# Do they call the wind Mariah or Maria? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 29, 2008, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-they-call-the-wind-mariah-or-maria/435457 "2008-01-29T15:17:40Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2008, 7:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-they-call-the-wind-mariah-or-maria/435457/21 "2008-01-30T07:33:41Z")
I have the original LP, and it’s spelled “Maria,” but pronounced “mariah” (long “i”). ---
**Author:** ![mamboman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ecb155/32.png) [@mamboman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mamboman)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2008, 9:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-they-call-the-wind-mariah-or-maria/435457/22 "2008-01-30T09:17:06Z")
Mariah? Maria? It’s an intractible problem! I wish I knew how to solve it. So how do you solve a problem like Mariah/Maria? ---
**Author:** ![Dunderman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ecb155/32.png) [@Dunderman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dunderman)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2008, 9:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-they-call-the-wind-mariah-or-maria/435457/23 "2008-01-30T09:25:28Z")
I’m feeling excessively foreign here, as I didn’t realize the trailing H made a difference in pronunciation. Is it Mariah - mah-rye-ah and Maria - mah-ree-ah? ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2008, 10:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-they-call-the-wind-mariah-or-maria/435457/24 "2008-01-30T10:46:22Z")
_Storm_ by George Rippey Stewart in 1941 was responsible for the naming of Pacific storms after women. In the novel the storm is “Maria”. This was the inspiration for Alan Jay Lerner and Frederick Loewe’s _They Call The Wind Maria_. ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2008, 10:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-they-call-the-wind-mariah-or-maria/435457/25 "2008-01-30T10:54:10Z")
Sorry forgot the important bit: The matter of spelling vs pronunciation was dealt with in Storm Quote: Stewart notes in the book’s introduction that he originally intended the name to be pronounced in the soft Spanish way with the second syllable being ree: Ma-ree-a. But he later realized that the storm Maria was “too big for any man to embrace and much too boisterous.” He advises, “So put the accent on the second syllable, and pronounce it ‘rye’” ---
**Author:** ![kelly5078](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/6f9a4e/32.png) [@kelly5078](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kelly5078)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2008, 11:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-they-call-the-wind-mariah-or-maria/435457/26 "2008-01-30T23:37:19Z")
> [@don't\_ask](#): > > Storm by George Rippey Stewart in 1941 was responsible for the naming of Pacific storms after women. In the novel the storm is “Maria”. This was the inspiration for Alan Jay Lerner and Frederick Loewe’s They Call The Wind Maria. Disney also did a TV adaptation of the book, way, way back, which featured the song. It was pronounced Mariah. ---
**Author:** ![Governor\_Quinn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/d26b3c/32.png) [@Governor\_Quinn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Governor_Quinn)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2008, 12:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-they-call-the-wind-mariah-or-maria/435457/27 "2008-01-31T00:37:34Z")
[Internet Broadway Database](http://www.ibdb.com/production.asp?ID=1974) (click the “Songs in this Production” link) also confirms it as “Maria” ---
**Author:** ![TWDuke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e495f1/32.png) [@TWDuke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TWDuke)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2008, 12:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-they-call-the-wind-mariah-or-maria/435457/28 "2008-01-31T00:48:17Z")
[QUOTE=Priceguy] I’m feeling excessively foreign here, as I didn’t realize the trailing H made a difference in pronunciation. Is it Mariah - mah-rye-ah and Maria - mah-ree-ah? [/QUOTE] Generally, although besides the wind’s name, there’s also “Black Maria.” ---
**Author:** ![Maria333](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e9a140/32.png) [@Maria333](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maria333)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2011, 3:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-they-call-the-wind-mariah-or-maria/435457/29 "2011-01-09T03:25:54Z")
Okay, just going to clear some things up here. My name is Maria, yes spelled like Maria & pronounced like Mariah. I have been correcting people my whole life. I am named after my Great Aunt Maria & her name is also pronounced like Mariah. My family & I are Norwegian. Maria is the Scandinavian spelling for Mariah. So people in the north understand the spelling more. & once you think about it & really look at the spelling… the only pronunciation difference lies within the “i”. The 2nd “a” in both names have the same pronunciation. So really the “h” is not needed. & also once you think about it Maria that is pronounced like Maria will have a slash above the “i”. & the Wind Maria is spelled like Maria & pronounced Mariah. My grandpa used to play his guitar & sing that song to me when I was little… before he died. He always called me Windy. ---
