Mary, Marie, Maria and Clara

[misslucy92]

I watched The Nutcracker and in different versions of it the little girl is called either Clara, Marie, Maria or Mary. Maria is sometimes called Masha as a nickname.

Comment, please:

Marie
Mary
Maria
Masha
Clara

Is Maria too religious sounding?

My favourites are Maria and Clara.

I always think of The Nutcracker girl being called Clara, I didn’t realise there were other versions.

Clara is my favourite of these. If you think Maria is too religious, what about Anna, Jesus's granny?

Masha is a Russian diminutive of Maria.

I like Clara a lot, but I like the Mary names too.

What about alternatives:
Marianne
Mariana
Marie-Claire
Mary-Clare
Marian
Mariah
Miriam
Mariam

Is Maria too religious sounding?

I'd associate it more with Coronation Street than the Bible

I love Maria. Don't think of it as overly religious (and I don't watch Corrie)! It was on our list for if DS had been a girl.

I like Mary and Clara too. Not a fan of Marie really. No reason why

Marie - common.
Mary - old lady.
Maria - nice.
Masha - repulsive. Like masher.
Clara - ok but not the most pleasant sound.

My favourie is Mary
I love Marie - MAH-ree
And Marie Claire

I prefer Clara and Maria. Maria is one of the most common women's names worldwide, so it's definitely not too religious.

Mary and Marie are all fine names but not my personal taste.

I think Masha would sound pretty unappealing in the UK. Mash, masher... Plus, from what I've read, in Russian it is just a nickname for Maria and not a name in its own right. I guess it would be like calling a child "Liz" in English (instead of Elizabeth).

Maria is my favourite. Marsha/Marcia is good too.

What did you want comments on? I think Clara is the one most associated with the Nutcracker if that’s what you’re asking. I think Maria is the nicest name because it’s just lovely to me. Masha is a fine nickname if you’re Russian. If not it’s just a bit odd.

Further to the nickname comments:
Masha is indeed a Russian diminutive of Maria. But so are Natasha (of Natalia) and Sasha (of Alexandra). Yet, both are deemed names in their own right in the UK

They’re well used and familiar. Just basic. A but like how Jack (originally a nickname for John) seems like a ‘proper’ name because it’s well used and familiar, but Jem (short for Jeremy or Jeremiah) would be odd on its own because it isn’t popular or well known.

I like Clara and Maria. I love Marianne. My cousin is called Maryrose.

I think Mary sounds more religious than Maria. Maria is my personal favourite

Clara I love. It's also the name of Heidi's friend in the Heidi story.

Maria I also like.

Marianna I like too (not on your list though).

I like them all, simple but pretty. I do slightly prefer Klara as a spelling for Clara but both are lovely.

What about Marina.

I love the name Mary
What about Mairi? I think it's Gaelic

I think Maria sounds religious. As a poster said, it’s used worldwide but it is used in countries where Catholicism is the dominant religion and the girls so called are generally named after the Virgin Mary or Saints. I think St Mary’s is the most used name for English churches dating back to preReformation times.
Clara has recently enjoyed a revival in popularity and is a sweet name. Marie Claire is more dated but is very pretty.
Good luck.

Where does it say that Anna is Jesus’ granny? You don’t mean the prophetess who spoke over Jesus when he was going to be circumcised? Because she was just a random stranger. Where is this Granny Anna? 😁

Marie - someone I know in their 50s. Also make used in lots of song lyrics e.g. Is This The Way To Amarillo
Mary - someone I know in their 50s and under 5
Maria - someone I know in their 50s
Masha - just no
Clara - someone I know in their 50s. Though reminds me of the TV programme Heidi (Only one who isn't Catholic out of the names)

St Anne is mentioned in the Apocrypha- she's not in the Gospels but it's a very long-standing tradition that she was Mary's mother in both Christianity and Islam.

OP, to me the girl in the Nutcracker will always be Clara and I prefer that name to Maria. I like Mary too and it's unusual in the UK these days.

Maria not too religious in my opinion, often found in other cultures. One of my cousins married a Maria, who comes from a Spanish speaking country.

Clara lovely name. Maria too. I had a friend Marina all nice names