Any thoughts on Madalena? I’m really loving it lately.
Madalena: prn. mad-ah-[name]LAY[/name]-nah or mad-ah-LEH-nah. Hebrew/Portuguese variant of [name]Magdalena[/name] meaning ‘From [name]Magdala[/name]’.
1 Like
I like it. I’m more used to seeing [name]Magdalena[/name], but I do think this variant is quite pretty.
I like it. I prefer [name]Magdalena[/name], but Madalena is nice. From my understanding, [name]Maddalena[/name] (this spelling) is a pretty old-world Italian name. I’m not quite sure on its current image in [name]Italy[/name], but I’ve met a few older women named [name]Maddalena[/name] (including my great-aunt) who are either Italian immigrants or daughters of Italian immigrants. They’re all in their 50’s or older- my great aunt would be nearing 100 now if she were alive. [name]Every[/name] [name]Maddalena[/name] I’ve ever met has fit that description and goes by [name]Madeleine[/name]/[name]Madelyn[/name] almost exclusively, but they were also from a generation where ethnic names were a rarity. I think Madalena would read quite differently on a child born now and I doubt it would ever be anglicized, though [name]Maddie[/name] is a possibility.
I love it! As you saw I’m currently considering Madelaina -prn mad eh lay nah. The one thing I don’t like though is the potential nickname [name]Maddy[/name]/[name]Maddie[/name], I hate it! I would go with the nn [name]Mads[/name] or [name]Laney[/name]/[name]Lainey[/name].
I don’t like [name]Maddy[/name]/[name]Maddie[/name] either, I’d much prefer [name]Laney[/name]/[name]Lainey[/name]/[name]Leni[/name]/etc.
I like it a lot, and I have no idea why it isn’t more popular, since it seems to fit in perfectly with the current big trends for girls’ names. I think it’s pretty, elegant, and underrated.
I always kind of skipped over it for just that reason, it looks like it’s just another mainstream [name]Madelyn[/name]/[name]Madeline[/name] variant. But the more I said it out loud, the more I really liked the sound of it.