I am developing a name crush on [name]Madeline[/name]. I love the nn [name]Maddy[/name] and just find the name to be beautiful. However, I am worried that my Spanish speaking family would see [name]Madeline[/name] and say “Mah-deh-leen-eh” instead of “Mah-deh-leen” (I do understand that it’s a slightly different pronunciation in English.) I am wondering if I should spell it [name]Madelyn[/name] to avoid this, or if maybe I am reading too much into this. I don’t want her name to be constantly spelled wrong in either language, but the [name]Madelyn[/name] spelling seems so… trendy. Am I over thinking this?
I only like this name spelled [name]Madeleine[/name] (or maybe [name]Madeline[/name], though I’m inclined with that spelling to say it like the French character, rhyming with “align”,) and in that case I like it a lot. [name]Madeleine[/name] definitely doesn’t translate to Spanish, but [name]Madelyn[/name] doesn’t really either.
I don’t think it would be difficult for your family to understand that the name is rooted in another language so it has a spelling that would be quite odd in Spanish. They may have difficulty pronouncing it due to the accent, but in that case it wouldn’t matter if you spelled it [name]Madeleine[/name] or [name]Madelyn[/name] or Maddelhynne. If they’re going to pronounce it wrong, they’re going to pronounce it wrong. [name]Just[/name] let them know the correct pronunciation- I’m sure they’ll get it once you tell them, even if they don’t right off the bat.
I don’t see anything wrong with [name]Madelyn[/name]. I love the name [name]Madeleine[/name], but [name]Madelyn[/name] is also pretty. I have a name that is pronounced differently (Sel-EEN or Sel-EEN-eh or Sel-[name]AYN[/name]-eh) depending on who is speaking, and though I don’t mind it at all, I can’t get everyone to pronounce it only one way. If it’s important to you that there is no -eh at the end, [name]Madelyn[/name] is probably a better choice than [name]Madeleine[/name], my own spelling preferences aside.
So the title of this thread made me think of a variant on a kids book I loved:
“[name]Madelyn[/name] and the terrible, horrible, no good very bad name!” Feels like it could be a great book about a child helping their parents name a new sibling.
For me [name]Madelyn[/name] is a little trendy in spelling, and I’d prefer [name]Madeline[/name] but generally I don’t see anything wrong with it.
I love, love, love this name when it’s spelled [name]Madeleine[/name]. It is very French so you wouldn’t have to worry about your Spanish-speaking family. [name]Madelyn[/name] seems too trendy and simplistic to me, but I love [name]Madeleine[/name]. [name]Madeline[/name] makes me say Mad-a-line, as mentioned above. I really like [name]Madeleine[/name] though!
I like the [name]Madelyn[/name] spelling if that’s the pronunciation one is looking for. If you want the Mad-uh-len pronunciation, then [name]Madeleine[/name] would be best. If the “line” pronunciation is wanted, then [name]Madeline[/name]. That’s just my opinion though. 
But I like [name]Madelyn[/name], while others say it is too trendy.
how do you want it pronounced?
Because [name]Madeline[/name] to me is Mad-ih-line like the children’s book, while [name]Madelyn[/name] would be Mad-ih-lynn
Like some of the others, I love, love, love [name]Madeleine[/name]. I think it’s so elegant and gorgeous, and really stands apart from the trendy [name]Maddy[/name] names. I’m with @catloverd, though–how do you want it to be said? I’ve heard [name]Madeline[/name] as either Mad-eh-line or Mad-eh-linn, and [name]Madelyn[/name] is always Mad-uh-linn. But it sounds like Mad-eh-leen is what you’re going for, and if so, I really don’t think you’ll be able to enforce that with [name]Madelyn[/name]–if you like the mad-eh-leen sound, what about [name]Madelina[/name]? It has the “A” sound at the end, but it’s probably closest. And I think it looks classier than [name]Madelyn[/name].
[name]Madeleine[/name] or [name]Madelina[/name] would get my vote, personally.
Good luck!
If I saw the name [name]Madeline[/name], I would think it would rhyme with align too.
I guess I was going for Mah-deh-lynn. I like the [name]Madeleine[/name] spelling though… That can’t be Mah-deh-lynn? Either way, in Spanish, I think my family would say Mah-deh-leen. Which I’m ok with… I was just wondering if I should spell it [name]Madelyn[/name] to get the Mah-deh-lynn pronunciation. You Berries are making me think today!
Half my family would draw out that last syllable too, just an autopilot thing.
[name]Even[/name] though I do like the look of [name]Madeleine[/name] or [name]Madeline[/name] or whatnot better, I think [name]Madelyn[/name] may be the most foolproof way to go. Of all the lyn names, [name]Madelyn[/name] and [name]Evelyn[/name] are the two I don’t dislike. It’s a little softer and not quite as wonderfully classic, but it’s certainly not horrible!
Agreed, they are pronounced differently.
I think a [name]Madeline[/name] could be either sounds like line or sounds like lynn. But sounds like lynn will be most intuitive for English speakers with [name]Madelyn[/name]. I don’t think the spelling [name]Madelyn[/name] is bad at all. I have a suspicion it’s been around a long time, although to be fair I’m not totally sure. But [name]Kathryn[/name] has been for a long time and [name]Alys[/name] ([name]Alice[/name]) too, also [name]Evelyn[/name] and I suspect [name]Carolyn[/name] and [name]Marilyn[/name], so I have a hard time imagining this is like pure trendy.
[name]Ive[/name] never heard of Made-leen prn before. But ive always loved [name]Madelyn[/name] prn -lynn Trendy or not, I like it!