Nope, never heard of that. I guess in some regional accents they might sound the same, though - I know some people who are originally Midwestern who say
Laurie almost as LAH-ree.
I'm from (urban) California and Texas and it's definitely always been MAH-rah for
Mara, MOHR-a for
Maura. I can't imagine it being MEHR-ah for anyone, though, not even in Texas where there are
Taras, Karas, and Daras that rhyme
Sara. That'd sound really rural to me.
- chazda