My name is like 57, long and hard to pronounce. My name is Marielle, but my closest friends call me Mari. Partially because Marielle is too long and partially because Mari is more fun. The name Marielle is very unique, which can be good and bad. Pronounced Mair – ee – el, my name gets mispronounced by almost everyone I meet for the first time – the funniest include Muriel, and Marybella – and nine times out of ten it is mispronounced. If I see someone for a second time, they most likely will not remember it. It has gotten to a point where I have stopped correcting people, because odds are they won’t get it right the next time they say it anyway.

Marielle has never been in the top 1000 of the Social Security Administrations baby name data base lists of names. Since 1900. 123 years. My nickname Mari, however, has appeared in the top 1000 names several times, but none in the 21st century (Social Security). That makes sense based on the trends I have seen in my 18 years with this name.

  My name is derived from both of my grandmas. My parents combined the heritage of my dad’s mom with the name of my Mom’s mom to get Marielle. I love the relation my name has to my family. Being an only child, the Benitez name will be over with me, so it is important to have a relation to my family within my first name instead.

My name is of Latin, French, and Dutch origin and means “Star of the sea” (Allen), which I don’t really resonate with. Don’t get me wrong, I like the beach but not enough for it to be the entire meaning of my name. There could be certain interpretations where that does fit me, like I love to go in the ocean while others stay on the beach and tan, but overall, I feel like a different description of my name would fit better. Something involving the words fun-loving. Happy. Laughter. Something centered around happiness. The name Mari is of Japanese origin and reflects the values of truth and reason, which I definitely agree with as honesty is very important to me. (Baby Names) I can’t imagine myself with another name, and I do really like my name, but I sometimes I wish it was not so unique. I have only had this name, so having a different name would feel wrong. Almost criminal.