I normally loathe 'alternative' spellings, but am considering this...opinions please, French speakers especially welcome.

[Astrophe]

Expecting DD3. An aquaintence has a little girl called Amedee, pronounced "a-ma-dee". I love it. I've googled it though, and it seems that its a French name which should be pronounced "Ah-ma-day", like the first 3 sylables of 'Amadeus'.

I much prefer the way aquaintance pronounces it - with a 'dee' on the end, but can see that 'dee' on a french name (its supposed to have a little thingy above the 'e', but I don't know how to do it on the compute!) should be pronounced 'day'.

So am toying with anlicising the spelling (and pronounciation, obviosuly) to Amadie. Like Amalie, see?

I'm in Australia btw - french not as widely spoken here as in the UK.

What do you think?

I think if you spell it "Amadie" people here (am also in Oz) will better know how to pronounce it then Amedee. It also looks prettier.

But I have to say that to me it looks like a made-up name either way.

I think it's pretty, and think Tortoise is right about the easier pronunciation.

Congrats on your DD! :)

Hi
I am a French speaker and I thought it was a boys name. I have come across it in literature and the characters were always male. I have checked and it is also used for girls. Or perhaps I should say 'was' because it is really outdated at the moment in France.

The French pronunciation would be more like 'Amayday'

Agree you should spell it how you want it pronounced.

What second language do Australian children usually learn at school?

It depends on the school OSOTC
German, Japanese, Indonesian, Spanish, French, Italian I think are the most common.
The school I teach in has Japanese, French, German and Latin but it is a private grammar school.

People will mis hear it as Amalie. Which will be very annoying for her for heer whole life. All 95 years of it.

Don't do it.

Astrophe - being also in Oz as you know I think you can get away with pretty much what you like here. The number of bizarre spellings and strange names I have come across in the various toddler groups/activity groups so far is amazing.

Amadie is nice. It's far enough away from Amelie/Amalie IMO to not be a problem.

Ctrl + Alt + e (or AltGr + e) = é

Mind you - I have a friend here who has a little girl called Amity - another option? Will sound like amadie once they all start talking in an American accent, which so many of the yoof here do.

Amity much nicer.

I have realised that every time I read Amadie my mind pronounces it like "Amadio" without the o, so the stress is on the second syllable not the first.

I love the name Amity but I'm not allowed it.

Like OTSOC I've always known Amadé as a name for boys! I'd probably do a double take if I met a little girl!

People will read it as Amy-Dee.

Its OK but maybe abit confusing, how about Leonie or Elodie?

How about Duncan?
Seriously, it isn't a nice name IMO and why would you want the same unusual name as your acquaintance?

Amity makes me think of horror movies

I used to work with an Amador. (lover)

Amadée or whatever the name is in french reminds me of this and would make me wary. What does the name actually translate into in English can I ask??

Amédé/e is the French version of Amadeus. Both are listed as boys names in my baby book.

Amadia is the female version.

I don't like it but I have never heard of it before.

wow, thanks for all the feedback!

Websites list it as either a girls name, or non gender specific.

Thumbwitch - I know what you mean about being able to get away with whatever here...but I don't like made up names, or alternative spellings...hence my hesitance. Other 3 DC are called slightly unusual but 'real' names.

OSOTC - kids in primary school generally learn...NOTHING (in terms of foreign languages). Its a national disgrace. I learned Italian (unusual to learn anything though), but after 7 years could not speak it - 30 mins a week doesn;t get you very far. In high school it varies depending on local languages. My high school was French, Japanese, Latin, German and Hebrew, many schools tending towards Mandarin and Indonesian nowdays.

Kreecher - I'm not too worried about having same name as an aquaintance, and wouldn't NOT choose a name just because someone else has it, unless that someone was a close friend of family member.

Cheerfuyank - thanks :)

I still think its very pretty...but will continue to mull it over. Might have to refresh my name ideas thread as we haven't come up with anything that makes us go "yes!".

and thanks snapfrackle - I hadn't heard of Amadia...will think on it too. Sort of rhymes with DD1s name (lucia) which might be odd...