I would spell it Marion. My aunt named her daughter Marion and it goes well with her French sounding last name.

It's fine. I like that it is feminine without being too flouncy, but to me it seems like such a kid/toddler name. I just don't see it on a teen or middle-aged woman for some reason.

The bitchiest girl I knew in college was named Maren.

Anonymous wrote:I suspect she will say "No, not Karen." a lot. It might be her first full sentence.

I sincerely doubt this. I'm 40 and only know Karens my age or older.

I know a Maren and I think it's cool and pretty.

Anonymous wrote:I know a little Maren and she is adorable, but to me it doesn't sound like an actual name. I can never get used to it, my involuntary reaction is always "but that's not a name?" - so my opinion is somewhere between indifferent and dislike.

This was exactly my reaction. Like it, but prefer names that are actual names. I thought that even Marin would be better, because that's at least the name of a beautiful place, not just syllables that sound pretty together.

Of course, my initial reaction sprang from my own ignorance, because I did not know that Maren is in fact an actual Norwegian name. I would really like it as a name if the little girl were Norwegian...but that's splitting hairs. Because everyone is "allowed" to name their child Meghan or Elizabeth.

I suspect she will say "No, not Karen." a lot. It might be her first full sentence.

Love it

I know a little Maren and she is adorable, but to me it doesn't sound like an actual name. I can never get used to it, my involuntary reaction is always "but that's not a name?" - so my opinion is somewhere between indifferent and dislike.

I like the name Maren and if we used it, it would be to honor several family members (A Mary and a Karen). Do you prefer the spelling Maren and pronunciation as in Karen with an M or the spelling Marin with pronunciation like Marin County?

Love it. One of my roommates in college was named, Maren. The only one I knew.

A good friend out West has a 4-year old Maren and I was so happy to hear it again.