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Masculine name Mari
I found the name Mari used as masculine name in Indonesia and in East Timor (Mari bim Amude Alkatiri, former First Minister of East Timor, e.g.). In Indonesian, the word mari is a word for invitation in actions (like "let's" in English), but I don't know if it could be used as given name.Any ideas about its etymology or its origin?ThanksLumia
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This message was edited 3/7/2008, 8:51 AM

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Marius is used quite often by Afrikaans-speaking South Africans; might there be a link to the days of Dutch colonialism?
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I don't think so, because the colonial potence in Timor was Portugal and the Portuguese names are still in use (Carlos, Felipe, Jose...). In fact, Mário, the Portuguese equivalent of Marius is found among Timorese.
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I focused on Indonesia, and ignored Timor! Morning coffee hadn't kicked in. Sorry!
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