<P> In a promotional tie - in with release of the film, recorded versions of the song were issued by seven singers and groups, including Presnell, Ed Ames, Burl Ives, Jim Nabors and the Baja Marimba Band . Several record labels participated . </P> <P> This version appeared in 50 First Dates where it was played at the conclusion of the first half of the end credits during the dedication message to Stanley Sandler who was the real - life father of the film's star Adam Sandler . </P> <P> In George Rippey Stewart's 1941 novel Storm, he names the storm that is the protagonist of his story Maria . In 1947, Stewart wrote a new introduction for a reprint of the book, and discussed the pronunciation of "Maria": "The soft Spanish pronunciation is fine for some heroines, but our Maria here is too big for any man to embrace and much too boisterous ." He went on to say, "So put the accent on the second syllable, and pronounce it' rye"'. </P> <P> The success of Stewart's novel was one factor that motivated U.S. military meteorologists to start the informal practice of giving women's names to storms in the Pacific during World War II . The practice became official in 1945 . In 1953, a similar system of using women's names was adopted for North Atlantic storms . This continued until 1979, when men's names were incorporated into the system . Although Stewart's novel is set in 1935, the novel and its impact on meteorology later inspired Lerner and Lowe to write a song for their play about the California gold rush, and like Stewart, they too gave a wind storm the name Maria, which is pronounced / məˈraɪ. ə / . The lines throughout the song end in feminine rhymes mostly using the "hard i" sound / aɪ /, echoing the stress pattern and vowel sound of the name Maria . </P>

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