Please or to access all these features

Add post

Watch this thread

Save thread

Start a new thread

Flip thread

Hide thread

My feed

Active Unanswered threads

Getting started FAQ's

Unanswered threads Acronyms Talk guidelines

Hide shortcut buttons

Talk

Baby names

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

Flip

1 2 3 4 5

Original poster

So tell me about Madeleine...

102 replies

GwendolineMaryLacey · 19/09/2011 12:34

I know there are threads on this already but I want up to date opinions please :)

So, being on the verge of throttling DH (who the hell decided it was a good idea to give men a say in what their children were called ffs? ), we are debating Madeleine.

We like the name a lot, it goes with middle and surname, neither of us think it has any bad associations. After all, you could rule out thousands of names if you took any notice of bad things that had happened to people.

But, I've mentioned it in passing to 3 or 4 people and every one of them has gone "ooh, not sure, reminds me of..."

They're mad aren't they? Most normal people won't think this, will they?

OP posts:

Are your children’s vaccines up to date?

Set a reminder

Pagwatch · 19/09/2011 13:46

My dd is Madeleine and is almost exactly the same age as Madeleine McCann.

At the time of the posters and endless news coverage there was a period of out and out nutiness. I had twats people peering into her eyes in the early learning centre and we generally got peered at everytime I said her name. She once ran away from dh in the market and when he chased her calling her name there was nearly a police report gathering from the reaction of the people around.

But now it is never mentioned, never commented on except by, forgive me, quite stupid mawkish people. I suspect they are the kind of people who took photographs of themselves in front of the flowers laid after Diana died and read 'tragic life stories' book.

She gets shortened to Maddie by half a dozen people - we call her Madeleine, she calls herself Madeleine - it is only people who chose to over ride that that call her it. I think that is a bit rude tbh but equally I suspect when she is 12 she will suddenly decide it is cool. Then she will grow up and go back to her full name

It's lovely. We have a French surname and it sounds beautiful.

Badtasteflump · 19/09/2011 13:48

To me it's a name with very sad connotations -sorry. I know every name is probably connected with something tragic, but it's just that this particular tragedy has had such huge media attention that it's happened more than with other names in the past, imo.

I know it's not an 'unlucky' name, but the question was 'will most people think of MM with the name Madeleine' - and my answer is that yes, I do.

PublicHair · 19/09/2011 13:49

it's very very common and is in my head,now linked with 'kate and gerry' sorry!

PixieCake · 19/09/2011 13:50

I love the name Madeline and have it on my shortlist if we have another girl.

I think people just will make the association with MM when they first hear it, but then as soon as they start to associate the name with your DD instead, the negative association will wear off.

It wouldn't stop me from using it.

I also think that another reason that people don't have negative reactions to Holly, Jessica and Milly is that these names are more common than Madeline - for example I can think of lots of famous Hollys and Jessicas but no Madelines spring to mind (except MM).

Your DD is also unlikely to be in a class with 10 other Madelines, which might be nice.

WomanwiththeYellowHat · 19/09/2011 13:54

It's a lovely name - I would just go for it. We spent hours on names for DD2 and then went for the exact name that we had come up with before we even knew we were having another baby. It is perfect for her - I think you just get a feel for a name and then it fits the child somehow. It is a lovely name - if we hadn't given the girls irish names it would have been on my list definitely. People are mawkish and I don't think mawkishness should be pandered to!

PS - complete tangent but, GwendolineMaryLacey, I love your MNet name, by the way, makes me smile whenever I see it - I have recently introduced DD1 to 'The Towers' and had to explain to her that, contrary to what she might have learnt from Barbie et al, in The Towers, having long hair that you brush a lot is actually seen as a Bad Thing, as is a mother who weeps and wails, so she should be grateful for the sensible-Mrs-Rivers style one that she has!

Cheria · 19/09/2011 13:55

I think it is lovely. It was my first choice for DD, combined with Marie ie Marie-Madeleine...

but then I found out it was MIL middle name and we didn't want to offend either family by having a family-connotated name...

scarlettsmummy2 · 19/09/2011 13:57

haven't read all the posts but it does immediately make me think of Madeline McCann and a mental image pops up in my head. I think it is a really lovely name, but i personally would find it difficult to name my child that as I find the story so upsetting.

minipie · 19/09/2011 13:59

I love the name Madeleine. However 2 friends (who know each other well!) have now both called their daughters Madeleine, so it's off the list for me!

