How would you pronounce these names: Lora, Laura, and Lara?
(I say the first syllables sound like lore, law, and scare, respectively. My wife says that both Lora and Laura are pronounced lore-uh, and Lara is pronounced law-ruh. She denies that there’s any such name as lehr-uh. 
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Lara Spencer of “The Insider” pronounces it “Lair-ah.”
I’ve never seen Lora.
Lor-a, Lor-a, and Lah-ra, respectively. The first two are homynyms, the third is not.
Laura=law ruh
Lara=lar uh
(subtle difference, basically Lara is pronounced without the pronounced u and with less of a pause)
Lora=lore ah
IMHO, at least.
Lore-ae, Lore-ae, Lair-ae (where the ‘ae’ is the short flat ‘a’ as in ‘cat’, not ‘a’ as in ‘father’. The first two are the same.
Lora and Laura are NOT homonyms. Lora has a longer o sound, Laura has a softer “aw” sound.
Lora is Lor-ah. Laura is Law-ra. Lara is Lai-ra or Laa-ra (Lae-ra?)
Looks like there’s support for both sides. Maybe it’s a regional thing?
Definitely a regional thing. Wait until the Brits and Aussies sign on…
My wife’s name is Lara, and it’s pronounced LAH-ruh. She wishes to dash Lara Spencer’s parents heads against a very hard wall, because now she’s getting her name mispronounced more often.
Lora and Laura are the same to me (“Lore-uh”) and Lara is different (“Law-ra”.)
Never seen “Lora” before.
In my experience, “Laura” is LOW-rah (first syllable is like “lore”) and “Lara” is LAH-rah (first syllable has same vowel sound as “lock”).
I renamed my wife. 
Her father called her Law-ra. From the moment I started dating her I called her “Lor-a”.
I’ve known one Lora. She pronounced her name “LAW-ruh”, but I’d say “LORE-uh” if I just saw “Lora” in a random context and had to read the word out loud.
My cousin Laura is definitely a “LAW-ruh”, so that’s how I pronounce that particular spelling unless corrected. If the bearer is a native speaker of Spanish, though, she’s likely to prefer “LAU-rrah” (“lau” rhyming with “how”), with the “r” rolled so much it almost sounds like a “d”.
I don’t recall ever knowing a Lara, but I’ve heard “LARR-uh” and “LAIR-uh” about equally. I’d probably say “LAIR-uh” if I were reading the word aloud. However, the first name of video game/movie character Lara Croft sounds like “LAW-ruh” when I hear it in commercials, so I’d guess that pronunciation has become the preference of a plurality (if not majority) – at least in circles where the Tomb Raider is known.
Follow-up question: Does the way you pronounce “Tara” depend on the way you pronounce “Lara”?
I used to work with a girl named Laura who would grill anyone who pronounced her name incorrectly. We made outbound calls to set up appointments and this conversation was heard at least 30 times a day:
“Hello, this is Laura Smith, is Mr. X available?”
“No, it’s LOW-ruh, not LORE-ah. LOW-ruh Smith…is Mr. X available? He is? OK, I’ll hold…”
“Hi, Mr. X, this is Laura Smith with The Widget Company…uh, no, that’s LOW-ruh Smith, sir, LOW-ruh, not LORE-ah. As I was saying…”
:rolleyes:
Lora and Laura sound the same to me (lore-uh).
However, Lara to me the would be similar to the male name Lars. First syllable rhymes with bar. Lar-uh.
I’d think it might, since my instinct is to say both to rhyme with “Sarah” (I hope nobody pronounces that name “SAHR-uh”). However, I’m fully aware that the Stanford women’s basketball coach is “TAHR-uh”, not “TAIR-uh”.
There was one girl named Laura whose name I pronounced “law ra” (you’d have to know her to understand) but most of the time Laura is just like it’s spelled. Lora has more of a longer “o” sound and Lara is as above.
“Tara” is like “Sarah”, although I think the hill in Ireland is not pronounced that way.
A Laura checking in here to agree with you.
And don’t call me “Laurie”. :mad:
Lora= Low-ra
Laura= Law-ruh
Lara= La-ruh
My roommate’s name is Lauren and half the time when I say it, it comes out something like, “Lorn”. Friggin’ Bakersfield accent.