[snuggles]

My husband and I are planning to name our baby Karilyn. We thought the pronuciation was Kary + Lynn, but many of our friends from Europe and US says they would read it a "Carolyn". Any English expert mums out there? Thanks!

[carang]

i'm from canada and i would have said- carrie-lynn...but my mum's name is wenonah and my daughter's middle name is sinead (shin-aid) so, maybe i'm not the best person to ask!

name your daughter whatever you like. just make sure you correct people if the say it incorrectly. my son's name is liam and i'm always correcting people that call him william.

[spockey]

Snuggles... my hubby is German and he's just told me that it's the Eastern German spelling for the U.S/English pronunciation for Carolyn. Hence, when I asked, he pronounced it as Carolyn.

when I first saw the spelling, I (am English/Australian) educated, pronounced it Carrie-lyn like CaraNg did.

Honestly though, spell and pronounce however you like as it's your special bub.

[capital]

I am canadian, when I first saw the name I thought "carolyn"

[Matty]

I'm Australian, and I would think it was just a unusual spelling of Carolyn.
Maybe you could hyphenate it? Kari-Lyn

[Sleuth]

I'm American and I thought Kare-i-lyn. I think it is the middle "i" that makes the difference. Why would you see that "i" and pronounce it like "o"? kar-I-lyn, car-O-lyn. But the sound is close and you are looking more for "kar-ee-lyn".
Usually when you have a vowel-consonant-vowel construction, especially in the middle of a longer word, the first vowel is long. In this case "Kar-eye-lyn" doesn't sound right so I corrected to "Kar-ee-lyn".
But I am willing to bet you will hear it both ways forever because it is so close and there is nothing to force the reader into making the "i" into that "ee" sound you are looking for; unless you use the hyphen.
PS. Yes, fourth grade and high school summer school.

[hkaussie]

I would definitely have assumed it was a weird spelling of 'carolyn'.

Sleuth, your pronunciation logic only applies if you're American (I guess?). Australians don't pronounce the 'o' in Carolyn, it's more of a schwa, so it's understandable to assume Karilyn was pronounced the same. We also wouldn't say 'care' for 'kar' in a name. EG, my friend Kara nearly always gets 'Car-a' from Australians and Britons, but 'kair-a' from Americans/Canadians.

Snuggles, if you really want the baby to be called 'Kari-Lynn' and not have to always correct people, then maybe spell it as it sounds. It's a made up name anyway, right?

Our friends' little girl is named Zara but you pronounce it 'Sarah'. I find that very confusing and can't see the point of spelling it a different way to how you want it to be pronounced.

[loupou]

Other alternatives if you're really into that pronunciation:

1) Carrie Lynn
2) Carrie-lyn
3) Carrie-lynn
4) Karree-lynn
5) Karee-lyn