Alternative to Maria/Marianna/Mary

Girl Names
1

My husband and I both have very different ideas when it comes to picking names. We haven’t confirmed whether we are having a boy or a girl, but we’ve already go the name for a boy figured out.

What I need help with is a name for a girl.

His mother and grandmother were both named [name]Maria[/name] and it is important to him to have the name incorporated somehow. I am not a fan of naming children after people directly. Names with similar meanings or variations of a particular name are great but the exact same name, [name]IMO[/name] doesn’t allow the child an identity of their own.

Our last name is 3 syllables and starts with a K.

The number one name on my list as a first name is [name]Mia[/name] which is a variation of [name]Mary[/name]. As a distant second on the list is [name]Mara[/name].
Are there any other names that I am missing that could possibly work?

2

What about [name]Mariel[/name]/[name]Marielle[/name] or [name]Maris[/name]?

3

[name]Marisol[/name] - nn [name]Mari[/name]

Marzina

also check this list out for variations of Mary: 107 International Variations of Mary | Nameberry

4

Possibly some of these may work?

[name]Mira[/name]
[name]Mirabelle[/name]
[name]Josephine[/name] - … hear me out on this one, it’d be a bit of a stretch but if you are religious, you could link mary/joseph/josephine?.. yeah it’s a stretch
[name]Maya[/name]
[name]Marilyn[/name]
[name]Ava[/name]? - [name]Ave[/name] [name]Maria[/name]?
[name]Marin[/name]
[name]Mariel[/name]/le - like [name]Mary[/name]-elle
[name]Marie[/name]
[name]Marigold[/name]
[name]Merritt[/name] - similar sound
[name]Marisol[/name]
[name]Marta[/name]
[name]Marabel[/name]
[name]Marcheline[/name]
[name]Mariah[/name]
[name]Maire[/name]
[name]Moira[/name]
[name]Maura[/name]
[name]Marietta[/name]
[name]Mayra[/name]
[name]Marilee[/name]
[name]May[/name]

That is all I can think of, or find that are sort of modern/nice sounding. Good luck!

P.S. I was hoping to find a name with similar meaning but [name]Maria[/name] is a variation of [name]Mary[/name] which means bitter. Boo.

5

[name]Marisa[/name], [name]Mara[/name], [name]Mariah[/name]

[name]Polly[/name], [name]Molly[/name]- past nicknames for [name]Mary[/name]
[name]Rosemary[/name]
[name]Mamie[/name]
[name]Mitzi[/name]
[name]Morag[/name]
[name]Meryl[/name]
[name]Marina[/name]

6

I don’t think [name]Maren[/name] has been mentioned yet. Is this for a first name or a middle name?

7

I love the pp’s idea of [name]Maren[/name].

8

[name]Mira[/name] is one of my favorite names ever! It does not really go with my last name, or we would be considering it for our LO. I also liked the suggestion of [name]Polly[/name], which is a unique variant of [name]Mary[/name]. [name]Rosemary[/name] is really nice too! Also, how about [name]Margaret[/name]?

9

What about [name]Miriam[/name]? It’s so lovely and classic. I second the suggestion of [name]Rosemary[/name] or [name]Rosemarie[/name] as well.

10

I love the idea of honoring some one without using their exact name. What about
[name]Mari[/name] (pron. [name]Mar[/name]-ee)
[name]Marly[/name]
[name]Marisa[/name]
[name]Marina[/name]
[name]Moira[/name]
[name]Magdalen[/name] ([name]Mary[/name] [name]Magdalen[/name]) kind of a stretch
[name]Marisol[/name]
[name]Mariposa[/name] ([name]Love[/name] the meaning butterfly) very cute and underused

11

I like [name]Mia[/name] but if you want something less common, you might consider [name]Rosemary[/name], [name]Marigold[/name], or [name]Marilyn[/name].

12

Another Hebrew variation is Merah (rhymes with [name]Sarah[/name])

Also, [name]Marya[/name] (MAHR-ee-ah). I knew a girl with this name growing up, and always thought it was gorgeous. It’s a Russian variation.

Finally, [name]Molly[/name]. I think this is an underused classic, and was a version of [name]Mary[/name] originally.

[name]Mia[/name] is getting very, very, popular, so take that into consideration.

13

[name]Maren[/name], [name]Marya[/name], [name]Amiah[/name], [name]Melia[/name], and I do like [name]Mia[/name]

14

These are all of the female names related to [name]Maria[/name]. As you can see, there are quite a few! I think the previous posters have thought of most of the best suggestions, so I’m posting this really for completeness, but a few of my favourites that I haven’t seen mentioned are:

[name]Mair[/name] (MIER, according to behindthename)
[name]Mairwen[/name] (as above)
[name]Manon[/name] ([name]May[/name]-noh in french; Ma-non is used in other languages)
[name]Mareike[/name]
[name]Marion[/name]
Mhairi (pronounced VA-ree, which would be a problem as a fn but not so much as a mn - not quite correct in gaelic but used anyway)
[name]Miren[/name]

15

[name]Maren[/name] and [name]Mariska[/name] are my favourite variants. [name]Maren[/name] is just gorgeous.