Comments on: “Fearless Females” – March 3

By: Antra

Antra — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 02:58:30 +0000

Brenda,

I’m not sure if there is a difference between Marija and Mērija, etymologically speaking. Pronunciation-wise, there is the variation in the second vowel, but I think Mērija is just a variation on Marija. In fact, my ancestor named Mērija is, in some records, referred to as Marija. This actually came up as a point of contention in the ownership records of their farm when it came to reacquiring ownership after the end of Communism. It was resolved favourably, but it was an extra hurdle to work through.

I do love uniquely Latvian first names. My future children will definitely possess such names. My favourite girls’ names are Daila, Kaija and Teika, while my favourite boys’ names are Druvvaldis, Saulnesis and Viesturs.

By: Brenda

Brenda — Sat, 13 Mar 2010 05:20:52 +0000

To my mind, Latvians have so many unique first names that you don’t see appearing in other cultures. For example, names like Christina and Margaret and Mary appear in so many countries with slightly different spellings and pronunciations.

Antra, I would be interested to know if there is a difference (in meaning or pronunciation) above between Marija and Merija (I can’t place the diacritic mark on the latter).

By: Sebastiane

Sebastiane — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 22:22:14 +0000

I am not Latvian myself, but I went to school with a Latvian girl named Baiba, she said that it was an ancient Latvian name that nobody knew the meaning of.

By: Chelli

Chelli — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 15:48:50 +0000

I’ve got Rasma Lilija, Erika, Inara, Dzenija, Berta Helene, Skaidrite, Ludmila, Katte, Alise
And a whole bunch of Annas and Ievas