help/opinion of girl names..........how about madeleine?

[jkb]

Hi

Im 29 weeks pregnant & expecting a little girl.. my son is called Benjamin..
I love the name Madeleine..however, my hubby thinks everyone will think of poor little madeleine mccann.??? what do you think? will it be a horrid name/asociation for her?? Or do you think hes being silly?

I also quite like:
Isabel
Abigail
Chloe

I want her name to sound pretty... & not chavvy.. so when you hear it, you think of a nice little girl from a nice family..

any opinions?

How about just Elaine instead?

I love Madeleine - thats my second favourite girls name after Ella.

my dd is Madeline, she's usually called Mad or Maddie

Well, I like Madeleine and don't think the association will be made by the time she's older, but your dh obviously doesn't like it as much, and that matters.

You're very honest about what you are looking for in a name. If you're worried about associations, why not go for a very neutral/timeless name such as Catherine, Mary, Elizabeth, Jane or Sarah.

As long as you are happy with the shortening of Maddy as someone will use it.

You can also spell it Madelaine or Madelyn
so no associations

Thanku all.. hubby does like the name.. just worried about what people will think of when they hear it....
i also realy do like the shortened form... MADDIE.. think thats really pretty too? But just dont to let what I like give my daughter a name where people may think im a weirdo for chossing it after the MCCANN thing.

if your surname doesn't begin with M, or sound like McCann, I wouldn't worry too much.

It's only a name.

I don't think that those associations will carry on for very long.

Other names you might like:
Lucinda
Catherine
Charlotte
Fiona
Georgina
Isabella
Elizabeth
Victoria

I know two children called Madelaine/Maddy and to be honest I hadn't made the connection. It's a nice name.

I liked Abigail for DD2, but she arrived just after Abigail Witchalls was stabbed. She lived very locally and I decided not to use it because it seemed a bit weird.

But three years later, I think I really could have done. Things do move on and it's not as if it's a really obscure name.

I think that people may well be reminded of Maddie McCann at the moment but that will fade with time.
Personally, I don't like the name Madeline anyway.
My favourite is Isabel which I think is v pretty and classic, although it is v popular at the moment if that bothers you.

i love maddie, i'd use it if you like it tbh. there will always be some horrible association with some most names if you look hard enough. by the time she's at school it's not like any of her friends will remember the story or have any knowledge of it. i hate the name abigail but probably cos it's my name! lol, do like abby though.

I prefer Maddison

Gorgeous. Doesn't matter what name you choose, there's always someone who has a bad association with it. So just go for it; it's a beautiful name.

There is a girl called Madeleine in my daughters class, and it never occurred to me to associate her with the McCann girl. If it were a really unique name, then maybe, but it is familiar enough that I cannot see why.

...and we even holiday down that part of the world and have closely followed the case, and still - I just don't make that connection.

I love it. I'd be more concerned over its popularity than the McCann reference though. Lots of little girls are named Maddie (either some form of Madeleine or Madison) these days.

I also love Isabel!

When I first read you post the connection honestly didn't occur to me either.

I just thought 'Benjamin & Madeleine - Ben & Maddie, that's really nice!'

Only thought of the McCann connection because you mentioned it.

From your list, I also realy like Abigail.

My 7 year old is Madeleine. There were a few comments at the time of the disappearance but nothing recently. The worst was when we were om holiday in Majorca that summer, everytime we called her- people's heads would spin round and stare.
Its a lovely name IMO.

I think it's a lovely name and, as sad as it is to say it, the Madeline McGann connection will fade over the coming years.

That is my DDs name, so obviously I think it is a lovely name! She was born a month or so before the Madeleine McCann disappearance, (which I have to say hit ME very hard at the time), however I do find it a bit bizarre to think that people will associate your daughter with that tragedy, I really don't think that it works like that - they will see your daughter as herself. It's not an issue I have ever encountered anyway.

I've got a 12-year-old called Madeleine (she is always called Maddie) - so just remember, I thought of it first.

It's not too common where I live at all. I have heard of just one a couple of years younger than my dd. I like it that way.

Never once has anyone expressed horror about the connection with Madeleine McCann.

It's way, way nicer than Madison, imho. But that's maybe because we had a dodgy nightclub called Madison's where I grew up.

Lots of Madeleine's at ds's school.

Nice classic names are

Anna
Katherine

I like Madeleine but it does make me think of McCann.

Isabel - quite like prefer rarer Annabel
Abigail - Abby ok, also like Libby short for Elizabeth
Chloe - ok, much prefer Zoe!

Zoe and Ben would be lovely.

I say if you like the name go for it. It doesn;t matter what people think.

Having said that, I was going to call my dd Catriona but she was she was born right after the hurricane with the same name! We changed the name and now I wish I hadn't.