**Author:** ![Disheavel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e274bd/32.png) [@Disheavel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Disheavel)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2011, 4:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-they-call-the-wind-mariah-or-maria/435457/30 "2011-01-09T04:54:26Z")
22 days short of a Zombreeze thread. Well that just blows. ---
**Author:** ![Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/son_of_a_rich/32/5439_2.png) [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Son_of_a_Rich)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2011, 5:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-they-call-the-wind-mariah-or-maria/435457/31 "2011-01-09T05:37:51Z")
The Eskimos have 100 different names for the wind. ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2011, 7:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-they-call-the-wind-mariah-or-maria/435457/32 "2011-01-09T07:20:42Z")
> [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](#): > > The Eskimos have 100 different names for the wind. I thought that was snow. I mean, **I** have a 100 different names for snow, too, but 98 of them are unprintable in a family publication. ---
**Author:** ![handsomeharry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e9c0ed/32.png) [@handsomeharry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handsomeharry)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2011, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-they-call-the-wind-mariah-or-maria/435457/33 "2011-01-09T16:58:42Z")
> [@Freddy\_the\_Pig](#): > > Did anybody ever _really_ call the wind Maria? It sounds kind of flaky. \*They \*did. Best wishes, hh ---
**Author:** ![DMark](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@DMark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DMark)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2011, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-they-call-the-wind-mariah-or-maria/435457/34 "2011-01-09T18:54:44Z")
Worse is when your voice cracks while singing it - then you have broken wind. ---
**Author:** ![Dallas\_Jones](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dallas_jones/32/3277_2.png) [@Dallas\_Jones](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dallas_Jones)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2011, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-they-call-the-wind-mariah-or-maria/435457/35 "2011-01-09T19:01:07Z")
Ever since I saw that Far Side cartoon, I call the wind Murray. ---
**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2011, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-they-call-the-wind-mariah-or-maria/435457/36 "2011-01-09T19:16:09Z")
Possibly the most famous _Maria_ was [Maria Theresa](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maria_Theresa), Empress of Austria and Hungary from 1740-1780. You pronounce her name as if it were spelled _Mariah_. Just when the pronunciation of _Maria_ became _Mah-REE-ah_, I don’t know. ---
**Author:** ![Le\_Ministre\_de\_l\_au-dela](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/le_ministre_de_l_au-dela/32/12181_2.png) [@Le\_Ministre\_de\_l\_au-dela](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Le_Ministre_de_l_au-dela)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2011, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-they-call-the-wind-mariah-or-maria/435457/37 "2011-01-09T19:32:07Z")
> [@DMark](#): > > Worse is when your voice cracks while singing it - then you have broken wind. Ha! Well done! ---
**Author:** ![ncdave4life](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/958977/32.png) [@ncdave4life](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ncdave4life)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2011, 3:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-they-call-the-wind-mariah-or-maria/435457/38 "2011-08-19T03:11:45Z")
> [@samclem](#): > > Possibly the most famous _Maria_ was [Maria Theresa](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maria_Theresa), Empress of Austria and Hungary from 1740-1780. > > You pronounce her name as if it were spelled _Mariah_. > > Just when the pronunciation of _Maria_ became _Mah-REE-ah_, I don’t know. I know a lady here in Raleigh who spells her name Maria but pronounces it “Mariah.” [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-they-call-the-wind-mariah-or-maria/435457.md?page=1)