If you saw the name [name_f]Mara[/name_f], how would you pronounce it?
This is how I would like to spell the name, pronounced “mare-ah”, like [name_f]Sara[/name_f], but feel most would say “[name_f]Mar[/name_f]-ah”. I am attached to this spelling, but I have a name which can be pronounced several ways and this can be difficult for a child.
I say [name_f]Mar[/name_f]-ah. I live in the Midwest if that helps
I would pronounce it [name_f]Mar[/name_f]-ah, and I would actually pronounce [name_f]Sara[/name_f] as Sah-rah. My mother’s name is [name_f]Sarah[/name_f], and we pronounce that Sare-ah.
I would suggest Maera. A quick check online shows that Maera is pronounced [name_f]Mare[/name_f]-uh, and [name_f]Mara[/name_f] is always pronounced as [name_f]Mar[/name_f]-ah. I think if you used [name_f]Mara[/name_f], you’ll constantly be correcting people, I’ve never known anyone to pronounce it the way you like it.
I do agree the [name_f]Mara[/name_f] is a lovely spelling, but phonetically, it’s not [name_f]Mare[/name_f]-ah to me.
I say it the way you don’t want. MARR-uh. Honestly I am not usually a fan of mispellings but in this case it almost seems ideal to go with the spelling [name_f]Marra[/name_f]. I think everyone would pronounce that the way you want.
I pronounce it [name_f]MAR[/name_f]-uh as well. Sorry.
I pronounce it [name_f]Mar[/name_f]-ah and have only ever heard it pronounced that way. If it was a matter of having to correct the pronunciation some of the time I would say it’s not a big deal, but in this case I think you would be correcting the pronunciation all of the time if you used the [name_f]Mara[/name_f] spelling. If [name_f]Mare[/name_f]-ah is the pronunciation you want then [name_f]Mara[/name_f] is not the spelling for that name.
[name_f]MAR[/name_f]-ah for me, as well. But I work in a restaurant, and have come across a couple customers who are named [name_f]Lara[/name_f] and [name_f]Mara[/name_f] (which I intuitively say as LAH-rah and MAH-rah), but they say LAIR-ah and [name_f]MAIR[/name_f]-ah. I don’t think there’s really any way to emphasize that, unless you are constantly correcting people. If you spell it as [name_f]Mara[/name_f], people will probably try and say MAH-rah, but if you say it’s [name_f]MARE[/name_f]-ah, I’m not sure they’d intuitively figure out “[name_f]Mara[/name_f]”. I don’t know that Maera is any better–I would say that [name_f]MAY[/name_f]-rah not [name_f]MARE[/name_f]-ah. There’s a slight difference, to me.
I know two [name_f]Mara[/name_f]'s both are pronounced [name_f]Mar[/name_f]- ah.
Sorry to say I pronounce it MARR-uh, as well.
I think you can go for it. The most important people will know how it’s pronounced.
[name_f]Mar[/name_f]-rah, just how it looks. I also pronounce [name_f]Sara[/name_f] like sar-rah, and [name_f]Sarah[/name_f] like sair-ah.
I would pronounce it like the “[name_f]Mar[/name_f]” in [name_f]Marsha[/name_f].
Maybe try the spelling [name_f]Maira[/name_f]? I think it’s much more intuitive than [name_f]Mara[/name_f] while still being a very pretty and clean looking spelling.
I’d pronounce it ‘mar-ah’. For the pronunciation you want, you could go with Marrah or [name_f]Maira[/name_f]
I’d pronounce it ‘[name_f]Mar[/name_f]-ah’ same as I would [name_f]Sara[/name_f], [name_f]Tara[/name_f] and [name_f]Lara[/name_f], you could try alternate spellings?
Thank you all so much for your input, and, sadly, confirming what I know to be true. We love the name and the pronunciation for honoring my mom and grandmother who are both [name_f]Mary[/name_f], (hence my attachment to the spelling), but asking a child to go through life correcting people on her name (and eventually not even trying anymore as in my case,) is not worth it. A million thanks to each of you for helping me realize this!
I pronounce [name_f]Mara[/name_f] (Marr-uh) and [name_f]Sara[/name_f] (Sarr-uh).
I pronounce it [name_f]Mar[/name_f]-uh as well
I’d say [name_f]Mar[/name_f]-ah.
I would also pronounce the name “mar-uh.”
Here is how I would pronounce these names
So for your pronunciation I would use [name_f]Maira[/name_f] 
If it helps I am Australian