Mara 1

Pretty name, bad meaning.

Oh my mother gave me the name Mara in 1979 and it caused me a lot of pain when my father told me 25 years later that my name is having a very bad meaning for my future. So the family of my father is very Catholic and I had to change my name and I felt very insecure because my past has been nice and it felt like I have to forget my past. Later I did a lot of research into what is the true meaning of Mara and I can agree to all of you guys above me in your comments it has a lot of meanings. And 50% or more is negative so I would not recommend this name to anybody. What amazes me the most is that in the protestant church they always say “maranatha” which means in Jewish language “the lord/master/teacher may come”.

I really love this name, I think it's pretty.
However, the fact that it means penis in Japanese is kind of a turn off (pun intentional).
It's still usable in other countries I guess.

I use Mara as a shortening/nickname of Xiomara. Even though the biblical meaning is kinda depressing, I still love the sound of it, and besides; who really knows biblical meanings? Lol most bullies are kinda dumb so I'd put it past them to go researching biblical name meanings haha.

My name is Madison, but since I don't really like Madison, I go by "Mara"/"May". I also have a Scottish/Irish ancestry on my dad's side (I'm mixed). Since the Scottish/Irish meaning is "sea" and I literally live and breathe the ocean hahaha, I enjoy being called Mara.
I also think it would be cool to be named "Marina" then be nicknamed "Mara" since "Marina" means "Of the Sea" and "Mara" means "sea".

It sounds nice but the biblical meaning is terrible!

I like it best pronounced Mare-uh. Mara Renee is a great combo to me.

The name Mara kind of reminds me of an evil sorceress (but always an admirable, clever one). It always did, even before I ever looked up the meaning; in fact, in 4th grade my friends and I used it as the name of a witch in a play we made up. But it's a beautiful sounding name, even though I would always imagine Mara as an antagonist...

My name is Mara, I love the name. My favorite is the Scottish meaning, the sea. I love the ocean, its moods and temperament. And I have Scottish in my ancestry, I will take it hands down.

My name is Mara and I haven't met another person named Mara and people ALWAYS SAY IT WRONG- they pronounce it Mare-uh and not Mar-uh. When I was little I hated my name because no one could pronounce it right and no one else had my name. There's a family in my church who's 2 or 3 year old's nickname is Mara but I just hate the Japanese meaning and any other meaning because they usually mean bitter, cold-hearted, or destruction. I've been thinking about changing it when I'm older because of those meanings because it just makes me depressed about my name, and I feel like those meanings are supposed to represent me and if people knew the true meaning they would judge me.

My name is Mara. I personally love it. I have never met anyone with it and I always get compliments. It's easy to remember and not hard to pronounce. I really couldn't care less what people think of it. I love it.

Gorgeous.

This is a very pretty name.

My sister's name is Mara, her middle name in Joy so together her name is "Bitterness turned to Joy". That is what happens when you when you become a Christian, the bitterness of sin turned in to the Joy of salvation.

I couldn't care less what this name means. Mara is a very lovely name and I wouldn't mind using it for a potential daughter either as first name or as a middle. To me, it's such a classic, beautiful, soft and feminine name. Easy to remember, easy to spell and isn't at all that common.
I highly recommended this name.

It's better than Tamara.

My passport name is Marianna, but everybody knows me as Mara. Everybody has 2 variants of his/her name, official and for friends in my country (Ukraine)... For example, Mariya (Masha), Oleksandr (Sasha), Solomiya (Solya).
About meaning... Mara - is the Slavic goddess of darkness, winter and nightmares. Normal, but unpopular name. (As for me).

Ugly name, bad meaning.

Honestly, this name is double negative for me (which doesn't make a positive, needless to say.) First is the negative meaning in my native language. I don't think we can even use it honestly. Second is that a game being ruined my image of it. It was a Japanese video game series where the apocalypse has happened and you partner with "demons" (mythological figures and beings, scattered from various mythologies) I'll try to find the name so I can edit out this part later. Either way, Mara is a "demon" there with a very... interesting design. Interesting in the bad way, and fans made fun of it a lot.

If people dislike the name Mara for meaning bitter, then why exactly is Mary acceptable everywhere?

Mara to my family means beauty, love, hope, and strength! Mara equals intelligence, creativity, talent and a zest for life. To be around a Mara is to inspired and drawn to positive and happy thoughts. She rules!

I also came to love this name through its association with the Star Wars character Mara Jade. Because of her, the name makes me picture a really strong woman who isn't afraid to take matters into her own hands. The meaning doesn't really bother me because names like Mary, Maria, & Miriam have the same or similar meanings and that doesn't stop people from using them. Also, because it means "of the sea" in Gaelic, you could always tell your child that is the meaning of her name.

Being a Star Wars fan, I think this name sounds much more beautiful than its more common (and I daresay "vulgar") variant. Amazing how a one-letter difference does that.

It sounds like a nice name, but it's too bad that the meaning is awful.

I like this name, if not only because of Mara from Redwall (she's my favorite character in Salamandastron).

I think this name is really beautiful, a lot of my friends don't agree with me. It just seems so strong and beautiful!