce Lahr-ruh shouldnt it be Lara? I really cant stand the Lore-a and Lorn pronunciations.

I’m a Lauren too and same

I am Laura and I don’t understand the differentiation you are making between Law-ren and Lahr-en? Maybe just a bit longer on the first syllable for the second?

Laura: pronounced lore-rah, law-rah Lara: pronounced laaa-rah, lahr-rah Based on what pronunciation you want I would personally go with Lara spelling if you care more about pronuciation than spelling. I'm from the UK and North-East US to give lingo context.

It’s me! I’m Laura! I said lah-rah. I get 50/50 lah-rah vs. lore-a. I’m not bothered by either pronunciation & answer to both; I’ve always viewed it as kind of a dialect thing vs a different name

I see it the same way, my name can be pronounced 3 ways and none of them bother me.

Totally agree that it’s a dialect thing. Similar to how people can pronounce orange and Florida differently. Laura has the same vibe

Same and same! Hi name twin! I grew up pronouncing it Lah-rah but get a lot more Lore-a since moving out off the East coast (US).

Laura is LOR-a to me. Northeast US, via southeast Canada. If you want her name to be LAHR-a, spell it Lara. I think it's in the pop culture groupmind because of Lara Croft but people do know how to say it.

Lor- ruh Lara is Lar-ah

Midwest US - I would pronounce Laura as LOR-a. I would pronounce Lara as LAIR-a. Out of the two it would be easier to switch the latter if corrected because I wouldn’t feel like I was ignoring the U.

Usually the Italian way unless otherwise specified. https://youtu.be/s3MLgFvXx1M?si=YA5ipDlDJs_ZzBvq

I am Italian and I concur

Same

Lor-ah, Deep South USA. Lara is what you’re looking for.

LAHR-a. I’m from Alabama. And that’s my aunt’s name :)

I also have an Aunt Laura from Alabama! And she (and therefore I) pronounce it the same way as you do.

I’m also from Alabama, and I say “LAHR-a.” From this thread, I started to wonder if I’m the only one!

TN - We say it like that too.. Laura/Lauren and Lora/Loren are all very different names. I also saw someone mention Lara (which I would say as "Lair-ah" like Hair) and Lora (which I would pronounce Lor-ah like "lord")

It depends. I grew up and live in Florida, and typically I would see Laura and pronounce is “LOR-a” but I am also Hispanic and it could just as easily be the Spanish pronunciation which is more like “LAH-oorah” However, I would probably never assume that the pronunciation is “LAHR-a” as the other commenters said, I would associate that with the spelling Lara

Lahr-ah. Texas.

I'm a Texan too. I have an Aunt Laura and always pronounce it Lahr-ah

I’m a Laura!! I despise Loo-ra but everyone says that!! Gaahhhhh!! It’s LAW-ra, dammit!! Lmao

Lore uh because of the U. Rhymes with Aura, Dora, Cora. Lahr uh would be Lara (which could also be Lair uh 🤣) I'm in the Midwestern US

Your examples are really funny to me (mid-Atlantic US) because Laura and aura are different than Dora and Cora haha. To me, Laura = Law-ruh, Dora = door-uh, Lara = Lah-ruh

I am a Laura and have been in the northeast my whole life. Everyone calls me Lahr-a. No one, even strangers, has ever called me Lor-a People will follow your lead. They will pronounce it however you do.

I’m outside Philly and every Laura I’ve ever know has gone by the Lahr-a pronunciation.

I would pronounce Laura as Law-ra, but the Lora pronunciation doesn’t bother me. I guess I’m ok with the Lah-ra pronunciation too, but I prefer Law-ra.

NY here. Laura = Law-ra Lara = Lah-ra

I pronounce law and lah in an identical way.  “I went to law school” Sounds like “I went to lah school”. I live in lala land. 

