I adore the name [name]Mary[/name], both the sound of it and the figure it historically represents. But it’s so bleeding popular! It’s not necessarily trendy like [name]Isabella[/name] or [name]Sophie[/name] or the like, but it’s a classic and consistently stays in the top.
Oddly enough, I’ve only met one [name]Mary[/name] in my life.
I’m a fan of hyphenated names, so I’ve thought of pairing it with a family name to make it more distinctive: [name]Mary[/name]-[name]Frances[/name], [name]Mary[/name]-[name]Elizabeth[/name], [name]Mary[/name]-[name]Alice[/name], [name]Mary[/name]-[name]Lorraine[/name], [name]Mary[/name]-[name]Louise[/name]. I’d likely call them the full name. For those who think [name]Mary[/name]-[name]Elizabeth[/name] sounds like a mouthful, you’re right! But I knew an [name]Alexandra[/name]-[name]Marie[/name], and we never shortened it or had difficulties saying the whole thing. Occasionally we called her [name]Alex[/name]-[name]Marie[/name]. Maybe a [name]Mary[/name]-[name]Elizabeth[/name] could be [name]Mary[/name]-[name]Liz[/name]? (Hate [name]Mary[/name]-[name]Beth[/name] passionately). Are you strongly opposed to hyphens? [name]How[/name] do you lot feel about them in general?
I can’t really with names even in the top 1000. I’ve been 100% scarred by being called the number one name of my year of birth. There were at least three of me in every class, and growing up I always called myself random things, which hurt my mum’s feelings, but I couldn’t stand it at all.
([name]Courtney[/name], by the by. I still hate it, and to this very day, I go by something else entirely).
[name]Mary[/name] is I think the only name on my list that’s in the top 1000.
So I guess I’m looking for alternatives to [name]Mary[/name]? Not a fan of [name]Maria[/name], but am open to any other suggestions.
[name]Malia[/name], [name]Maura[/name], and [name]Moira[/name] are all international versions of [name]Mary[/name]. [name]Malia[/name] is currently number 314, but the other two aren’t in the top 1000.
Of your ideas, I like [name]Mary[/name] [name]Elizabeth[/name] the best.
[name]Mary[/name] is “bleeding popular”? Really? I don’t know where you live but [name]Mary[/name] has been falling in popularity for awhile now. Last year in the US, [name]Mary[/name] was No# 112 (that’s only 2,671 girls in the whole country were named [name]Mary[/name]. Compare that figure to the No# 1 name of [name]Sophia[/name] with 21,695 girls). [name]Even[/name] [name]Molly[/name], which is often a nn for [name]Mary[/name], was higher at No# 78 (3,588 girls). [name]Mary[/name] WAS No# 1 between the years 1912 to 1961 as per the SSA website but it’s certainly not a popular choice now. I think you’re eliminating so many wonderful choices from consideration if you don’t even look at names in the top 1,000 (eg. [name]Damaris[/name] was No# 1,000 with only 250 girls. I don’t think that’s too high a number, do you?). If you love [name]Mary[/name], then I would encourage you to choose it. It would be refreshing to hear a little [name]Mary[/name] in the playground nowadays.
There’s the embellished versions like [name]Mariel[/name] (I love that), [name]Mariella[/name] and [name]Marietta[/name]. You could consider something that relates to the Virgin [name]Mary[/name], or has the same ‘mar’ sound like…
Alona
Altagracia
Arama
[name]Dolores[/name]
[name]Guadalupe[/name]
Launda
Leira
[name]Lera[/name]
[name]Lola[/name]
[name]Lolita[/name]
[name]Maire[/name]
[name]Maira[/name]
[name]Maisie[/name]
[name]Molly[/name]
[name]Malia[/name]
Marelda
[name]Maralyn[/name]
[name]Mara[/name]
[name]Mia[/name]
[name]Mari[/name]
[name]Maribel[/name]
[name]Marissa[/name]
[name]Marina[/name]
[name]Mariah[/name]
[name]Mariam[/name]
[name]Marion[/name]
[name]Mariana[/name]
Marianda
[name]Marian[/name]
Maricia
Maricruz
[name]Marie[/name] (Would be nice to see this as a first name)
[name]Mariette[/name]
[name]Marigold[/name]
[name]Marika[/name]
[name]Maris[/name]
[name]Marisa[/name]
[name]Marisol[/name]
[name]Marlon[/name]
[name]Maura[/name]
[name]May[/name] (diminiutive of [name]Mary[/name])
[name]Mercy[/name]
[name]Mercedes[/name]
[name]Mimi[/name]
[name]Mitzi[/name]
[name]Moira[/name]
[name]Molara[/name]
[name]Naiara[/name]
[name]Polly[/name]
[name]Sadie[/name] (Diminiutive of [name]Mercedes[/name] as well as [name]Sarah[/name])
I don’t think [name]Mary[/name] is popular at all! But we have very different opinions on what constitutes a popular name…so some of these will be in the top 1000, but I’ll try to avoid top 200 or so…
[name]Martha[/name]: I’m quickly becoming a cheerleader for [name]Martha[/name]/[name]Marta[/name]. Such an underused classic.
