How would you pronounce this baby name?

[MondaysFunday]

If you saw the name Mariana written down with no context provided, how would you pronounce it? DH and I completely disagree on the pronunciation, and we both think we’re right. I reckon there’s also the possibility that we’re both wrong.

1. Mar-ee-on-ah
2. Mar-ee-ann-ah
3. Mary-on-ah
4. Mary-ann-ah

This. Like the trench.

Mah-ree-AH-na

None of these

Ma ree ann ah

@Honeyhonayboo It is a conscious choice in the sense that ‘ana’ and ‘anna’ are pronounced differently in British English (with the caveat that there may be some exceptions depending on accent that I’m not aware of).

It’s not about adding an ‘r’ (though for those who pronounce their ‘r’ non-rhotically it will sound that way to all intents and purposes) but lengthening a vowel.

A double consonant (as in Marianna) creates a short ‘a’. A single consonant (as in Mariana) creates a long ‘a’ - pronounced ‘ah

Other examples of this:

Super/supper
Taper/tapper
Hoping/hopping
Later/latter

There are obviously always exceptions to the rule in English but Mariana isn’t one of them.

ETA: The irony is that in other European languages where Mariana is the default spelling (as opposed to Marianna which I believe is the traditional British spelling, and Mariana has crept in), I don’t think they would lengthen the vowel.

It's English people with non-rhotic accents dropping the R after a vowel when they speak. They are taught in phonics at school that an 'r' after a vowel extends it.

Ma-ree-ah-na

Marry-anna

Have you not heard of the Mariana Trench? It's the deepest point in the ocean.

This too. It’s Spanish so their pronunciation goes

Mar-ee-ah-na

As pps have said, Marry Arna

You say Marianna is the traditional British spelling, but I'm not sure about that, as Shakespeare had the character 'Mariana' in 'Measure for Measure', which was obviously hundreds of years ago. Then in Victorian times Tennyson wrote a poem about her. Definitely one 'n'.

Sorry double post

In some accents (especially in the UK) when there is a vowel heavy word, the 'an' sound is pronounced with a longer sounding vowel. This makes it sound as if an R has been added. So it changes the pronunciation to Mah Ree Arn Uh.

This but non-rhotic. So Mari-Ahna.

Mari Anna

You wouldn’t pronounce Anna as Arrrrnah would you?!

@Pemba Yes, I did think of the Measure for Measure example as soon as I wrote it and should’ve edited to nod to that! Measure for Measure is set in Vienna, though, and Tennyson’s poem alludes to the play, so I’d always assumed that Mariana there was a European spelling rather than an English one (especially with other characters being Claudio, Angelo, Isabella). I don’t know much about early modern English though so it could well be that that was the traditional spelling at the time - do you know if it was?

None - like the Mariana Trench - mah ree are na

You do understand that not everyone has the same accent as you don't you?

It's not that confusing.

@UnintentionalArcher I don't know tbh! I think with either spelling it's a rare name in Britain anyway, but the Shakespeare example is really the only one I was aware of earlier than 20th century, and it just jumped into my head.

@pemba The more I think about it, my guess would be that at that time, Mariana was only a continental European name and not an English name traditionally in its own right. It sounds very much like a romance language name to me. In English at that time I would’ve thought ‘Mary’ rather than ‘Marie/Maria’ from which I think this derives would’ve been the norm.

If that’s correct, then maybe it was adopted into English from countries like Spain/Portugal and the spelling Anglicised to Marianna (generally, there are always exceptions) to reflect our pronunciation rules.

Happy to be told this is wrong as I’m guessing, and would love to hear from someone who knows!

Marry Anna

I would have thought that the British equivalent name was Marian, as in Robin Hood's girlfriend. 😀

Ha ha, yes! Not a name I’ve heard in a long time. That will be a derived from Mary and Ann I suppose. Interesting!

ETA: Sorry, I maybe should’ve been clearer in saying that I thought the ‘Mari’ part of Mariana was likely derived from romance versions like Maria rather than Mary. I didn’t mean that I thought the entirety of the name was derived from that, as obviously it has roots in ‘Ana’ as well.