I knew a couple that did this. Neither of them changed their names when they got married, and both their names were just weird. They wanted more professional-sounding names, FWIW.

I somewhat agree to explore the un-messed up spelling, but can see how that might not work. My friends just dug through family histories until they found one they liked. Settled on Snook. Worked for them.

Starting from scratch, I would start with syllables first to see what fits. It’s either you want a mirroring of the syllables of the first name if you want something formidable and important-sounding, or a single syllable that is a stark punctuation if it suits you more.

A few examples:

2-syllable names might do better with 1 or 2 syllables - Maureen Star, Maureen Wright. Maureen Harper, Maureen Rivers flow well.

3 syllable names might work with up to 3 - Meredith Mackenzie. Meredith Lancaster.

You might also want a “job name” as other suggested as they are sort of ethnically neutral (other than being English) - many 2 syllables. Taylor, Harper, Archer, Tanner, Hunter, Sawyer, Driver, Wainwright, etc.

Or something you like in nature - Rivers, Forester, Woods, Fields, Bay, Mariner

If you go for 1 syllable, make it a word people know that pops. Knox. Hale. Quinn. Snow. Stone. Frost. Hart. Steele. Black. Night. Day.

Also, search online first to make sure that no one with the same name is a serial killer or something.

Best of luck!