March 7:
Most people think that my parents were just creative spellers who decided to be cute and leave the "U" out of Laura when they named me. But I'm here to tell the world that it just isn't so! Not only is "Lara" its own name, with its own derivation (Russian) and meaning (citadel; shining one), but you won't even find "Lara" on the variant spelling list of "Laura", nor will you find "Laura" on the variant spelling list of "Lara".
If my name was 10 letters long, I'd understand, but somehow the way those four letters comes together seems to confound everyone, even my good friends who have known me for years. I try not to care when I get yet another email addressed, "Hi Laura!" But truth is, I do care. I instantly feel a pang of worry that somehow that person doesn't care as much as I thought they did, especially when they don't correct themselves.
Please spread the word that it means a lot to people, especially to people with more unusually spelled names, that spelling matters!
My name is L-A-R-A, which is not interchangeable with Laura!
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Laura:
The name Laura is a Latin baby name. In Latin the meaning of the name Laura is: Laurel tree or sweet bay tree (symbols of honour and victory).
Lara:
The name Lara is a Russian baby name. In Russian the meaning of the name Lara is: Citadel (protection); Shining one.
Thankfully people don't spell my first name wrong, but occasionally I will see someone spell my last name wrong when we are emailing me and my display name clearly has it spelled correctly. Hilariously, it is not too uncommon to see Karey's name spelled wrong when people are commenting on your status on Facebook. I always think to myself, her name is right there. Right freaking there.
ReplyDeleteAlso Dad has messaged me several times asking about Larry. Autocorrect makes me look like a different kind of guy, you know, married to someone named Larry.
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