Absolutely loving [name_f]Mara[/name_f] (Mar rhyming with Car) lately but I cannot get over that it means “bitter”, especially since so many names on my list have lovely, positive meanings! Is this really what [name_f]Mara[/name_f] means? I thought names that started with [name_u]Mar[/name_u]- were related to the ocean? Ugh help me see past this flaw haha
The Hebrew name “Mara” (as in "call me not naomi, call me mara, from the book of ruth) means “bitterness” only in the way of sadness and grief, just as [name_f]Rachel[/name_f] called her son [name_m]Benoni[/name_m] (son of my sorrow) before he became [name_u]Benjamin[/name_u] (son of my right hand).
[name_u]Mar[/name_u] is the Latin root word for sea, and traditionally [name_f]Marina[/name_f] is the name associated with it.
[name_f]Mara[/name_f] is a lovely name, and I knew two Hebrew school Mara(s) who were not unhappy with their name at all.
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I agree on [name_f]Mara[/name_f]! It’s long been a favorite of mine but I worried about the bitter meaning.
I don’t think it would keep me from using it though. It isn’t a super popular option, but still known which is what I like!
Not everybody is a name nerd so most probably wouldn’t even know the meaning. Sort of like [name_u]Mallory[/name_u], it means unfortunate.
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I am a nature and animal geek so the name [name_f]Mara[/name_f] has always had a different meaning to me - the beautiful [name_m]Maasai[/name_m] [name_f]Mara[/name_f] ecosystem and game reserve in eastern [name_f]Africa[/name_f]. I believe in [name_m]Maasai[/name_m], the word mara means “spotted” which denotes the way the trees dot the savanna landscape.
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[name_f]Mara[/name_f] can also mean sea
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I had no idea [name_f]Mara[/name_f] was a Hebrew name! I am not religious at all so would it be inappropriate to use or is it pretty mainstream in usage such as names like [name_m]Isaac[/name_m], [name_u]Jonah[/name_u] etc
I guess it depends where you decide to take [name_f]Mara[/name_f] from.
From Hebrew, yes, it means bitter (or, if it’s associated with [name_f]Mary[/name_f], then it can be sea of bitterness)
If you take it as coming from [name_f]Margaret[/name_f], then it could have the pearl association?
From [name_f]Marina[/name_f] or [name_f]Mariana[/name_f], it could have the sea meaning - or the relation to the god [name_u]Mars[/name_u]?
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Mara is one of the Hebrew names that is okay for anyone to use like names like Benjamin.
For what it is worth I know a couple Maura(s) and a few Mara(s), which are pronounced the same way. The Maura’s are both Catholic, and the Mara’s are (culturally) Jewish. So with that being said I see the name as being less tied to one particular group.
Edit to add: I’ve seen Mara pronounced Mair-a about half the time, but Maura always as Mar-a.
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[name_f]Mara[/name_f] means bitter in Hebrew, and in the Bible, it’s the name [name_f]Naomi[/name_f] adopted specifically because of this meaning - to signal her grief after the death of her husband and sons.
It’s also a variant of [name_u]Maria[/name_u] (of famously uncertain etymology, probably from an Ancient Egyptian root meaning “beloved”) in Hungarian, Croatian, and Serbian.
The reason I dislike it is that it means “nightmare” in my native language.
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Anyone can use [name_f]Mara[/name_f]. It’s a lovely name.
The only Hebrew names that I’ve heard on Gentiles that I personally find objectionable are [name_u]Cohen[/name_u] and Shekhina; [name_u]Cohen[/name_u] because this is specifically religious in Judaism and there are religious laws concerning the Cohenim, and Shekhina because it is a name/attribute of G-d…
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