I guess the difference for me would be: if I saw Miriel, I'd think:
Mariel,
Muriel, or
Mirabelle, not LOTR.
(I think sound is about equally as important to me as spelling).
I'm a lot more familiar with those types of names than
Melker /
Melchior, so Miriel would come across as more multidimensional to me...but if I lived somewhere that
Melchior (or similar sounding names) were sort of common, it wouldn't grab my attention the way it does.
This message was edited 9/24/2015, 1:33 PM