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My great-great-grandmother was Maria Eleanor, pronounced ma-RYE-a, and she was born and raised in Cornwell. She apparently had a lot of problems when she immigrated to Ireland with her Irish husband. People would adjust and get used to calling her Mariah but it was definitely annoying for her! I remember when I was doing genealogy and I said to my Papa, "And your maternal grandmother, Maria, (asked a question)?" And he made this face and goes, "You NEVER called her ma-REE-ah! She was ma-RYE-a...nothing drove as crazy!"

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So even in the late 1800s/early 1900s in Ireland, the ma-RYE-a prn of Maria was causing bearers some problems!