Why the silly name?
Well, SARA was so-called because it was an SGML Aware Retrieval Application.
Since this is an XML aware ditto, we originally intended to call it Xara
(pronounced "Zara") - indeed it was the name for some time. Then someone unkindly drew our attention to the existence of another piece of software with the same name.
http://www.xara.com/
For a while, we toyed with the idea of calling it X/SARA, or maybe S/XARA, in indirect homage to Roland Barthes' seminal work S/Z. Then common sense prevailed, and we decided to call it Xaira, for XML Aware Indexing and Retrieval Architecture, because that's what it is.
It's pronounced as if it was written "Sarah", but if you want to voice the sibilant a bit more than usual, that's your choice.