The third kanji in Marisa's name means "sand".

[Dollywitch]

I'm pretty sure Marisa is just a "nipponised" version of the western name. Given she's blonde(often how westerners are depicter) and a western style witch she's probably meant to be half american/european/english and half "oriental".

That's one thing that's weird about Touhou, it sets out to be uber japanese but is filled with western fairy tale type stuff.

[trancehime]

I'm pretty sure Marisa is just a "nipponised" version of the western name. Given she's blonde(often how westerners are depicter) and a western style witch she's probably meant to be half american/european/english and half "oriental".

That's one thing that's weird about Touhou, it sets out to be uber japanese but is filled with western fairy tale type stuff.

So... does that mean Alice is 亜理州　instead of アリス?

[Dollywitch]

I can't read that, but a name like "Alice Margatroid" is definitely british or european.

[nintendonut888]

I think it's just that ZUN really liked blond hair back in PC-98 (when she was created). If you pay attention you'll notice that nearly half the PC-98 cast was blond.

[Momiji]

I can't read that, but a name like "Alice Margatroid" is definitely british or european.

    * The name Alice is a reference to the main protagonist in Lewis Carroll's famous novel Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, as the majority of enemies in Mystic Square's extra stage are card soldiers of the same type seen in the Walt Disney animated movie version of the novel. The title of the BGM used in that stage also directly translates to "Alice in Wonderland".

    * Alice's last name is based on the character Miss Murgatroyd from Agatha Christie's book "A Murder is Announced".

From here.  Her name's definitely spelled in katakana.  As for Marisa, Touhou Wiki doesn't say much else except that her name's definitely weird, and spelled in kanji.

[herbert]

I always suspect something like this also happens with Marisa.

Reisen's profile in IN.

She is currently living as Kaguya's pet. Her name was originally written レイセン (pronounced Reisen), but it was changed to 鈴仙 (also pronounced Reisen) to better blend into Earth's civilization.