Rethinking Maria

I never really liked [name_f]Maria[/name_f]. I grew up as a Protestant in a Catholic state and it was always to tied to the Virgin [name_f]Mary[/name_f] for me. It was too Catholic and it felt a little old fashioned. However, it occurred to me last week that maybe I should rethink her and her variants.

[name_f]My[/name_f] maternal-grandmother and mother’s mn’s are [name_f]Maria[/name_f]. [name_f]My[/name_f] fiancés comes from a Scotch-Irish Catholic family and his grandmother was a [name_f]Maria[/name_f] nn [name_f]Mimi[/name_f]. We aren’t anywhere close to having kids yet but it feels like choosing a [name_f]Maria[/name_f] variant mn would be a great way to honor both families.

So… [name_f]Maria[/name_f] still doesn’t work for me all that well and [name_f]Mimi[/name_f] is also out (my FH has second cousin’s with both of those names - we see them and their families quite a bit).

Below is my current [name_f]Maria[/name_f] list and I would love peoples thoughts.
[name_f]Miren[/name_f], [name_f]Miriam[/name_f]/[name_f]Mirjam[/name_f], [name_f]Mariele[/name_f], [name_f]Malia[/name_f], [name_f]Moira[/name_f], Mere, [name_f]Maja[/name_f], [name_f]Marita[/name_f], [name_f]Mayra[/name_f], [name_f]Mairwen[/name_f], and Mirele

Or just share your favorite variant - and why you love it.

Thanks everyone.

I like [name_f]Moira[/name_f] but I really, really like [name_u]Marian[/name_u]/[name_u]Marion[/name_u] - for the [name_u]Robin[/name_u] Hood and [name_u]Indiana[/name_u] [name_m]Jones[/name_m] characters.

[name_f]My[/name_f] favorite [name_f]Marys[/name_f]: [name_f]Maris[/name_f], [name_f]Maren[/name_f], [name_f]Marianna[/name_f] & [name_f]Marietta[/name_f] (though this one is too closely tied to place names near me that I couldn’t personally use).

On your list I am drawn to [name_f]Marita[/name_f] and [name_f]Mairwen[/name_f]. I love [name_f]Maja[/name_f], but wouldn’t consider her a [name_f]Maria[/name_f]. I also love [name_f]Mireille[/name_f] (mee-ray), though its more similar in sound than actually being a [name_f]Mary[/name_f] variation.

I personally love [name_f]Maren[/name_f] / [name_f]Marin[/name_f].

[name_f]Maria[/name_f]'s been growing on me too. I like [name_f]Miriam[/name_f] but I think my favorite variant is [name_f]Mariana[/name_f].

To be honest, my favorite [name_f]Maria[/name_f] variant is [name_f]Marie[/name_f] (and my inner name nerd is killing me for saying that). It’s so classic and sweet. I actually prefer it as a first name instead of a middle name, but that’s just me. In my opinion, why mess with the classics? I also love [name_u]Marian[/name_u]. I think of [name_u]Robin[/name_u] Hood and my very, very sweet younger cousin. [name_f]Miriam[/name_f] and [name_f]Moira[/name_f] are nice, too. I’ve never really been a huge fan of [name_f]Maria[/name_f], though.

I like [name_f]Maria[/name_f] a lot! As soon as I saw that it wasn’t a SOLELY stereotypically Spanish name, I grew to really love it. If you can’t use [name_f]Maria[/name_f] itself, I think [name_f]Malia[/name_f] is my favorite! Quirky and fully feminine and a bit exotic. I would love to meet a little [name_f]Malia[/name_f], and I feel like it works in a lot of cultures!

I know an adorable [name_f]Mariana[/name_f], too, and I really love that.

I love [name_f]Maria[/name_f] on its own : it’s simple and beautiful, and for me it doesn’t sound “exclusively” Catholic (it’s also used widely in Orthodox countries – Greece, Romania, Bulgaria, [name_f]Russia[/name_f] of course, etc.)…
Of your list, my favourite apart from [name_f]Maria[/name_f] itself is [name_f]Myriam[/name_f], which for me has the most truly multicultural vibe and is a great choice for multicultural families, at least in [name_f]France[/name_f] where I grew up - i’ve met Myriams with Jewish, [name_u]North[/name_u] African, Protestant or Catholic heritage or a mix of pretty much all the above and the name has always fitted all these cultures perfectly, so all in all a fairly easy name, on top of it being quite pretty !
I also adore [name_f]Macha[/name_f] (Russian variation) and [name_f]Mara[/name_f] (my favorite, I think) which I’ve heard both in Slavic and Celtic families …

The best way you could honor your family is to use it straight as a middle name. It’s beautiful so why change.

