Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I love the name Maren (pronounced Mehr-en).

Mara means bitter in Hebrew.

Mary and Miriam also mean " bitter," yet they are very popular names.

Mary can also mean rebellious or beloved, and apparently star of the sea. Mora means blackberry in Spanish.

Anonymous wrote:I love the name Maren (pronounced Mehr-en).

Mara means bitter in Hebrew.

Yes, Mara has negative connotations across cultures. That’s hard to escape. I’m a “Moira/Maura” and like it. I pronounce my name “Mor-ah”. It’s a diminutive of Mary, so in the vein of Maureen and Margaret if you are going for an Irish Catholic vibe. It’s an uncommon name, so she’ll likely never be on a team or in a class with another Moira/Maura. That said, it’s common enough that most people have heard it before. The name can also be shortened to “Mo” or “Momo” for a nickname. If you end up circling back to the original name choices, I personally love the name Margaret.

I like Mara and love Maren. These are both good choices!

Not sure if the child has been born yet, but I wouldn't recommend these names. Mara means "bitter."

Anonymous wrote:Uhh page 5 and no one has pointed out Mara means "gang" in Spanish.

☹️

I love Maren. But yeah…see that it may be too close to Karen.
Maura is great. Maybe just go through all the best 80s names but with an M:
Manon (or Mhannon)
Macy
Miss
Minda
Mennifer lol

Margaret

Anonymous wrote:I love the name Maren (pronounced Mehr-en).

Mara means bitter in Hebrew.

Mary and Miriam also mean " bitter," yet they are very popular names.

I like Maren better but prefer this spelling Mairin, also live Mairead.

I am named Lara and it has been somewhat annoying that it is not obvious how to pronounce it. I get LAY-ruh, LOH-ruh, LAH-ruh. Based on my experience I did not name any of my kids an ambiguous pronunciation name. My two cents.

Uhh page 5 and no one has pointed out Mara means "gang" in Spanish.

I like both and I might choose depending on what sound starts your last name.

Love Maren! Either pronunciation

Marina is nice

Marta could be cool

MAURA!!!

I’m totally biased because it’s my daughter’s name and I love it.

I like them both. I also like your pronunciations. I would worry slightly that either name will get mispronounced a lot (people will say Mae-rah and Maw-ren). I don't know how much this bothers other people. My DH has a name that gets mispronounced in this precise way often and so it was a big deal to him because he hates it.