Mooi and mar.
Let me explain.
Mooi is a Dutch word. It means ‘beautiful’, ‘nice’ or ‘pretty’ and can be used either as an adjective or adverb.
'Het is mooi weer!' - The weather is nice!
'Je ziet er mooi uit.' - You look pretty.
'Wat een mooie tuin!' - What a beautiful garden!
'Zij kan heel mooi tekenen.' - She can draw very beautifully.
How to pronounce it?
The Dutch [oo] is pronounced as the letter [o] in the English alphabet. The [ooi] in ‘mooi’ sounds like [oy] as in Roy. If you pronounce ‘mooi’ with the [oo] sounding like ‘book’, you will make it sound as if you say ‘moe’ (meaning ‘tired’ in Dutch).
Mar refers to my first name(s). Maria and Marleen.
Some of you know me as Marleen. Some of you know me as Maria. So what actually is my name?
Let me get rid of the confusion once and for all!
When I was born, my parents gave me two first names: Maria and Helena. My full name therefore is Maria Helena van Gurp. They chose to call me Marleen. It’s like a nickname and you could see it as the two combined.
When I started traveling, I discovered that Maria is a lot easier for everyone to understand and pronounce. I sort of have a double personality: Marleen in the Netherlands, Maria outside the Netherlands. And that is still how I (kind of) use it! You can call me either way.
I find Mooimar an excellent and creative name for my website. It represents me and what I stand for: creating more joy, love & beauty into this world.