Mariko

I was named Mariko after the novel "Shogun". My father was a navy sailor and was stationed in Yokohama when he met my mother. My mother spoke English and worked at the Navy exchange in the camera section. My father would go in and look at the camera equipment and flirt with my mom (my dad was a professional landscape photographer) as often as he could. They started to date and later marry, but both of their families were against inter racial marriage. I was finally born 10 years after. They felt that naming me after Mariko in Shogun had the most meaning to them. They resonated with the Anjin san and Mariko san and sadly my mother also passed away at a very young age, and my father lost the love of his life. My mother also sang "Akujo" to me almost every night when I was little because the song started with my name.
Growing up, I did not like my name. In Japan, my classmates would call me Super Mariko (that's when Mario Bros first came out), and in the US, no one could pronounce my name. Even to this day, my best friends are not able to pronounce my name correctly. The only ones that are non Japanese and are able to pronounce it correctly are my husband, my father, and most young children. When I go back to Japan, people get intimidated by me until I tell them my name. Then they say "OH! Mariko san!" and they are able to relax. I must say that I did start really loving my name as I got older. Here in the US, I do feel more unique because of my name and my mixed nationality and also, my husband has an unique name himself, Dava. I feel that our new family is more special and unique because of our names and our origins. I hope to live up to my name every day and continue to do so.

Many people believe that this is the Japanese form of the name "Mary," but I don't believe the two names are related at all.

Another meaning for Mariko is "child of true benefit".

Yes, you are correct about the pronunciation, though the meanings vary, depending on the kanji one chooses. If you only want to use one kanji for the "mari" part, one possibility is a kanji meaning "jasmine". "ko" means child.

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If you want to use separate kanji for "ma" and "ri", here are some possibilities.
"ma"
-truth
-ten thousand
"ri"
-village
-science
-pear
-benefit
(the first 2 of these are more common than the others)

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There are numerous names you can start with Mari also:
Marie (ma-ri-eh)
Marika (as you see it and the "ka" can be "fragrance" or "beautiful" or "song" just in case you're interested for your name)
Marina
Marino
or just plain Mari

Thank you for the information! This is really useful. :-)