I have a main character who is the love interest of the narrator. I want to name her either [name]Cailin[/name] or [name]Emmalyn[/name] (that pronunciation, not [name]LINE[/name] or LEEN). My feeling for her name was something fresh and feminine, underused but not unfamiliar, and I feel like either of these names fit the bill.
I’m leaning toward [name]Cailin[/name], but I don’t know that I love that spelling because the pronunciation may not be intuitive for every reader. I also worry it would be confused for [name]CAITlin[/name] if it was spelled as-is.
Which name would you choose and what spelling would you think is the clearest? Thanks for your opinions.
Personally, I love [name]Cailin[/name]! I know three of them, but they all spell it differently: [name]Kaylyn[/name], [name]Kalen[/name], and Caylinde. The last one gets mispronounced a lot, but it’s really pretty. [name]Emmalyn[/name] justs sounds… clunky. It also kind of sounds like you’re trying too hard at being original. I’d go with [name]Cailin[/name].(However you’d spell it)
[name]Cailin[/name] is nice but it does look like [name]Caitlin[/name] on first glance. For that reason I would also avoid [name]Cailyn[/name], Kailin, [name]Kailyn[/name] or any variation that looks like [name]Caitlyn[/name]/[name]Kaitlin[/name]/[name]Kaitlyn[/name] etc.
Yeah, I read [name]Cailin[/name] as a mistyped [name]Caitlin[/name] on first glance. [name]Emmalyn[/name] sounds a bit forced to me, [name]Emma[/name]-[name]Lynn[/name] could maybe work if you’re game for double barrelling. For [name]Cailin[/name], I’d try and make the spelling more distinctive - I like suggestions of [name]Caelin[/name] and [name]Caylin[/name] - but still retain the sound.
[name]Cailin[/name] is definitely better. There are about five million ways to spell the name, so I’m sure you’ll find something.
I’ve always liked the ones that start with ‘K’ best:
[name]Kaelyn[/name]
[name]Kailyn[/name]
[name]Kaylin[/name]
[name]Kaylen[/name]
[name]Kaelin[/name]
