I know! I just watched the DVD of my school production of it! I was Mr. Spencer, and I actually didn't fuck up too badly... But I'm going off-topic. If we're looking at alternatives, I always liked Marianne.
Now Mariana has a nice feel to it. Rolls off the tongue well, sophisticated but not stuck up, and something else that's a plus... close friends might call her Mari? One protagonist in my WIP is named, Rosemarie... of course everyone calls her Rose... except Gael, a Scotsman who affectionately calls her, Rosa.
Marina was originally a boat thing or whatever, but it's a name now. The name "Wendy" was never a thing before Peter Pan, "Jessica" was invented by Shakespeare, or at least that spelling was, "Coraline" was a spelling error made in the children's book that would later turn into a movie. The point is that it doesn't matter what it originally meant, it's a name.
I'd vote for Mariana. Maureen is also a nice name; it doesn't so much say 'granny' 'mother figure' to me. Probably because I'm a fan of Maureen O'Hara.
I don't think I have problems naming characters as much as other people might because I have natural senses for it... For one, I automatically associate names with colors so going off that... I think of a bright blue when I hear Marina, which causes me to think of a bubbly, enthusiastic person. On the other hand, Maureen makes me think of a faded pink color, which I'd associate with a reserved, introspective personality type. It's not in the original post, but the name Mariana popped up. I think it's pretty as well and a middle point between Maureen and Marina. Ultimately it's up to whatever you prefer, if I had to choose I'd pick Maureen. Then again it really depends on my senses and it would help to know what sort of character we're helping to name.
Totally depends on the character - Marina for me is a bit more, umm.... 'precious'-sounding (eg Princess Marina of Greece, though these days probably a lot of readers wouldn't have heard of her) and glossier than the more homespun, earthier Maureen. I'm rather a fan of Maura myself...
