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Baby names

Find baby name inspiration and advice on the Mumsnet Baby Names forum.

Original poster

The name 'Amelie'… your thoughts please!

37 replies

Ihartbeep · 03/07/2016 23:08

We called DD1 Madeleine, which we nearly always abbreviate to Maddie. Our second daughter is due soon and we love the name Amelie but not sure that Amelie and Maddie go together?! Is it a bit of a mouthful / are they too similar?

Would also love to get some ideas on what we could abbreviate Amelie to? Don't really want Maddie and Millie! I've seen somewhere that it can be abbreviated to Mia but not sure how this is an abbreviation of Amelie?! Thoughts / ideas please!

Thanks MNers! x x

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Liz09 · 04/07/2016 02:28

meowli As far as I'm aware, it's pronounced ah-meh-lee, not like Emily with an A. But native English speakers will pronounce it like Amily.

meowli · 04/07/2016 01:33

How do the French pronounce it? Surely it can only be like Emily, but with Am- at the start?

SomeDaysIDontGiveAMonkeys · 04/07/2016 01:23

Love Majestic's suggestion.

dogdrifts · 04/07/2016 00:51

It was really popular when I was pg with dd1, so 16 years ago. I quite like it. But it does always remind me of that time period. Wasn't there a book or a film or something doing the rounds with it then?

Numberoneisgone · 04/07/2016 00:35

Love Amelie and love the English pronounciation and not keen on the French pronounciation even though obviously I should rationally prefer that.

DramaAlpaca · 04/07/2016 00:21

Amelie is a very pretty name, but I'm going to be completely honest & say it's one of those names that's so much nicer pronounced the French way.

As a pp says, for an English speaker it sounds a lot like Emily starting with an A instead of an E, and it will get mistaken for Emily quite a lot which might be annoying.

Religieuse · 04/07/2016 00:14

Far too similar to Madeleine, imo. Similar Frenchness, similar emphasis, same syllable count and stresses.

CoffeeCoffeeAndLotsOfIt · 04/07/2016 00:07

Love it

lalalandxx · 03/07/2016 23:58

Amelie is lovely and goes well with Maddie personally.

The Amelie I know has been nicknamed Am/Ams but only in an affectionate way or if you were to call her over.

I say it's a name that doesn't require a nickname though, its pretty itself.

BackforGood · 03/07/2016 23:45

Do you say it like Emily, but with an 'Am' instead of 'Em' ?

Personally I'd prefer Emily, or Amelia - Amelie seems a bit neither one nor the other.

My experience with nicknames / shortenings is they tend to evolve around the person. None of my 3 are known by the shortenings we kind of assumed they naturally would be when we gave them their names.

MajesticWhine · 03/07/2016 23:40

Amelie is lovely. Mimi for a nickname. Although nicknames I have found can't necessarily be planned ahead.

Sophronia · 03/07/2016 23:37

The names go well together. I think Madeleine McCann's sister was Amelie, though (not that that should stop you using it or anything, just thought I'd mention it)

Nicknames could be...

Mimi
Mia
Lia
Lili
Meli
Ami