Hey guys! Remember me? Your steadfast blogger has been ripping her hair out over the past week or so, so I had to take an absence.
So, two things have brought me to Marianne today. One is a thread an another board I visit, and the other is that I recently finished reading Pride and Prejudice. Of course, I compared it with Sense and Sensibility in my head, leading me to today’s name. By the way, I loved both, and I’m planning on reading Emma next. Any Austenites out there?
Anyway, I think Marianne is gently old-fashioned and altogether much different than Maryann or any other permutation of the compound name. It’s all about the pause in the middle: Mary(half-breath)Anne vs Maryann, pronunciation wise. Also, Marianne has roots as a diminutive of Marie, so it’s not simply a prettied up version of the compound name. And, from what I hear, the English pronounce both names completely differently. Mairy-Anne (which, for what it’s worth, is the way I pronounce Mary, Mairy) vs Marry-Anne. Of course, depending on where you live, you might not see the difference between Mary and Marry, even when it’s Mairy phonetically!
There are a few different associations with Marianne. For me, first and foremostly, it’s Dashwood, one of the protagonists of Jane Austen’s novel, Sense and Sensibility. She represents sensibility, or feeling, while her sister Elinor represents sense. While altogether I’m much more of an Elinor, I love Marianne’s character equally, and she’s the one who first made me love the name. Other folks’ first associations are the symbol of the French Revolution, which isn’t a bad one, I suppose. It might depend on your politics, but I don’t see too much bad about it. Anyway, the third most popular association seems to be a Leonard Cohen song, but I haven’t heard it, so I’ll reserve comment.
All in all, Marianne is a name that recalls carriages and country houses, revolt and politics, and music. Varied enough for you? A Marianne can be pretty much any kind of girl, but it’s so tied to Dashwood in my mind that I only think of her. However, it’s not a bad association at all, unless you think having an excess of feeling is an awful thing. It’s also very uncommon; the last time it was in the top 1000 was 1992! It peaked around the same time Maryann and all of those did, in the 40s and 50s, but it never got too high, stopping at 183. I don’t think this spelling is dated though. Only the compound versions are dated.
What do you think of Marianne?
Sunday, January 4th, 2009 at 3:27 pm
Welcome Back! I like Marianne and like you, think Dashwood before anything else (although Faithfull is in there somewhere, too). I think it’s sweet. I would be pleasantly surprised to meet a little Marianne! It’s a very delicate looking name but Marianne’s got a solid backbone. Very nice, indeed!
Sunday, January 4th, 2009 at 3:44 pm
Austen! I prefer Elinor to Marianne, and obviously cannot use both! I know many “Mary Anne”s through my mother’s friends, and no two spell it the same. It’s like my generation’s Caitlin!
And I also pronounce Mary as Mairy
Sunday, January 4th, 2009 at 5:40 pm
Lola: I forgot about Faithfull! *smacks head* I vaguely know who she is. After Wikipediaing, it seems to be an interesting connection. And I agree, Marianne is delicate with a backbone.
Cecily: Nice to see you like Austen! I’m a newbie, only having read two of her books, but I’m loving them. I know one Marianne/Maryann/whatever, that’s it! I’m starting to think I live in some weird naming enclave…
Sunday, January 4th, 2009 at 8:51 pm
Ah, well…. I’ve read Jane Austen, but I guess I’m just not that literary (or it’s been too many years – shame, because I do like Jane Austen), because for me Marianne and Maryanne (or any other spelling) are the same name, said the same, and bring to mind, first and foremost, the Boston song, “More than a Feeling” – sad but true. I can see that there is a difference in pronunciation, but that would likely be a headache to enforce, in practicality. While it’s not the same name as Marianne, Marian would be pronounced differently from Maryanne without any need for “educating”… however, that is different again from the pronunciation you mention for Marianne. (I also say Mary as Mairy, like you)…
Also, I asked my hubby – a Brit, but not at all atuned to names or language – how he says Marianne and he said Marian (MARRY-in)… then I asked about Maryanne and he said MAIRY- ANNE… then I said, so you say Marian and Marianne the same? He said… Hmmm, tough one, maybe Marianne is MARRY ANNE, but then back tracked and said MARRY-in again)… So he’s useless for this purpose it would seem!!
I know a Maryanne and she’s a wonderful person…
Having said that, I fully prefer Marian or Marion to Maryanne. As for Marianne – I understand the pronunciation you mentioned, but it feels unnatural to me, so I’m having a hard time with it… It LOOKS nice though! And Jane Austen is great – I’m a Pride and Prejudice person – first of the novels I read and will always be the best for me (and the BBC mini-series didn’t hurt it for me either)… so that’s another tick in the “positives” column for the name.
Wednesday, January 7th, 2009 at 12:00 pm
Oh, classic rock. The bane of my existence!
Yeah, the difference in pronunciation is where I hit a snag. It would probably be hard to really differentiate, so I’ll probably leave Marianne be unless I soften on Maryanne.
I really want to pick up a DVD of the BBC series, but haven’t got around to it yet. I heard it’s very good.
Tuesday, January 6th, 2009 at 4:23 pm
For some reason I LOVE Marianne (and Jane Austen too
).
The thing is, I really don’t like Mary Anne or Mary-Ann at all, just Marianne, probably because it is so classic and literary. Also, I prn. it differently- more like mair-ee-AN in one breath than Mare-y Ann.
Marian/Marion are pretty also
Wednesday, January 7th, 2009 at 11:58 am
Exactly! Maryann is dated, Marianne classic.
Marian is really nice, but Marion is mostly the male spelling to me, although I have an aunt a few generations back named that.
Friday, January 9th, 2009 at 5:34 pm
The difference in pronouciation really does makes a difference doesn’t it?! (How about that for a sentence!) Maryanne is well, frankly to me – she looks like two names stuck together whereas Marianne seems much more chic. Saying that, Marianne is still a little too girly for my tastes and ever so slightly dated too.
I love Jane Austen too, with an absolute passion! But, she has hampered my feelings towards some names. Lydia is a prime example of this, as the name will be forever associated with silliness/flightiness in my head.
Saturday, January 10th, 2009 at 1:18 pm
I just finished Pride and Prejudice about a week ago, and I have to agree! Lydia is now silly and boy-chasing to my ear. I can still recommend it to others, but couldn’t use it myself. She did make me love Elizabeth and Jane more, though, and is the reason I really like Elinor (and Marianne). She nearly tarnished Lucy for me.