She’s a tailored choice that conjures up the ocean.

Thanks to Photoquilty for suggesting Maren as Name of the Day.

Girls’ names have ranged from the frilly to the spare over the years – for every Clarinda, there’s a Gertrude.  But parents have certainly embraced a more gender neutral style in recent decades, with the rise of names like Madison and Taylor, Lauren and Allison.  File Maren under the feminine-but-frills-free category.

There are plenty of possible sources for the name:

• She’s the Danish version of Marina, from the Latin marinus – “of the sea” and a Roman family name;
• She could be a short form of Emerentia, a given name related to the the Latin emeritus - deserving, a title originally used to refer to retired soldiers and now bestowed on professors;
• In German, Maren is a diminutive for Maria.

There’s also spelling variant Marin.  They’re sometimes used interchangeably, but Marin brings up additional references:

• Marin is a masculine moniker in Romanian and French, again related to the Latin marinus;
• The French word for sailor is marin;
• Cross the Golden Gate Bridge from San Francisco, and you’ll find yourself in Marin County, California, making Marin a place name.  It also amps up her nature name vibe – Marin County is home of the Muir Woods.  The county traces its name to either Chief Marin of the Miwok tribe, or possibly from the original name of a body of water in the area – linking marin, again, to the sea;
• Back to France – and yet another nature angle – the marin is the name for the wind blowing southeast from the Gulf of Lion.

The two spellings and multiple sources raise possible pronunciation issues.  You’ll hear MARE in, MAHR in, MAYR in and mahr AHN.  That last one almost exclusively applies to Marin; the others are shared by both.

Speaking of Marin, she boasts an interesting alterna-vibe.  Flip back through your vinyl to the Dead Kennedy’s Plastic Surgery Disasters and you’ll find the surf punk track “Moon Over Marin.”  It’s strangely enduring – bands as far afield as France and Argentina have covered the song.

On another – very different – musical note, Marin Mersenne was a seventeenth century French mathematician and music theorist.  (And a masculine Marin.)

As for popularity, both Maren and Marin are unusual – and almost exclusively feminine – in the US.  Maren has surfaced in the Top 1000 a handful of times since the 1970s.  In 2008, she ranked #965.  Marin followed a few places behind at #949.  The “i” spelling first charted in 2004.

It’s tempting to think that Maren and Marin will remain underused, but a quick glance at the similar Karen – a Top Ten choice from 1951 through 1968 – reminds us that this is a style with considerable appeal.  Karen rose quickly and inspired spelling variants like Karin, Karyn and Caren.

Overall, Maren is one of those choices that straddles a few categories.  She could appeal to parents interested in straightforward girls’ names like Claire, those drawn to surname picks like Emerson, and even some who prefer solid classics like Mary.  And, of course, her nature vibe is undeniable.

She’s an unexpected choice, and could wear nicely in the first or middle spot.