Lots of times you’ll see the otherwise unremarkable first name “Mary” used in conjunction with a middle name to make it more unique. I’ve known a number of Mary Anns and a couple of Mary Lous. I knew a girl in high school named Mary Alice, and for some reason I found that pairing quite exotic. I can’t know for sure, but I have a feeling I might not have had the same crush on “Mary” that I had on “Mary Alice”.
My brother and sister-in-law named one of their daughters Mary Diane and called her that at first, but it didn’t stick; she’s now known simply as Mary. The kid’s got a terrific personality, but IMO her name doesn’t. Mary Diane would be a better fit. I’m not exactly sure why this is.
Are you or is someone close to you a Mary Something? Do you like it? Have you ever given it much thought?
My SIL is Mary __ … the ___ is pretty unique so I won’t say it to protect our identities. It’s an old German family name.
According to her she has no middle name, and Mary ___ is her entire first name.
I’ve heard a few people call her Mary and it’s totally weird to me. It’d be like if you went by Alexander and someone referred to you as Al. It makes sense but it sounds totally weird.
Then again, I do call her “Mare” from time to time, as I’ve heard her sisters do.
ETA: Facebook calls her “Mary” and I find that weird too
As I said in the middle name thread my mom was a Mary she had a middle name but she was just called Mary. Her sisters had more unusual names. My paternal grandmother was a Mary, all her sisters were Mary Something and usually went by their middle names or both names but she went by Mary (they were Italian Roman Catholic, all the boys had Angelo in their name). My maternal grandmother was Mae Bertha and she was sometimes called by just the first name or both names equally (her family was Irish Catholic).
My sister in law is Mary Ellen. Since there was a Mary Ellen on the Waltons, I always assumed it was kind of common. A couple of months ago I met someone by that name, and mentioned that it was my SIL’s name. She mentioned how rare it is. I had no idea.
And about a decade ago, I became friends with a couple, Mary and Ellen.
I have an Aunt Mary Jane and a cousin Mary Ellen. Mary Jane prefers just Mary, but that’s a hard habit to break (especially since I have another Aunt Mary, so I always end up saying, “Aunt Mary. No the other one. Mary JANE.”
Both Mary Jane and Mary Beth were popular when I was in high school (late 70s). Of course it was always Marijayne or Maribeth or some other way to spell them as one name not two
I’m a Mary ____. My parents have called me Mary ____ from the day I was born. My siblings call me Mary about half the time. My other relatives mostly call me Mary ____. I was known as Mary _____ until high school. My friends and anyone else who met me since high school call me Mary.
In my extended family there are some unusual nicknames. Mary _____ doesn’t even come close.
Not my mom and her sisters … but their cousins are four girls who were all given the first name Mary. They go by their middle names, which are Elizabeth (Beth), Barbara, Anne and Katherine. Catholic much?
I’ve known three Mary Margarets, all when I was in grammar school, and all three were Catholic. For a time, I believed Mary Margaret was a single name, and thought it strange when I met a girl whose name was simply Mary.
I went to Catholic school during the baby boom, so I’ve heard just about every possible variation on Mary. Without referring to anything, here are the ones I remember.
Mary Ann
Mary Anne
Mary Beth
Mary Fran
Mary Jane
Mary Jean
Mary Catherine aka Mary Kay
Mary Lou
Mary Lourdes
Mary Margaret
Mary Pat
Mary Ruth
When I was a child I hated the name Mary and went by a diminutive of my middle name. I won’t say what it is because it’s uncommon and would give me away. As I grew up I started disliking my nickname and thought it sounded like a little girl name.
So, I was Mary from then on, except to my mother who never really liked Mary that much but claims nothing else went with my middle name. To me, it sounds grown up, professional and pretty. President Candi or Senator DeeDee doesn’t do it for me.
My older sister is Mary Elizabeth. Simple enough? You’d think so, wouldn’t you?
But you would be wrong, my friend, wrong.
Mary Elizabeth, en famille has always be ‘Liz’. That was her nickname from birth and everyone called her that.
But in first grade she had a teacher (this would be about 1967 or 68 or so) who said she didn’t care what the kids called themselves but they could only use the full version of their names (this would have been a real burden for me)…no nicknames.
Liz looked at ‘Mary’. Four letters.
Liz looked at ‘Elizabeth’. Nine letters.
And changed to Mary on the spot so she wouldn’t spend a year writing ‘Elizabeth’ all the time. And that’s what her friends attached to her as.
So at family gatherings her family (mom, dad, aunts uncles brothers and sisters and such) call her ‘Liz’ while her friends, including husband and his relations, call her ‘Mary’.
My sincere apologies for my choice of wording, A_E_S. There’s nothing wrong with the name. There’s nothing wrong with John or Bob for men either. Many fine people have these names.
It’s just that these are monikers which, shall we say, won’t help you stand out from the crowd.
I work with a Mary Jo right now, and she’s Mary Jo to all of my coworkers. When customers or employees on different shifts call her “Mary,” it sounds wrong. She’s a Mary Jo!
An aside: an odd thing I’ve noticed about women who are named Mary, and to a lesser extent, Mary ___, is that when they get older, people begin calling them “Miss Mary.” It’s never applied to younger Marys, never is applied to other women’s names (unless they teach younger children), never uses “Mrs.” or “Ms.” I get the feeling that this is a regional thing.