Changing it to something like [name_f]Maria[/name_f] isn’t really quite the same in my opinion as you will be using a different name.

Some combo ideas -

[name_f]Anna[/name_f] [name_f]Maria[/name_f]

[name_f]Estelle[/name_f] [name_f]Maria[/name_f]

Cecilly [name_f]Maria[/name_f]

[name_f]Constance[/name_f] [name_f]Maria[/name_f]

[name_f]Celestine[/name_f] [name_f]Maria[/name_f]

[name_f]Frances[/name_f] [name_f]Maria[/name_f]

[name_f]Ottilie[/name_f] [name_f]Maria[/name_f]

Good luck

@author in writing: I also really like [name_u]Marian[/name_u] for the [name_u]Robin[/name_u] Hood connection!!! I’m glad you like [name_f]Moira[/name_f] it strikes me as a bit more mischievous and spunky - which is why I like it.

@aym: Oh [name_f]Maris[/name_f] is a great suggestion. [name_f]Marianna[/name_f]/[name_f]Mariana[/name_f] is also a great suggestion. I really want a second mn to follow one of my family traditions and [name_f]Mariana[/name_f] could honor both my FH’s grandmothers [name_f]Maria[/name_f] and [name_f]Anne[/name_f]!!! Brilliance!!! must add to list. (Unfortunately the crazy made dislikes all -etta names. <sigh>) I’m glad you said that about [name_f]Maja[/name_f], I was worried about her an [name_f]Malia[/name_f] not sounding quite variant enough.

@mickie9: Thanks for the suggestion. [name_f]Marin[/name_f] is kind of cool! (Also weirdly - I’m not making this up FH’s father mn is [name_u]Marlin[/name_u] … lol.)

@hardertobreath: I do like [name_f]Miriam[/name_f]/[name_f]Mirjam[/name_f] as well - I like the old testament biblical feel. As said above I never really considered [name_f]Mariana[/name_f] before but it’s lovely and I feel stupid not having done so.

@lightsea: I wish I liked [name_f]Marie[/name_f] but I think/know I have a bad association to a fn [name_f]Marie[/name_f] from school. Since I was inc classes with her for 8 years and even lived in the same college dorm I’m not sure I’ll be able to shake it (plus our parents are still friends).

@ashthedreamer: What draws me to [name_f]Malia[/name_f] is that I have ancestry from a Hawaiian related culture -it’s hard finding names from there so I figure [name_m]Hawaii[/name_m] is potentially going to have to be close enough. [name_f]Glad[/name_f] you like it, I worry it doesn’t feel like a [name_f]Maria[/name_f] variant though - sometimes at least. Thanks for your always sound council.

@francelise: I’d spell it [name_f]Mirjam[/name_f] or [name_f]Miriam[/name_f] because I’m [name_m]German[/name_m]-American - but I think your thoughts on the name are really great. [name_f]My[/name_f] family is and will be (even more so) multi-cultural and multi-national. Names that work and sound beautiful and similar in at least the languages we speak at home is important to me. [name_f]Miriam[/name_f] does do that. I’ve never seen the [name_f]Myriam[/name_f] spelling before - it’s intriguing.

@geritlee: thank you for your thoughts and combo suggestions. Unfortunately [name_f]Maria[/name_f] really doesn’t work for me (maybe someday). I believe that you can honor people with a name in many ways/ basically any that works for you, and that person. But I always appreciate hearing from people who think differently. While it’s not my favorite I think considering [name_f]Anna[/name_f]-[name_f]Maria[/name_f] or [name_f]Anne[/name_f]-[name_f]Maria[/name_f] as a double barrel mn might work for us at sometime in the future as it would nicely honor both my FH’s grandmothers and mine.