Dara might have trouble, because it was a girl's name with some popularity (ranked in the 600s) in the 70s and 80s. That's quite low, but you're right, it will read "girl" to most Americans.

The next question would be pronunciation. Many Americans would gravitate to "DARE-ah" while it's (I'm guessing) closer to a "dah-rah" pronunciation. But that point might be minor.

You've found a name that matches your combined heritage, and that's great. Things that would help is making sure he has a traditional male middle name (so he can be D. Michael Smith or whatever if he needs to be) or having a good nickname (Dare? Too strong, probably) to fall back on.

I've only known one Dara and she's in her 40s. But I agree that the name will read girl to most Americans. How a boy in 2020 will feel about this is hard to predict--do you live in a cosmopolitan area? Will there be other children with "foreign" names around? In my kids' school, a male Dara would not stand out, but there are boys named Jaidyn, Rickelme, Lafavia, and Niki in their classes. If you're in an area with very few immigrants or adventurous namers, this might be more problematic. (Of course, so much will depend on your son's personality, which you can't yet know.)

Dara definitely reads as a girl's name, especially since the -a ending is feminine in the Romance languages.  Plus I think it's a girl's name in Hebrew? 

I'm first generation Irish American, and I've never heard it for a boy. 

But I can definitely understand the benefits of something easy to pronouce that comes from both heritages independently!  It might well be worth it.

Well, I do think it will read as a girl's name to most (it does to me, even though I already knew it was a masculine name in Ireland).  But I don't think it's so popular or widespread as a girls' name that the presumption couldn't be overcome, and I agree it would be very helpful to have a clearly masculine middle name that he could put on official documents, resumes, etc. to give people a hint that he's male.  I think it would be an uphill battle, something that would require frequent correction/clarification--but you have a good reason for using it, and male names ending in -a are becoming more popular lately (e.g. Luca, Noah, Isaiah, Micah, etc.), so it's not like it would be too incomprehensible for people.  My husband has a name that is neither clearly male nor female, and he has always been proud of his name becuase of its cultural and personal meaning, despite the logistical problems it has sometimes created.  If Dara is similarly meaningful to you, then I think it is something your son may appreciate in the long run.

Well, Dana is both male and female, so Dara isn't too far off from that.

I think it's fine. I agree that most people will probably guess female from just reading the name but I don't think it can't be used. As pointed out above, there are quite a few currently popular boys names ending in A.

I think the fact that it's meaningful to both of your combined heritages should be good enough to use it. A clearly masculine middle name is a good idea and will give your son options should he not want to use it down the track.

For the record, I like the idea of the name Dara on a boy and think it could be very dashing. 

Thanks for the well-reasoned replies!  We've had the same concerns about pronunciation and perceived gender.  We're in a Northeastern city, so plenty of diversity in names along with large Irish and Cambodian populations.  We'll keep looking for now, but Dara's definitely in the running for a first or middle name.      

I can't give an American perspective, but Dara makes me think of the male Irish comedian Dara O Briain, so I can definitely see it working on a boy or man, especally once people know his heritage.

I've known two girls named Dara and no boys, so I'm afraid it reads mostly girl to me. I think it would also read girl to most people who haven't heard it, just because of all the rhyming girls' names—Cara/Kara, Tara, Sara, Mara, Lara, etc. 

However—have you considered using the Irish spelling Darragh? It would probably still be ambiguous to some people, but I think it's a step above Dara, which would signal girl to most. And spelling shouldn't matter for the Khmer version of the name, as anything is a transliteration from Khmer script anyway. If you live in an area with lots of Irish-Americans, then the spelling Darragh with an Irish surname should clearly signal that this is an Irish boys' name and not a Hebrew girls' name.

I think it's great to find a name that fits both your heritages so perfectly, so honestly I would recommend going ahead and using it (in either spelling, though I prefer Darragh) despite gender confusion—just be aware that it will happen, and maybe prepare your son with some canned responses to "but that's a girls' name!", etc.