The McCann connotation - well yes it's there but it will fade in time. By the time any DD born now was old enough to care, it will I think be a fairly distant memory.

rathlin · 19/09/2011 14:04

Before I even saw the full title of the thread or which section it was in, I knew what your question was going to be. It's an immediate thought for me in the same way if someone mentions, Dunblane, Hungerford, etc but it's momentary and if someone named their child Madeleine, I certainly wouldn't comment on it in a negative fashion. It is a lovely name BTW. I would go ahead and use it. I don't like Maddie but that's because I don't like nicknames in general - something is either your name or is not.

musttidyupmusttidyup · 19/09/2011 14:12

It didn't even occur to me to make the MM connection when I read the thread title. I am a Madeleine and certainly no one has ever mentioned anything to me. I think it's a bit ridiculous that someone wouldn't use a name because of the dreadful disappearance of Madeleine McCann.... If I was you OP I really wouldn't give it a second thought.
BTW the only issues I've had ( other than spelling obv.) is pronunciation... DM calls me Mad-er-len, DBs call me Mad-Lane, most friends call me Mad-er-lynn. I was Maddy at school but rarely now, sometimes Mads. the rather odd thing us that I don't actually know how I pronounce my name you thunk I'd have figured it out after 35+ years.

LoveInAColdClimate · 19/09/2011 14:17

I'm really sorry but we discussed it and didn't use it for the same reason. However, we have not been put off Freddie by Fred West (I know a different association but similar principle) so I am aware the Madeline thing is quite irrational. It was, for us, just a gut feeling that we couldn't use it.

Jacanne · 19/09/2011 14:18

It's my daughter's name and I love it - spelt just the way you have mentioned - and I don't think of MM whenever I hear the name, I think of my lovely moo. They are mad!

GloriaVanderbilt · 19/09/2011 14:30

Well it's highly likely that Madeleine McCann is no longer alive, and the whole publicity thing has been incredibly out of proportion as she isn't likely to be found...it's terribly sad either way.

But I know several small Madeleines and it is a beautiful name. I think it's about time it wasn't associated just with that poor little girl, but with it being a beautiful name in its own right.

Reclaim the name is I think what I'm saying. And trying to say it without disrespect to the little girl who we all think of so much.

Flowerface · 19/09/2011 14:33

One of my best friends is called Madeleine and she is NEVER called Maddy! She gets called Manya for short.

flopsy1974 · 19/09/2011 14:35

I think it is a lovely name and the MM connection will fade with time. Ben Needham didn't put people off calling their children Ben

Original poster

GwendolineMaryLacey · 19/09/2011 14:40

Thank all, really interesting to hear thoughts and it's a real mixed bag.

I totally agree with the reclaiming thing (I know that sounds very disrespectful but YKWIM) and the fact that you wouldn't not use other names because of what might have happened to someone with that name.

I suppose the crux of it is that I don't want there to be any tinge of sadness when I tell people what my little girl is called, even if it's fleeting.

OP posts:

GloriaVanderbilt · 19/09/2011 14:45

No I don't feel sad when I look after or see friends' children with this name. I just feel a bit cross about what happened, the big publicity machine and all that.

if that makes sense. don't want to cause an argument. The name doesn't make me sad.

Original poster

GwendolineMaryLacey · 19/09/2011 14:46

Makes perfect sense. Thanks :)

OP posts:

mathanxiety · 19/09/2011 15:30

It's a beautiful name [biased]. One of my DDs has it as a mn but it was a tossup as to whether it would be first or middle.

She was born a few years before the McCann event, but it goes to show that you can't predict when choosing a name that someone bearing it won't suffer some sort of disaster or somehow bring the name into disrepute.

It doesn't make me sad at all -- feelings similar to Gloria's here, and I like the idea of reclaiming it too..

MumblingRagDoll · 19/09/2011 15:36

I would not SAY anything but I would THINK it and most people would.

I wouldn't use it myself.

MumblingRagDoll · 19/09/2011 15:38

It's not comparible to the names of other missing children because there has never been a case which garnered so much attention. That family will remain in the spotlight to varying degrees for their whole lives. And after too.

Aworryingtrend · 19/09/2011 15:38

I heard someone calling 'Madeleine' in the street yesterday. My instant reaction was to think immediately of Madeleine McCann.

I think you have to accept from RL reactions and this thread that people associate the name with the little girl who went missing, even though it was 6 years ago. You just have to decide if that is reason enough not to use a name you both like.

allieballiebee · 19/09/2011 15:55

Go for it. Both my girls have names that people at the start said 'ooh....' but I love them and they do. Stuff 'em!

talkingnonsense · 19/09/2011 15:57

Could you go for madeline, madelyn, maidlin, or other variant spelling?

PuppyMonkey · 19/09/2011 17:13

Maidlin? if you use that I will have to come and shoot you.

Flip

1 2 3 4 5