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[Opinions] Re: Maria & Co.
in reply to a message by Felie
I like Maria and Mary; I gave my first daughter Mary as a mn after my late MIL, whose mn was Maria - Mary fitted better and there are also Mary people in both our family trees.The problem with Maria where I live is that it shortens to Marie, pronounced MAHri, not maREE. A lot of people are named Maria, but most of them go by either Marie or Mia. Or Ree.I really don't like the maRIEa version, which seems to be formed by adding an H: Mariah. It sounds ugly to me, which is odd because I like soFIEa very much and soFEEa not at all.I'm not keen on Moira, Marion or Marian, but I like Marianne enough to use.
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I have never heard Sofia pronounce as soFIEa before. It's so awkward for me to say, but kind pretty once I manage.
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Technically, I suppose you're right! Sofia is, let's say, a modern Mediterranean spelling and quite rightly sounds like soFEEa. But the Brits use the Sophia spelling and pronounce it soFIEa, just as they used to pronounce Maria as maRIEa; they gave that one up towards the end of the 19th century I think, but they've persevered with Sophia.
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