Message: "Maria / Mariah / Moriah"

[Opinions] Maria / Mariah / Moriah

by LMS

3/12/2009, 6:14 PM

There is a Jane Austen book with the name Maria, however it is pronounced as Mariah. Obviously, nowadays it would be impossible to get people to pronounce Maria that way. My problem is that with using Mariah it would tend to look like I am a fangirl of Mariah Carey, as that is what people automatically think of the name.

Do you think Moriah could be effectively used to stave off the Mariah Carey comments or would it still garner the type of attention I don't want?

#Maria #Mariah #Moriah

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- zebra_cakes +1

3/13/2009, 3:08 AM

Interesting about the Jane Austen book... does Austen explain the pronunciation in the book? I noticed the other day when watching a biography of Edgar Allen Poe that a scholar pronounced Poe's aunt Maria Clemm's name as "Mariah."
Mariah is on our short list-- it is what I plan to use for our first girl, as of now. I worried a little about the Mariah Carey association, but I know several other great young ladies with the name, so I'm not going to worry about that. I guess some people will ask, "Like Mariah Carey?" but I'll just say, "Yes, but I just thought it was a nice name."
I love the fact that it is recognizable and feminine, yet not so common right now. Plus, I like the reference to St. Mary (we are Catholic) and it is just about the only form of Mary, besides Mara, that I like.

Have you thought of any combos for it? I haven't come up with one I'm totally sure about yet.

Vote on my list? http://www.babynames.com/namelist/9516801

- LMS

3/13/2009, 1:59 PM

Well, I like the pronunciation Mariah because it it the Old English pronunciation. I don't want my daughter's name to be associated with Mariah Carey. Maybe if it was associated with a historic figure or literary character more than it would be okay, but since the first Mariah people think of is Carey then it would bother me I think.
I haven't really come up with any fantastic combos because most of the other names I like also end in the -ah sound, so it would sound a bit to rhymey to my ears to pair them. I suppose I would probably go with Evelyn Mariah or Isabel Mariah. I think I only like it in the middle name spot because that way it would get rid of a bit of the Mariah Carey association.

- Murasaki (lady murasaki)

3/13/2009, 10:24 AM

I don't like the look of Moriah so much, and also personally I'm inclined to pronounce it a bit differently differently. I wouldn't automatically assume that a Mariah is named after Mariah Carey. After all, she isn't as famous as she used to be, right? And will get increasingly less so with time, unless she makes a sudden comeback.

- Andromache (Hannah Ruth)

3/13/2009, 5:51 AM

I like all three. Mariah doesn't make me think of Mariah Carey, but I can't speak for other people. Out of the three, I'd probably go for Maria.

- Meralissa +4

3/12/2009, 6:31 PM

I Love Mariah! (of corse it don't really count because it is my name) and people don't think I'm a Mariah Carey, if anything its Maria. The only thing wrong with it is it get pernonced Maria way to often. But I really like my name, its pretty, and is just right for me. Moriah, I don't like, its a mispelling! if you need another spelling theres Myriah, but people spell my name "Moriah" alot so I don't really like it.

This message was edited 3/12/2009, 6:35 PM

- LMS +3

3/12/2009, 6:50 PM

Moriah is not a misspelling of Mariah. It is its own name. Myriah is not even a legit spelling of any name.

- Meralissa +2

3/12/2009, 6:58 PM

I know Moriah is its own name but to me it seems like a mispelling. it's just like if you name was Anne and people spelled it Ann, you probly wouldn't like it much, that was just a comment. and I think Myriah is legit, I met a Myriah, and my mom want to spell my name like that.

- LMS +1

3/12/2009, 7:09 PM

No, Myriah is not legit. Just because someone else has that name doesn't mean it has a history as a name. It can commonly be seen on baby naming sites that list any version of any name that was ever concocted. They may even make up a random meaning for the name. Really, it is just a neologism. It is just another recreation of the name much like people will misspell Melanie as Melluhnee.

- zebra_cakes

3/13/2009, 2:53 AM

*grabs popcorn*

- ICEyun

3/12/2009, 10:46 PM

I don't see Moriah being associated with Mariah Carey.

- lumiereslove (guest) +1

3/12/2009, 7:31 PM

Hmm... If you're worried about it, why not use a similar name like Marie? You could use Moriah, but it would still sound like Mariah.

- LMS

3/12/2009, 7:36 PM

I am not really a fan of Marie, besides, it is already my middle name. However, I agree with you that Moriah will still sound very similiar to Mariah.

- RegalAmethyst

3/12/2009, 7:35 PM

I'd say use Mariah. When someone randomly asks me about the name Mariah, I do think of Mariah Carey. But if I met someone named Mariah, they would just be Mariah. For me it's the kind of association that can be pushed out of my mind in a second.

- Domestic Engineer (Lisa007)

3/12/2009, 7:29 PM

I would still think of Mariah Carey. Moriah still sounds identical to Mariah so it wouldn't make much of a difference if I had heard it on a stranger. Mariah Carey would automatically come to mind.

- Lovely (vomiting) +1

3/12/2009, 6:48 PM

Which book is this?

- LMS

3/12/2009, 6:51 PM

Maria Lucas in Pride and Prejudice. They pronounce her name in the Old English way, as Mariah.

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