Opinions on Madeline please!

[Bellyrub1980]

As the title suggests!

We will go with the above spelling (to honour family member) so not looking to spark a debate on that necessarily. But how about the 'trendiness' of it? Is it very very popular (I don't know many children so impossible for me to gauge).

Do you instantly think 'McCann'? I personally think it would be ridiculous to never call a girl Madeline ever again because of that... But we've had a few people say 'are you sure??'

Basically... Do you like it?

Thankyou for your opinions and experiences with Madeline, I really think I'm sold on it now! And I feel prepared for the potential issues with spelling, pronunciations and nick names!

:) Yay!!

I love it

I love it and wanted it for my dd but dp didnt like the mccann association. Which i think is silly as millie is such a popular name at the moment. Plus he shares his name with a vile serial killer which he hadnt even registered. For some reason madeline has a bigger impact on people associating it.

I knew that mccann would be on tip of peoples tongues on maybe first visit but it would pass and dc would make it her own. As im sure yours will

Lots of them about but I love it - timeless, works at all ages. Lovely that it has a family importance too.

I have a (much older than Madeline McCann) Madeline (pronounced mad-uh-line, as in the north american version or the Ludwig Bemelman stories) and everyone who doesn't know her calls her Madalyn which makes me wince or Madeleine which isn't so bad or just Maddy of course. It's the sort of name that everyone knows has a range of spelling (and pronunciation) options, like Elena and Helena or Jacqueline/Jaclyn so they simply ask. Her middle name accidentally completes her name to that of a Sicilian almost-saint but I can't see her going the same way.

We actually call her by a completely unrelated nickname 98% of the time.

Madeline is a beautiful name. I have a Madeleine who is nearly 5 and i thought about the mccann thing when i named her but only briefly because the child owns the name iyswim. It makes absolutely no difference. Mine doesnt get maddie just Madeleine and we get so many compliments on it. Go for madeline :)

...and we have had no probs at all with spelling pronunciation or nicknames. Everyone has always called her Madeleine even her school friends :)

Aw that's lovely, lots of positive first hand experiences of Madeline/Madeleine :)

My name has 2 possible pronunciations. I'm so used to people getting it wrong I hardly notice. Teachers were the worst! Most people ask which way round I say it and I say 'well I pronounce it like this but don't worry, it doesn't matter' (it really doesn't bother me) and then they always get it right after that. About 3 famous people have my name, one of whom is in the media constantly, they all pronounce it my way (mine is spelt the traditional way too)... in fact I've never met a single person who pronounced it the other way... But people still get confused! Again, it's a French origin name so I've had plenty of training and the best thing is not to get shirty about it.

We've got a Madeleine. I was pregnant when Madeleine McCann went missing. It was my favourite name and we really deliberated over still using it. I asked one of my friends and she said its a name surrounded by love. My mum was totally against it but I am so pleased we picked it and she loves it now too.

It's funny how Madeleine's name strikes a chord with people but Sarah, Jamie, Hollie, Jessica, Shannon etc etc (the list is shockingly long ) don't get the same response when discussing those names.

Infact, I've been discussing nanes for a while with F&F asking Madeline, Jessica or Maisie? (BIG mistake!!!) Most people slated Maisie for being too cute, Madeline has provoked quite a few 'it's lovely bit it makes me think McCann' (from people who don't know my family history) but Jessica gets a generally positive response. No one ever mentions Jessica Chapman.

I have a Madeleine. I love it! I don't know of any others and have only had great comments in RL. She sometimes gets Maddie, mainly from other people which I don't mind, but is usually Madeleine. She has been called Madison a couple times which really wound me up!

re: whoever said Americans pronounce it like Caroline

The vast majority of Americans, in my experience, pronounce it like Madelyn. It kind of ruins the name, IMO, but it's hard to make MAD-el-enne work in an American accent.