I’m posting on behalf of my sister in law who is expecting a little girl in February. Her hubby wants to give the baby a name that honors his Maori heritage but [name]SIL[/name] is worried about pronunciation problems since they live in the UK and would like some feedback on their top names right now or suggestions.
Fave right now is- Taioma ([name]Ty[/name]-oh-ma), means running with the tide
They also like - Anahira (ah nah HEE rah) means Archangel or angel Aroha ([name]AH[/name] roh ha) means “love” / [name]Love[/name], mercy, pity, compassion and poor Mariama (MAH ree ah mah) means bitter
I think they are all beautiful names! My personal favorites are Taioma and Mariama. I think Mariama would be the easiest to pronounce as well, but its meaning isn’t so pleasant, if they care about that!
I think Anahira is really pretty and I actually had very little difficulty with the prn. I mean there will always be a few people who struggle with it but I think any of those names would make a lovely choice.
Anahira would be my first choice, as well. I don’t know a ton about Maori names, but one of my best friends has a daughter named Avelaine [name]Shirin[/name] Anahira (Anahira as a nod to her late husband’s Maori family), and I think it’s very pretty. I would think Anahira would have the least pronunciation issues, as well. It just seems intuitive to say ah-nah-HEE-rah.
Mariama is pretty, too–I would think that it is the Maori form of [name]Mary[/name]? [name]Hence[/name] the “bitter” meaning.
I think Mariama or Anahira would work wonderfully, too, since they have some very accessible nicknames that are fairly popular/acceptable among Caucasians–[name]Mari[/name] (like MAH-ree), [name]Ari[/name], and even [name]Mia[/name] or [name]Ria[/name] for Mariama, and [name]Ana[/name]/[name]Anna[/name], [name]Annie[/name], and [name]Mira[/name] for Anahira.
My favourite ever Maori girls’ name is Anahera! I prefer it spelt that way. I definitely like the meaning of Taioma though. I’ve never met anyone with that name before. I also prefer Marama to Mariama. It means “moonlight.”
Other Maori names I love are Amiria and Hine (which means “girl” but I think it would commonly be mispronounced as “highn?”)
all the names are so lovely, my fave for you is Aroha but I may be biased my good friend is named Aroha as well as my partners cousin. [name]Both[/name] of the girls are so gorgeous so the name evokes images of beauty for me and also the meaning is love- you cant get any better than that. My friend used to use the nn [name]Rory[/name] but now goes by her proper name. NN [name]Ari[/name] would work too but Aroha is short and sweet enough not to need one.
don’t forget to take into account nicknames. I love Anahira…she would probably get [name]Ana[/name], or Hira both are very pretty. I don’t know if I would want my childs name to mean Bitter. Especially if the reason your naming her it, is to honor your heritage.
Thanks for the input i’ll be pointing her to this thread when I talk to her later I know she’ll appreciate your thoughts.
I’d never really heard many Maori names before and i’m loving finding out all these new names with mostly beautiful meanings. I actually love all 4 of these and am being no help to her whatsoever with narrowing it down. LOL.
I like the suggestion of Marama over Mariama that has a much nicer meaning and thanks for the other suggestions too i’ll be sure to pass them on.
I really like Taioma! Anahira is very beautiful too!
I also like these Maori names:
[name_f]Kiri[/name_f]. I think it’s simple and sweet. It’s Maori for tree bark.
[name_f]Kirrily[/name_f] is a variation of it and it means the same thing. It’s still Maori.
I’m American, so these names are all extremely unfamiliar to me, but they actually weren’t too difficult to pronounce. You say them just how they look! [name_f]My[/name_f] fave is Mariama, but I have a thing for [name_f]Mary[/name_f] names.
others [name]Miriama[/name], Tui & [name]Ngaio[/name].