I’m curious what opinions are on girl names ending in “-een” (or “-ene”). These were once pretty popular, especially in the Southern states. I think mostly these names are of Irish or [name_m]French[/name_m] origin… Examples:
[name_f]Jolene[/name_f]
[name_f]Charlene[/name_f]
[name_f]Doreen[/name_f]
[name_f]Carlene[/name_f]
[name_f]Arlene[/name_f]
They went out of style since around the 1960s. Would they be comeback worthy? Or is it too soon?
Yeah. Names like
[name_f]Eileen[/name_f]
[name_f]Noreen[/name_f]
[name_f]Aideen[/name_f]
[name_f]Maureen[/name_f]
are Irish. The “-een” suffix is an anglicisation of “-ín” which means little or is a diminutive.
The [name_m]French[/name_m] names ending in “ine” usually denote a feminisation of a name e.g. [name_f]Francine[/name_f], [name_f]Josephine[/name_f], [name_f]Capucine[/name_f], [name_f]Jacqueline[/name_f]
The can be a bit “old lady-ish” but I think are gaining in popularity.
I think those specific “een” names you listed are rather dated and not quite ready for a comeback, but there are a lot of more current names that end in “een”. What about:
[name_f]Kathleen[/name_f]
[name_f]Evangeline[/name_f]
[name_f]Madeline[/name_f] (mad-uh-leen)
[name_f]Capucine[/name_f]
[name_f]Seraphine[/name_f]
[name_f]Carine[/name_f]
[name_f]Delphine[/name_f]
[name_f]Eveline[/name_f]
I generally find them to be too dated, except for [name_f]Irene[/name_f]… I don’t know why but I have a thing for [name_f]Irene[/name_f].
[name_m]French[/name_m] names ending in ‘ine’ (but sound like ‘een’) are a different story though. They’re much more appealing for some reason!
[name_f]Amandine[/name_f]
[name_f]Alexandrine[/name_f]
Ambrosine
[name_f]Antonine[/name_f]
[name_f]Apolline[/name_f]
[name_u]Constantine[/name_u]
[name_f]Clementine[/name_f]
[name_f]Eponine[/name_f]
[name_f]Geraldine[/name_f]
[name_f]Marcheline[/name_f]
[name_f]Marceline[/name_f]
[name_f]Nadine[/name_f]
[name_f]Sabine[/name_f]
[name_f]Seraphine[/name_f]
[name_f]Thomasine[/name_f]
[name_u]Valentine[/name_u]
My favourite are [name_f]Evangeline[/name_f] and [name_f]Seraphine[/name_f], of course. And many others
[name_f]Delphine[/name_f]
[name_f]Emmeline[/name_f]
[name_f]Leontine[/name_f]
[name_f]Clementine[/name_f] - though I usually pronounce it -[name_f]TINE[/name_f] instead, but -teen works too.
[name_f]Eveline[/name_f]
[name_f]Celine[/name_f]
[name_f]Selene[/name_f]
[name_f]Catherine[/name_f]
[name_f]Caroline[/name_f] - with french pronunciation
[name_f]Nadine[/name_f]
[name_f]Ottoline[/name_f]
I love [name_f]Colleen[/name_f], [name_f]Kathleen[/name_f], [name_f]Christine[/name_f], [name_f]Emmeline[/name_f], [name_f]Maureen[/name_f], [name_f]Jolene[/name_f], and [name_f]Jacqueline[/name_f]. I don’t find them to be dated at all, but perhaps it’s because I know a few people with these names who are my age (early-mid 20s)
From you list I like [name_f]Jolene[/name_f]. Other name that end in “een” that I like are: [name_f]Eileen[/name_f], [name_f]Josephine[/name_f], [name_f]Francine[/name_f], & [name_f]Roisin[/name_f].
I know a [name_f]Jaylene[/name_f].
I love an “een” name. So many are on my list. I especially love the Irish ones, but I’m obsessed with Irish names in general. I think they are interesting because there were some that were heavily used in the 50s/60s, and some that were used in the 80s/90s. The sound wasn’t just trendy in one time and not all “een” names were trending at the same time. Here’s how I would sort them out (of course these are my opinions and I don’t think that “dated” names are unusable on a baby right now, I just personally wouldn’t even though I like a lot of them).
Fresh:
[name_f]Seraphine[/name_f]
[name_f]Roisin[/name_f]
[name_f]Sabine[/name_f]
[name_f]Imogene[/name_f]
[name_f]Magdalene[/name_f]
Delhpine
[name_f]Emmeline[/name_f]
[name_f]Marceline[/name_f]
Re-emerging:
[name_f]Evangeline[/name_f]
[name_f]Francine[/name_f]
[name_f]Josephine[/name_f]
[name_m]Augustine[/name_m]
Borderline:
[name_f]Kathleen[/name_f]
[name_f]Maxine[/name_f]
[name_f]Geraldine[/name_f]
[name_f]Corinne[/name_f]
[name_f]Jolene[/name_f]
[name_f]Eileen[/name_f]
[name_f]Colleen[/name_f]
Dated/ Grandma names:
[name_f]Marleen[/name_f]
[name_f]Darlene[/name_f]
[name_f]Irene[/name_f]
[name_f]Pauline[/name_f]
[name_f]Noreen[/name_f]
[name_f]Nadine[/name_f]
[name_f]Doreen[/name_f]
[name_f]Arleen[/name_f]
[name_f]Charlene[/name_f]
Is it Revivable?:
[name_f]Ernestine[/name_f]
[name_f]Georgine[/name_f]
[name_u]Constantine[/name_u]
[name_u]Valentine[/name_u]
[name_m]Cymbeline[/name_m]
I’m fond of:
[name_f]Seraphine[/name_f]
[name_f]Roisin[/name_f] [[name_f]Ro[/name_f]-sheen]
[name_f]Aideen[/name_f]
[name_f]Helene[/name_f]
Étaín - [Ay-teen]
[name_f]Rosaleen[/name_f]/[name_f]Rosaline[/name_f]
[name_f]Emmeline[/name_f]
[name_f]Marceline[/name_f]
Vespertine
[name_f]Rosaleen[/name_f]
Celandine
[name_f]Melusine[/name_f]
Celestine
I find [name_f]Irene[/name_f] retro but like it. There’s something appealing about [name_f]Kathleen[/name_f] too for some reason. None of these aside from those two are the ones popular in the 1940s-1960s though.