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I knew a Serena at school and a Miranda at uni. Probably not frequent in South Africa either, therefore! Which is odd, because Afrikaans South Africans in particular are perfectly accustomed to names ending in -a: Anna and Maria obviously, and also fem forms of male names, like Johanna, Wilhelmina, Jakoba ... so they would fit in there as well as with English speakers. Except they don't! Serena is lovely, but a bit risky: it would be sad if she turned out to be hyperactive. I suspect that, as Amanda becomes Mandy, so Miranda becomes Randy which is enough to put anyone off. The Miranda I knew, who became an opera singer, was known as Mandy. I far prefer Miranda to Amanda, but I'd only consider it as a mn, just in case.