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I have heard this name as a female name in South India, and probably also in Thailand. The origin is certainly Sanskrit, and as a guess would be related to the word caraNa, feet, from car, to move (there are possible cognates in Greek). Offerring of devotion (and material things) was often placed at the feet of the deity: looking upon the face was a privilege.

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Grammatically, the masculine/feminine versions of a word like this in Sanskrit would be caraNya/caraNyA which differ only in the pronounciation of the last -a (a-bout versus c-a-r).