My husband and I both really like the name [name_f]Madeline[/name_f]. It’s full of meaning for us - [name_f]Madeline[/name_f] was my favorite book as a child, my family tree is full of [name_f]Madeline[/name_f]/Madalinas, and it would honor his grandmother [name_f]May[/name_f] (Jewish tradition is using only the first letter when naming a child an honor name). It ticks a lot of boxes for us!
BUT…when combining all of the spellings of [name_f]Madeline[/name_f]…it’s very popular. When combining it with [name_u]Madison[/name_u]…[name_f]Maddie[/name_f] becomes extremely popular. When you add in the [name_f]Adelyn[/name_f] family the Maddies/Addies are everywhere.
So my question…would you use it? Or just relegate it to the middle name spot?
The combo my husband likes is [name_f]Madeline[/name_f] [name_f]Eila[/name_f] ([name_f]Eila[/name_f] [name_f]Madeline[/name_f] would also be a consideration)
I do think it’s super popular but that’s not a horrible thing. My favorite spelling is [name_f]Madeleine[/name_f] though. However…[name_f]Eila[/name_f] [name_f]Madeline[/name_f] is gorgeous!
You clearly love [name_f]Madeline[/name_f], and it’s got a lot of meaning for you—for me that might overrule popularity. Could you use a nickname that’s not [name_f]Maddie[/name_f] in order to give her a less popular option? [name_f]Della[/name_f], [name_f]Lina[/name_f]…
[name_f]Eila[/name_f] [name_f]Madeline[/name_f] is gorgeous if you choose to go that route.
[name_m]Just[/name_m] a quick question-
Are you pronouncing it the more common way of Mad-a-lin, or the way it is in the [name_f]Madeline[/name_f] books, mad-a-line
I like [name_f]Madeline[/name_f] -simple, elegant and clear. I haven’t actually met very many, though that might just be where i am.
I like how [name_f]Madeline[/name_f] is a versatile name - full of nicknames, youthful, elegant, frilly but also strong and cool
It’s a beautiful name - there’s a reason so many people like it! Although your child will probably run into others with her name/nickname, I think it’s worth using, especially because of the meaning behind it.
Well, it’s worth noting that the more people worry about popularity, the less popularity becomes a problem–popular names aren’t as popular as they used to be! There’s a high chance there are only one or two Maddies/Addies in your daughter’s class, and no other Madelines.
I also imagine your daughter feeling incredibly special to be gifted or read your favorite book one day and to have that book have her name on it, and then to find out that she was also named after a beloved grandmother and that there’s a rich family history of using the name. I’m all for using names that you stumble upon and just happen to love, but there’s also something really lovely about names being used to connect a child to their heritage and to the things their parents love. It helps in creating a feeling of belonging. I can understand why everyone is so concerned with names being too common (I’m concerned about it too)…uncommon names convey thoughtfulness in the naming process, and they help to create a strong sense of identity. But just because a name is common doesn’t mean it can’t do those things, too, if it has certain things going for it.
Also, I just think [name_f]Madeline[/name_f] [name_f]Eila[/name_f] is beautiful
I personally love it and want to use it but it doesn’t work well with our last name and my husband isn’t fond of it anyhow. He’s never even seen the movie or read the book sigh
As a [name_f]Madeleine[/name_f] myself, I love my name. It’s common in Australia where I live, but not so overly common that I hear it all the time. That being said, it is constantly misspelled and mispronounced, and being a [name_f]Maddi[/name_f] I am always confused for being a [name_u]Madison[/name_u], which makes the name so much more popular.
If you pronounce it Mad-a-line, then spelling it [name_f]Madeline[/name_f] is probably going to be the easiest spelling, but if you’re using the Mad-a-len pronounciation, then [name_f]Madeleine[/name_f] or [name_f]Madelyn[/name_f] would probably make pronunciation easier. I know people with all three common spellings of it, though, and they all pronounce it Mad-a-len.
I absolutely adore [name_f]Madeline[/name_f] pronounced like the character (line not lyn), but I 100% despise when [name_f]Madeline[/name_f] is pronounced with the lyn/len endings. Drives me absolutely nuts (arguably more than it should). But I’m an enormous fan of [name_f]Madeline[/name_f] so I’d say go for it!
