Marianne? Marilyn?

[flowerygirl]

I'm pregnant and if it's a girl, I'd like a name beginning with M (for some reason). Do you think these are too '50 year old lady living in the home counties'? Suggestions welcome!

Marianne is just beautiful. (Might add to the list!)

Not so keen on Marilyn.

Thanks! Yeah I'm liking Marianne more and more!

I'm not convinced by Marilyn either.

How about Mariella? Martha? I like Mabel but husband says no :(

Marianne is cooler, makes me think of Marianne faithful.
Marilyn not so much, but I'm not a fan of hers anyhow and feels dated.
Mariella is cool and glam sounding.

Marianne is lovely. Martha and Mabel a bit overdone in my part of the UK.

Marianne is gorgeous, really classy.
Marilyn, well if you say it, it is has a nice sound, but I think it is too soon to revive it really. It would still be seen as dated by most people, and mainly associated with Marilyn Monroe.

Agreed, there are some great 'M' names, how about:

Madeleine
Miriam/Maryam
Mirabel/Maribel
Milena/Mila
Marina
Mara
and of course Mary, Maria, Marie.

Marianne is really lovely. It reminds me of the Leonard Cohen song.

I know a Marinella and I think her name is cool

Or Marinetta possibly?

Mariel is nice too, more than Mariella. Martha is very popular but a bit harsh sounding IMO. Mabel was my late Grandma's name, and I can't get past that!

I have a Nana Mavis.
Has the old lady vogue gone far enough yet to make this acceptable?

Yeah I think most will associate it with Monroe and I'm not a fan at all.

Just emailed DP at work (very urgent!) suggesting Marianne and he said 'are you serious? NO' He is so hard to please!

I actually like Marlena (I think it's pronounced Mar-lay-na?)

Thanks for the suggestions NadiaWadia

So has he come up with any names, flowery? It is all very well him shooting down your suggestions, but if he can't be bothered himself ...

But then if his response to 'Marianne' is 'are you serious?' maybe he has crap taste anyway?

Yes, the German pronunciation is marlayna, that's really nice.
What about Marietta, nickname Etta?

I like the sound of 'Marlena' too. Yes I think you are right about the pronunciation, same as Marlene Dietrich. (But make sure you spell it with the 'a' ending, not the 'e', otherwise you would get people calling her 'Mar-leen'.) However I predict your DP won't like it!

I absolutely love Marianne, and I hardly ever say that on these threads!

You play your DP this :

Marianne is just so cool, with the whole Marianne Faithfull, Leonard Cohen, international vibe! Plus of course Marianne from Jane Austen's Sense and Sensibility. It's also classic. How can he not like it?

should play

I have a lovely friend Marianne, she's a 23 year old student. So definitly not old ladyish in my head. Definitely like it more than Marilyn.

I came on this thread to suggest Marlena!

Miranda
Melisande (Medieval French version of Millicent)
Mariposa (butterfly)

Maddalena? I know one pronounced mad - ah - lay - na

Madeleine? (I am biased on this one!)

Meredith?

I like Mariella (is that one of the characters off Tree Foo Tom?)

I have a little Marianne. She is almost two so it's definitely not a fifty something name IMO.
It's pretty without being too fussy, unusual without being weird. And you get the double whammy of a rock n roll name sake (Faithfull) and a Jane Austen heroine (Dashwood).
She never gets called Maryann or Marion.
People always say how lovely her name is.
Fab nickname potential too.
Have I sold it to you yet?

Op. My DH was really dismissive about all my name suggestions too. Until Marianne!

Marianne is a beautiful name! It's not a name I had thought of (I'm struggling with girls' names myself). Marianne is a gorgeous option.

Marianne
Marianna
Madeleine
Martha
Magdalena
Maeve
Margot
Meriel
Mairead

Don't like Marilyn or Marlena!

I have a real thing for M names. Also love Marnie which is a possible nickname for Marianne.

I don't mind Marilyn but I think it's so linked with Monroe that it just seems a bit dated.

Oh Marianne is great!

Marianne is one of my favourite names.