Mara | Mumsnet

Are your children’s vaccines up to date?

Housenoob · 25/07/2023 09:08

Nice but I recently heard the name Amara and I much prefer that!

StrawBeretMoose · 24/07/2023 22:49

@ZoyaTheDestroyer my relatives in some parts of NI say Myra and Mara as sounding the same/very similar.
In any Scottish accent I've ever heard they would sound different so should be fine for OP. I still don't love the name purely on sound, where I am in the south of England it doesn't have a nice sound to my ear but in a Scottish or Welsh accent would be nicer.

user1477391263 · 24/07/2023 18:13

I like it. I don’t think it sounds anything like Myra.

SkankingWombat · 24/07/2023 11:49

I'm not keen, but I think of Whipsnade's maras too. I wouldn't name a child Tiger, Giraffe, or Kangaroo for the same reason. I've never met a human Mara.

Emamazing · 24/07/2023 11:35

forgivingfiggy · 24/07/2023 11:30

I have a Mara. Obviously I'm biased but it's a great name. I have had a few confusions with Myra. But it's less than 5 in 10 years...

It is a lovely name. At one point we considered calling our daughter Marla but decided on Sofia in the end :)

forgivingfiggy · 24/07/2023 11:30

I have a Mara. Obviously I'm biased but it's a great name. I have had a few confusions with Myra. But it's less than 5 in 10 years...

LittleButtercup · 24/07/2023 11:27

I love Mara, such a pretty name

TempsPerdu · 24/07/2023 11:06

I really like Mara. Fits in with the current crop of short names ending with -a (Lara, Luna, Cora, Isla and so on) but has a bit more gravity and heft to it. Pretty but not fussy or twee.

Cat2014 · 24/07/2023 10:57

Trebizon!
lovely name

ZoyaTheDestroyer · 24/07/2023 10:55

@StrawBeretMoose Could you give us an idea of the regional accent you are referring to so that OP can decide whether or not it’s relevant to her context?

Emamazing · 24/07/2023 10:54

Hankthehonk · 20/07/2023 20:23

I'm just curious what people's opinions are on the name Mara. It's not too out there, but equally you don't see it often either.
We're pretty set on it if this baby is a girl.
We gave an older daughter named Rosa.
Most likely will go for Mara Elizabeth (middle name for a family member)

I think that's a lovely name choice and one you don't hear much. Nice choice x

Bernadinetta · 24/07/2023 10:51

Up and coming- I know two Maras under 1yo

StrawBeretMoose · 24/07/2023 10:50

@ZoyaTheDestroyer in the accent of a large proportion of my UK relatives Myra and Mara sound very, very similar. Some of them would pronounce both names in exactly the same way.

ZoyaTheDestroyer · 24/07/2023 08:05

Mara is lovely. It is nothing like Myra .

I am also very fond of Maura.

peaceofmind1 · 24/07/2023 00:15

Nice but I think I prefer Amara

LizzieAnt · 22/07/2023 17:58

Hankthehonk · 22/07/2023 16:05

@LizzieAnt I confess I'm not a Gaelic speaker unfortunately (hence why we stayed clear of more obviously Gaelic names even though I love many of them). My understanding though is that Mara would sound much as it would in English, just with more of a roll on the R.
I'd ask one of my Gaelic speaking friends but don't want to give away our name plans! If anyone hear is a Scots Gaelic speaker please correct me if I'm wrong.
I'd also love to confirm whether it's connected to the word muir in gaelic as this is a family name

Again, not a Scottish Gaelic speaker, but this link seems to suggest that mara is morra in Gaelic as well as Irish. Mara and muir are connected, yes, different grammatical forms of the word for sea. (But do check with someone who can speak it and don't rely on what I'm saying.)

https://learngaelic.scot/littlebylittle/unit24/index.jsp

LearnGaelic - Beginners - Little by Little - Unit 24 - The sea

Cùrsa air-loidhne a tha freagarrach do luchd-ionnsachaidh aig na tràth ìrean || An online course that is suitable for early-stage Gaelic learners.

https://learngaelic.scot/littlebylittle/unit24/index.jsp

uncomfortablydumb53 · 22/07/2023 16:47

Nice and it goes perfectly with Rosa

Purplecatshopaholic · 22/07/2023 16:24

Lovely name

Original poster

Hankthehonk · 22/07/2023 16:05

@LizzieAnt I confess I'm not a Gaelic speaker unfortunately (hence why we stayed clear of more obviously Gaelic names even though I love many of them). My understanding though is that Mara would sound much as it would in English, just with more of a roll on the R.
I'd ask one of my Gaelic speaking friends but don't want to give away our name plans! If anyone hear is a Scots Gaelic speaker please correct me if I'm wrong.
I'd also love to confirm whether it's connected to the word muir in gaelic as this is a family name

OP posts:

Whataretheodds · 22/07/2023 14:40

Marla might also work?

Whataretheodds · 22/07/2023 14:39

I like it.

I also like Marta, Martha, Maria, Mari (Welsh) and Mhairi, Margot and Margaret.

LizzieAnt · 22/07/2023 14:34

How is it pronounced in Scottish Gaelic OP?
In Irish mara (sea) is said as morra rather than to rhyme with Zara etc. I don't know how it's said in Scotland though.

Inkypot · 22/07/2023 12:13

Rest assured it sounds nothing like Myra! Totally different names. Mara is beautiful.

Newbie887 · 22/07/2023 09:09

Beautiful name (simple and pretty) and sounds lovely with Rosa.

Original poster

Hankthehonk · 22/07/2023 07:58

Thank you everyone for replying! As with any name it's not for everyone, but it's nice to see that the majority of people respond positively to it.
The 'bitter' meaning doesn't bother us, my own name has a meaning in Hebrew that I didn't even learn about until looking into baby names in my 30s so it hasn't impacted my life at all! If people here make any association with Mara, it's likely to be the sea meaning.
To me it seems such a different name from Myra (especially in our accent) that this doesn't bother me either.
I partly posted to see if there were any negative associations we hadn't thought of that might be deal breakers but so far so good.

OP posts: