Mara 1

It’s notable that this name, in its biblical and Hebrew sense, can also mean “lady, master” in Aramaic, while the meaning “bitter” also carries the implication of “strong”, as in ‘able to weather difficulties’—the biblical figure named herself Mara in this sense of “strong”.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mara_(name)
https://web.archive.org/web/20121127210057/http://asorblog.org/?p=2030
https://www.abarim-publications.com/Meaning/Mara.html

The name Mara refers to a personification of all of the forces counter to the path of enlightenment in Buddhism. You can think of it as a concept or a force or as, in regards to the personification, an actual demon that will possess you or take hold of you.

Mara is a lovely name. Mara from a Greek word means "Eternally Beautiful". There's a lot of meaning but I like this one better. Actually I named my second baby MARA with this adorable meaning.

My daughter’s name is Mara. The Hebrew Mara means bitter with the implication of strength, not bitter as in angry or resentful. God has made Naomi strong- He chose the path that made her Mara.

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Mara is also the superhero volleyball player in a comic book by the same name.

We named our daughter Mara a couple weeks ago after a ton of research into name meanings, etc.

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Unfortunately, I just discovered that Mara means "penis" in Japanese.

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How did this not come up in all our research!?

In Madagascar, Mara means "of many different stripes", and in Maori it means "field" or "garden". I love this name, I was searching for other meanings for it since I am going to name my band Mara. Strong name for a female lead.

Mara Jade is probably the most famous bearer of this name, in my opinion.

In Scots Gaelic (and probably Irish too) Mara means sea. I would use this in honour of a beloved holiday cottage named 'Tigh na Mara' which means 'house by the sea'.

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I adore this name. Being Scottish I'd rather focus on the Gaelic link than the Hebrew.

Is related to the word "myrrh" a strong-smelling and bitter perfume used on the deceased as part of the embalming process.

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Is also related to the name "Mary", which also means "bitter".

I love this name, since it's mine!

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Anyway, on the origin: Mara is the highest ranking goddess in Latvian mythology.

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In Scandinavian folk stories a "Mara" is a ghost like creature who causes nightmares.

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It's also another name for Marzanna, a goddess of death, the dark, the winter season, and the moon.

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Mara is also the Hindu goddess of death.

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It's a REALLY dark name, but I like that it has such history.

Besides the fact that Mara means "bitter" in Hebrew, it also means "nightmare" in Swedish and "Death" in Sanskrit. Hardly the type of name I'd recommend anyone using, due to all of the negative meanings.

Mara also means 'sea' in Gaelic. If I used this name, I would mean it to have this meaning rather than 'bitter'.

No, muir means "sea" in Irish. Mara is the genitive of muir. (I'm feeling picky today.)
The Latin equivalent of Mara is maris. So, Stella Maris ("Star of the Sea", a title of Mary) is Réalta na Mara in Irish. Though Mara isn't really an Irish name, it's a word.
And I agree, "of the sea" is a really pretty meaning, much nicer than "bitter".

I've just learned that "Mara" means "lord, master" in Aramaic, or Hebrew. Can't remember.

Mara is an ancient Egyptian name meaning "truth of the sun".

"Mara" could be a short form of "Tamara".