Keara as a Baby Name. Meaning and Origin of Keara

What is the meaning of the name Keara ?

The baby name Keara is a Female name , 2 syllables long and is pronounced KEER-ə (IPA: /ˈkɪərə/),KAY-rə (IPA: /ˈkeɪrə/).

Keara is Irish in Origin.

Keara is an Anglicized Irish given name, a phonetic spelling of Ciara (pronounced KEER-uh). Ciara is the feminine counterpart of Ciarán, built on Old Irish ciar, meaning “dark, dusky, black,” often interpreted as “dark-haired.” Thus Keara carries the sense of “dark” or “little dark one.” Despite surface similarity, it is unrelated to Italian Chiara/English Kiara (“bright, clear”).

Use of Ciara goes back to early medieval Ireland and is associated with saintly figures, including the abbess Saint Cera. The Keara spelling arose in the modern Anglophone world, particularly in Ireland, Britain, the United States, and Canada, gaining visibility from the late twentieth century as Irish names spread and as the variant Keira became fashionable in the 2000s. Related forms include Ciara, Keira, Kiera, Keera, and Ciarra; cognate masculine names are Ciarán and its Anglicization Kieran. Kira and Kyra sometimes appear as variants but also have distinct Russian and Greek origins.