Outside of New England, New
York City, and New Jersey, American English just doesn't have the vowel of "clap" in front of "r" at all and only has the "mare" sound.
Mary, marry, and merry are generally all pronounced the same by most Americans, with a vowel which would be closest to "merry" as people in England say these words, I think.
Marian is used as a male form in Slavic languages. Is it also really a male form in South
Africa?