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Marian or Marion?
Which do you prefer for a female?
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Marion, or Marianne. Marian is too adjectival.
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Marion
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Marian.It just looks more feminine to me.
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Marian.
1) it reminds me of Maid Marian
2) the only Marion I've ever met has been a boy
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Today, I slightly prefer Marion. I don't have a strong preference.
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Marion...I think it stand on its own as a name better as it reminds me less of Marianne.

This message was edited 10/3/2010, 9:28 AM

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MarianIn fact, the only Marion's I've known have been male.
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MarianMarian. Marion seems more masculine to me.
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Certainly Marian, Marion feels a bit dowdy.
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I prefer Marian. It looks more feminine to me. I once met an elderly couple, and the wife was named Marion. She said that when she was growing up, teachers thought that she was male when they were calling roll on the first day because Marion used to be more common for boys and Marian was the typical spelling used for girls. Things have changed, but I still think of that.
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MarianMarion looks more masculine to me.
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Marion has a lovely medieval vibe, but knowing it was John Wayne's real name puts me off a tad.
Nevertheless, it wins by a whisker over Marian, which is also an adjective, of course.
I like Marianne as well - prefer it to Marian.
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MarianMarian by far. I love the Robin Hood connection. Besides, Marion is used where I live (on females) but it's dated, so the Marions I know are about 40 years old.

This message was edited 10/3/2010, 1:16 AM

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I actually dislike it on either gender (have thought it unattractive for some time), but if one must, I suppose Marian looks more fem.
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While I like the idea of Marion being a French diminutive for Marie over Marian being a variant of Marion (because I'm a name snob and all), the Marian spelling looks so much more feminine to me.
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I currently prefer Marian; however, I also love Marion.
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Marion by far. I pron them differently as well -Marion pron. Mar ee on, while Marian Mar ee an. I also love the fact that Marion is French:)
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MarianI like the Robin Hoody connection, and it seems lighter, which is more my thing. I lived on a Marion street for a few years, I like that one too.
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Marian. It looks more feminine and pretty, and is reminiscent of Maid Marian. Marion used to be a male name, and while I certainly don't recommend its use as such these days, it is still more masculine looking than Marian.
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Marion. The -on ending has a certain charm the -an ending doesn't. Plus, it makes me think of medieval France (maybe that's where the charm comes from).
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MarionIt's more feminine ... rather French, too. But then, I'm aware of -on being a French diminutive.. like Alison, Manon, Ninon. Before I was aware of that, I thought Marian was the feminine, like a form of Marianne. Marion Cotillard's fame, and a female French neighbor of mine named Marion, help too.Marian to me is the masculine now. It reminds me more of other -ian Latin type masculine names, Florian, Adrian, Cyprian, than it does of Marianne.

This message was edited 10/2/2010, 5:59 PM

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Interesting.It makes a lot of sense, too. Oddly enough Marion is a fairly common name in black communities - they tend to use names like Jordan, Marion and Stacy on boys still.
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Yeah, I think either spelling can be used on either sex just fine, given the history of usage. I think Marion on guys is nice, too. I just tend to like the O for girls myself, and the A one for boys. I wouldn't name a boy Marian, though. Too many people would interpret it as being like Marianne.Stacy on boys is neat, I like that.
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I know a male Stacey.
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I think it's neat on boys, too.I like a lot of the names used in the black community - Demetria, Demetrius, Stacy on boys, Lucius, Vernon - they seem to have more creativity and lack the vibe of "I'm just going to be safe and name my child Jessica"
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Ha, I know a ton of black girls named Jessica. To me it's one of those names that connotes neither/both black and/or white, like Marcus, Kendra, Tiffany, Anthony
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I do, too.It was just the first super common name to come to me, which is why I used it.
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Marion; yes:)
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MarionMarian is an adjective to me in English and a male name where I live. I do like Mariana best though.

This message was edited 10/2/2010, 5:40 PM

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Interesting... It's not a commonly used adjective... Majored in ling. and have spoken En. all my life and have never heard it used as anything but a name. I suspect many on this site don't even know what it means. Definitely not one that came up in my TESL courses.
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I assume that Catholics would use Marian as an adjective more and that's the context I've seen it.
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ah... so basically, something related to Mary then... that explains it... I'm not Catholic.
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Thanks.
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Marian
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Marion, as in Maid Marion. Even though she wasn't real... I had a great-aunt with this name, and I think it was the -ion spelling, so I think the name is lovely.
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I like them both equally. I would use Marion because it's a family name, but Marian is just as pretty.

This message was edited 10/2/2010, 5:32 PM

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As someone who grew up in DCI'm going with Marian. As with most Washingtonians Marion belongs to one man and man only - Marion Barry. Plus I always think of Maid Marian.
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Lol!I saw the "As with most Washingtonians..." and I thought, "I'm a Washingtonian and I've never heard of Marion Barry... Oh, wait. The other Washington..."I like Marian on a girl. I hate either version on a guy.

This message was edited 10/2/2010, 8:28 PM

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I also grew up in the DC metro area (Silver Spring), so I realize the name is rather associated with him. I am a Marion (f) fan. Actually, my great-great-great-grandparents were named Marian and Berry.Nice to know another Washington Metro poster on here. :)

This message was edited 10/2/2010, 5:41 PM

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Former.I moved around three years ago - to Fargo, ND.My dad has actually dealt with Barry personally a few times - in fact he did so just recently - plus I've never known anyone else with the name.
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