Mara for Mark?

[y1ifan]

I need opinions! I am pregnant with baby #2. First baby was a girl.

My husband lost his father right before we met and he has always been adamant that he would name a son after his father, Mark. Here is the dilemma... This baby is also a girl, and this is our last baby. He is thrilled to be a girl dad, but disappointed that he won't be able to honor his dad in that way. So I am looking for options that could honor Mark, in a name for a baby girl.

The option we like so far is Mara. Does Mara make sense as a feminine tribute to Mark? They keep that Mar sound the same, so I see it. But it's also not a name that has a "traditional" female version. Thoughts?

I've never liked Mara because of the bitter association (grieving is better) but the 'ocean' meaning is a lot nicer. As a name it is nice and if you can tell her she's named after her grandfather, then that's all that matters.

Margot?

Marnie?
Marla?
Marissa?

I think Mark is perfectly fine as a middle name - as pps have mentioned, it's a venerable tradition in British culture, and has been used in the US for centuries too.

Mara is definitely a real (and lovely) name all the same.

Marceline is also lovely.

I have a relative called Mara and she always gets ‘oh that’s a lovely name’

It’s a nice name on it’s own, no one but you would get the Mark tribute.

Please don’t give a girl Mark as a middle name. It will come up at some point, including her wedding.

Also the only woman I know who was given a male middle name (after her dad) legally changed her name to remove it.

I think Markie would be a pretty cool name for a girl! In my accent it doesn't sound like Marquee. Like Blake/Cameron/Drew/Mikey actresses with traditionally male names. Give her a feminine middle name so she can always change it when older - Markie Alice Surname

Mara is lovely name, it's classic and beautiful.
Ugh please don't give your DD a joke name like Markie as PP above suggests.

A PP mentioned it as a name - I just said it's a cool name and there are many women with traditional male names. I've taught some crazy names kids and most kids grow in to their names regardless of how we might perceive them at first. It is actually a girl name and she wouldn't be the only one.