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I think to anyone that speaks Spanish, Mara will be pronounced MahRah because it is a Spanish word that means crowd or gang. It might not necessarily have meant a violent street gang until the Salvadorans started using it to refer to it to their most notorous gang Mara Salvatrucha Much like "gang" used to be used for any group of people.
I would stay away from Mara as a name no matter how cute you think it sounds.
Haha ok. The area I am from does not have a large Spanish population. Don't think this will be a problem.
Yea I guess I don't find this a big deal but others seem to say it's not right to name your kid that based on that. I love the name so I am going with it but just need to figure out which pronunciation makes more sense.
Are you already living where you plan to raise her? You could go to some different places in your city and just randomly show people the name and ask them how to say this name. Ask the staff at your favorite restaurant, the local mickeyD, people at church if you attend, the staff at your doctors office, etc. It should give you a fair idea of how the name will be pronounced (or if it just confuses everyone) in your area.
If you choose a name with ambiguous pronunciation options you and she need to get comfortable with a lifetime of being called any and all of those.
Agree! And if you're ok with all possible pronunciations, then go for it. Choose the pronunciation you like (I would automatically think like "car-uh") and know that she will be called variations of that throughout her life. And you never know what life has in store for you, so it's not outside the realm of possibility you'll end up in an area where that name (word) has negative connotations. But you are the parent- go with what you love.
My husband and I are thinking of naming our child Mara. We were between Mila, Madelyn and Maya but wanted something less trendy and popular. There are 2 ways we could pronhounce Mara. Either Mar-ah pronouncing mar as in car or Mar-uh and pronouncing mar as in marriage and similar to Dara/Kara/Tara. Which do you think sounds better?
Definitely Mar-uh like car. I have never heard anyone pronounce this name like the mar in marriage. Maybe that's a regional thing.
]So do you think if I did Mara they would just be confused or go with how it is spelled as mar-a like car ? I would go with however is most commonly pronounced.
It's a beautiful name, in my opinion. I also believe people would go with the most common way it's pronounced and considerate people would try to remember if you pronounce it differently.
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And if you're ok with all possible pronunciations, then go for it. Choose the pronunciation you like (I would automatically think like "car-uh") and know that she will be called variations of that throughout her life. And you never know what life has in store for you, so it's not outside the realm of possibility you'll end up in an area where that name (word) has negative connotations. But you are the parent- go with what you love.
