AIBU - using the name Madeline

[Argealanlea]

First pregnancy and DH and I so far can only decide on one name for a girl - Madeline. We love it and it goes really well with our surname.

Issues are:
Madeline McCann. Is it too associated with her to use? We actually live in Ireland not U.K. so there is maybe less of an association but could still be there? For me already saying the name in my head with our surname lessens the connection so maybe it’ll be the same for all our family and friends?

Second issue - Madeline the books/movies which feature a red head Madeline. We actually have a 50% chance of having a red head. Would this be bad then to use the name and risk teasing or am I overthinking it and kids don’t read those books anymore anyway and the movie is old!

Cant decide if we’re being unreasonable to consider it - we both really like it!

[LolaO]

Nooo!! Don’t saddle your poor child with that!! personal experience from the child perspective here and have always hated it

[HeyGirlHeyBoy]

I've only known one myself but I've heard it said many, many times. Honestly also!

[Maddiehere]

@HeyGirlHeyBoy When I reread my post I knew you'd think my honestly was snarky, wasn't meant to be, sorry.

[HaveringWavering]

@Heronatemygoldfish

I have always adored the name Madeleine ever since I first saw Vertigo and would have cheerfully called the DC that if I'd had a girl. DH didn't like it though, and we eventually settled on a name that 3 years later would have been ...unfortunate. But had a DS anyway!

Was the unfortunate Alexa?

[HaveringWavering]

@Argealanlea

Sorry see pic

“An added burst of fashion and wonder”. WTF does that mean?

[Luredbyapomegranate]

@Argealanlea

Hmm not off to a good start if I’m speeding it wrong myself. The pronunciation we like is Mad - a - lynn

So maybe that’s not Madeline it’s Madeleine

Either spelling is usually pronounced like that in the UK.

The English spelling Madeline is probably a bit less hassle than the French Madeleine.

Anyway it’s a nice name with a long history, no reason not to use it.

[Kelly7889]

My BF at school was called Madeleine. Everyone called her "Mad Lynn". I wouldn't use that name as it reminds me of the McCann disappearance. The name is a derivative of Mary Magdalene who I would not want to name a girl after.

[nalabae]

when i think of that name i think of the film or mary madaline not mccan

[Maddiehere]

Mary Magdalene wasn't who you think she was Kelly7889. She was framed.

[TheDuchessOfMN]

It’s a beautiful name.

The connection wouldn’t be an issue for me at all, and as sad and harsh as this sounds, by the time your Madeleine would be school-going, enough time will have passed that people won’t even think of it it. Even if they did, it would be just be a fleeting thought and then forgotten

[Crimeismymiddlename]

The two main problems I found growing up was that people can not pronounce it, or even worse tell me that I am pronouncing wrong, the second being that no one can spell it.
I liked the Madeleine books.
As an adult I shortened it, it makes life easier but I do prefer my actual birth name.

[Ruibies]

It's on our list for a baby girl and I did also worry about the McCann association, but we think we'd default to Maddie pretty quickly anyway so I'm not so fussed about it.

We're thinking Madeleine spelling wise, and I've just spent ten mins saying it out loud in all the different ways that have been mentioned on this thread and no longer have a clue. I tend to be somewhere between 'lin' and 'len' which I think is ok, I think we'd correct anyone who went for 'line' or 'leen' (for our baby - not anyone else!).

[chocolatemademefat]

Overthinking. Your choice of name won’t be of much interest to anyone else. I know two Maddie’s who are both about three and have never associated their name with anyone else. It’s just a name.

[PatterPaws]

I've loved this name ever since I read 'The Eve of St Agnes'.

I think it has a beautiful sound when said softly in certain regional accents.

[Maddiehere]

Keats rhymed Madeline with unseen, mine and divine in The Eve of St Agnes, which shows a bit of flexibility around pronunciation maybe

[HeyGirlHeyBoy]

Don't worry Maddiehere I didn't see it as snarky, more smiling and I was smiling back in mine. No offence taken at all.

[Heronatemygoldfish]

@HaveringWavering no, it was Elsa!

(Would have been after one of our grandmothers...)

[HaveringWavering]

[quote Heronatemygoldfish]@HaveringWavering no, it was Elsa!

(Would have been after one of our grandmothers...)[/quote]
Ha ha oh dear lucky escape! It’s a pretty name though, and I bet that when you are three being called Elsa would be the coolest thing ever to your friends!

[Bringsexyback]

I have a Madeleine, spelt the French way and honestly nobody is ever said a word to my face.

[Maddiehere]

That's good @HeyGirlHeyBoy

[Argealanlea]

@Bringsexyback how do you pronounce it?

I would be similar to you @Ruibies mad-e-lin or mad-e-len (both similar to the lynn ending) would be fine. But line or leen is too different.

I don’t know about your surname but line and leen don’t really work with mine as it makes the full name very sharp whereas the lynn sound at end is lovely with our surname.

Thanks mumsnetters for highlighting this issue around spelling and how to say it. DH and I were just like oh yeah Madeline is lovely and we both said it the same way. We both like Maddie as a nickname but we likely wouldn’t use it. I have a long name with multiple popular nicknames and I’ve only ever been called my full name.

I wonder if the Lyn pronunciation is more common and what people say when they hear the name because that’s how Madeleine was said all over the news in the Madeleine McCann case.

[Bringsexyback]

@Argealanlea I call her Mad - eeee - line (smongst other things, shes 22)
I had to really think about it then. I’ve also had a number of people calling her Mad - e - lin

[BABAHOTEL]

Beautiful name, use it.

[Argealanlea]

@Bringsexyback thanks. This confirms that you probably need to pick your spelling and pronunciation and just go with it as according to others on the thread

Madeline is mad-e-line and Madeleine as you spell it is mad-e-lynn

It’s all very confusing!!! Starting to see the appeal of Emma/ Jane

[MadeleineForThisThread]

@Argealanlea No Madeleine is MadelEINE. That's the French spelling & that's the French pronunciation. Mad-e-lyn is the Anglicised version.

Like me & @Alysskea you may find your daughter just has her name pronounced incorrectly for much of her life - though as @Alysskea says, those of us with the name get used to it 😀