[name]Meryl[/name]
[name]Miriam[/name]
[name]Mara[/name]
[name]Amara[/name]
[name]Mariah[/name]
[name]Marcie[/name]
[name]Mercy[/name]
I love double names too. [name]One[/name] I saw on here recently and loved was [name]Mary[/name]-[name]Quinn[/name]. I love [name]Mary[/name]-[name]Louise[/name] on your list.
[name]Mary[/name]-[name]Elise[/name]
[name]Mary[/name]-[name]Adele[/name]
[name]Mary[/name]-[name]Isis[/name]
[name]Mary[/name]-[name]Viola[/name]
I don’t think [name]Mary[/name] is popular at all. I don’t know a [name]Mary[/name] under the age of 35. So, if you love it, I’d use it! Or if it is very popular where you live, what about [name]Merry[/name]?
I love [name]Marie[/name] personally, and I like [name]Mary[/name]-[name]Kate[/name] and [name]Mary[/name]-[name]Claire[/name]. Oh! And there’s [name]Mara[/name].
I do not think [name]Mary[/name] is that popular, I know two. But, I love the idea of [name]Mary[/name] plus something anyways. I’ve always liked [name]Mary[/name] [name]Kate[/name] myself. I love [name]Mary[/name]-[name]Louise[/name] and [name]Mary[/name]-[name]Elisabeth[/name] from your list. I also like the suggestion of [name]Mary[/name]-[name]Elise[/name]. I also love the name [name]Miriam[/name] which is kind of close and very under-used in my opinion. Also, I love the name [name]Meredith[/name] and you could use the nickname [name]Mara[/name], or [name]Merry[/name].
Thank you everyone for your input and suggestions!
I suppose when I say popular, I mean, “in use”. I’m seriously popular-name phobic because of my own name, and it ends up getting projected on to names that aren’t that common at all.
I love all the international name suggestions, especially [name]Maura[/name] and [name]Moira[/name]. I had no idea those names were versions of [name]Mary[/name].
But now I’m feeling more confident in [name]Mary[/name] as is. I just hope it doesn’t get picked up in this old-name crazy that’s picking up, with names like [name]Edith[/name] and the like (which I like anyway).
For the second name, I’ll probably stick exclusively to family names, and my list is: [name]Elizabeth[/name], [name]Louise[/name], [name]Alice[/name], [name]Frances[/name], [name]Lorraine[/name].
I have a grandmother named Thelmary, heh, maybe I’ll do with that.
[name]LOVE[/name] [name]Miriam[/name] so much. Here are a bunch of names. They’re cut and paste which is why they’re in all caps. [name]Hope[/name] you find some inspiration and if you want a HUGE list on compound [name]Marie[/name] names I can give you one.
If you like [name]Maura[/name] and [name]Moira[/name], I think that [name]Maura[/name] [name]Louise[/name], [name]Maura[/name] [name]Frances[/name] or [name]Moira[/name] [name]Frances[/name] are stunning. I think that both names are familiar enough to be completely usable, but distinct enough to stand on their own (especially if you are popularity-phobic).
PS I love M names so much that I could name a Dugger-sized family (most of which would have [name]Mary[/name] variations)!
My friend’s daughter is [name]Marie[/name], and you barely ever hear that nowadays. It’s beautiful on a little girl and doesn’t take away from the [name]Mary[/name] reference you are looking for. Other than that, I like [name]Mary[/name]-[name]Elizabeth[/name], which is the only one of the hyphenated names that doesn’t sound 1950s. [name]One[/name] of my best friends’ names is [name]Marianne[/name], pronounced “[name]Marry[/name]-anne” rather than [name]Mary[/name]-anne. It’s a classic English name and not as well used in the US. You can find it in the [name]Jane[/name] [name]Austen[/name] book Sense and Sensibility.
What about [name]Mari[/name] spelled with an I? I knew a girl with that spelling once, and it made the name seem fresh. Or you could use [name]May[/name], which is a version of [name]Mary[/name].
I don’t know a single little girl named [name]Mary[/name]- and yet everyone thinks it’s so ‘popular’. [name]True[/name], it is probably the most common name of all time- and yet little girls these days are not being named [name]Mary[/name]. My favorite name for years has been [name]Mary[/name] or [name]Mary[/name]-[name]Frances[/name]. I just adore them!
What about [name]Maren[/name] if you don’t like [name]Mary[/name] itself?
I agree with the other Berries. [name]Mary[/name] is classic and not over used at all. I love hyphenating [name]Mary[/name]. My family has [name]Mary[/name] [name]Margaret[/name], [name]Mary[/name] [name]Elizabeth[/name] and [name]Mary[/name] [name]Sue[/name]! I think [name]Mary[/name]-[name]Katherine[/name] is my favorite. Something unexpected like [name]Mary[/name]-[name]Paige[/name] or [name]Mary[/name]-[name]Blythe[/name] could be fresh.