We are expecting a baby girl in a few weeks. I thought we had settled on several possible names but now I’m not sure. Our last name is 8 letters long and two syllables. Our short list is [name]Alexandra[/name], [name]Evangeline[/name], [name]Madeline[/name] (nns [name]Alex[/name]/[name]Allie[/name], [name]Eva[/name], [name]Maddie[/name]). We were thinking of [name]Alexandra[/name] [name]Madeline[/name] but combined with a two syllable last name, it is a total of 9 syllables - and 25 letters total. Is that too long? Are we saddling our little one with a little too much name?
We tend to like longish faminine names with cute, spunky nicknames for when she is a little girl.
I wouldn’t worry about it. She will almost never have to write out her entire name. And if she feels her name is too long to write, she can always go by her nickname. My son writes his nickname at school whenever he gets tired of writing out his full name. Go with what feels best to you. It’s a beautiful name.
My name was 21 letters (18 for first and last) and it made filling out paperwork (standardized testing every year) a pain. There are lots of things you have to fill out paperwork for using your full name. I would pair a long and a short name. If you’re going to give the nn anyway, why don’t you just name her [name]Allie[/name] [name]Madeline[/name] (or whatever it was) to begin with.
But a long name is not the end of the world. So all things considered, do what you like best.