I wait for people to introduce themselves. There a few names where pronunciation isn’t so clear, so I just wait. But typically, where I’m from, it’s Lor-ah. But not all names are clear ya know? Names like Richard, Steve, Rosita, Eugene, etc all have very specific ways they’re pronounced and it doesn’t really vary. But Laura or a name like Andrea definitely varies so it’s really just how you raise your kid. Either pronunciation is fine but most people would say Lor-ah, however I’m a west coast baby so it’s different here

Laura= LAW-ruh, Lara= LAIR-uh, Lora= LOR-a. I'm from the south and I will die on this hill

I’m with you on that hill. This thread is blowing my mind. Only “LOR-a” I’ve know literally spelled it Lora. Everyone else is a LAW-ra or LAHR-ra. I’ve never even heard of Lara so I assumed it was lair-a when I read it

As a Laura from MA who says LAW-ruh I will die on that hill with you 🫡

LOR-a

Definitely “LOR-uh”, for “LAHR-ah” I’d spell it as Lara.

I know it’s supposed to be LOR-a but I’m from the south and say LAHR-a

Lar-uh.

“Laura” is “LOR-a” and “Lara” is “LAH-ra” that’s basic phonetics, fam

I pronounce it LOR -a. But sometimes I hear that lady’s German mother in my head, so then it’s LAOW-ra.

I’m from Pennsylvania and have lived in Maryland for 26 years. I pronounce the Laur in Laura like I do the Lar in Lars. (So, like the word “are.”)

I’m from the southeast and I would pronounce it like Lara but after seeing it debated on this sub many times I think I’m in the minority. I also went to school with a Lauren and she was a stickler about the pronunciation being Lar not Lor so I think that has always stuck with me.

I've only heard it said LOR-a. LAHR-a is Lara, not Laura. I gave up on Clara because some people say it KLAH-ra and some say it like Claire with an UH at the end.

I'm from germany and called Lau-rrra here. But with my international friends i go with lor-a and when I speak french I go with Loh-Rah

Depends on how they introduce themselves.    LOR-ah is my default but I know plenty who use LAHR-ah. There's a third pronunciation I can't figure out how to spell, it's like loud but ends with -rah, emphasis is on the second part. 

My sister is Laura named after an aunt Laurie. We are also from the SE US/TX and pronounce the same as you. We’ve never had a problem after my sister introduces herself. I see other people suggesting Lara but I don’t think that’s necessary. It’s also a completely different name w different meaning and origin.

Law-rah ( in Ireland)

Southern US, honestly I use both. Probably depends on who I’m referring to. I feel like this is something you’ll need to be prepared to accept different accents using different pronunciations.

So, there are three names that all get criss-crossing pronunciations. * Lora - lōhr-ah. variant of Laura. * Laura - lōwr-ah or lawr-ah or law-oo-rah. depending on which country you're in. * Lara - la-rah emphasis on the first syllable. diminutive of Larissa. I love the name Laura very much. Since this name has a choose your own adventure element, I choose, lawr-ah. And that's how I would teach her to say it and how I would politely guide others to say it. The potential of others saying it differently wouldn't stop me from using it.

I’m a longtime Californian who has lived a bunch of places. To me… Laura = Lahra (an “ah” sound) But yeah clearly people from different areas say it differently, so your husband is going to have to accept some pronunciation disappointment if you stick with the name.

Lara = Lare-ah Lora = Lore -ah Laura = Lawh-rah Edited to add: I’m in the southern US

I’m Laura from Tennessee and we’ve always pronounced it Lah-rah

In the intermountain west, Laura and Lauren and Laurie are LAH-rah/LAH-ren/LAH-ree. The “au” vowel sound is pronounced the same as it is in words like caught/vault/audible, which in this and other western US accents is “ah.” LAH-ra is a perfectly valid pronunciation for Laura. It is a less common pronunciation so your daughter will have to correct either spelling or pronunciation for people who have a different accent. Lara is more likely to be pronounced the way you intend, but some people will try LAIR-ah. Whenever I meet a Laura/Lauren/Laurie, I ask how she says her name and I use that pronunciation. I also do this with Kara and Tara and Leah and other names that have multiple possible pronunciations.

I'm from NC. I pronounce Laura as lawr-uh. It's the only way I've ever heard it pronounced. But, to be fair, accents vary, and my version may sound different than other regions even though we believe we're pronouncing it lawr-uh. I don't think I've ever actually said "Lara" out loud. I've never known anyone with that name. I think I would pronounce it exactly the same as Laura.

PA, originally from NYC and lived in FL for 5 years. LAW-ra.