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Shea, I guess, but I really dislike all of them.
Claire! Clare looks like it should be pronounced CLAAR (A like in apple) and seems masculine.

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I pronounce all of those names with a -line ending, but would not be at all surprised to hear that a Rosaline pronounced her name ROSE-ah-lyn or ROSE-ah-leen.

Shea - I really hate it spelled with a Y. I really don't know why. It just bugs me.
Claire

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How do you pronounce:

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Madeline - Mad-uh-lin or Ma-de-LEEN If it's just written and I'm reading it to myself I'll use which ever pronunciation tickles my fancy that day.
Madeleine Mad-uh-lin
Rosaline - Rose-uh-lin
Caroline - Care-oh-line
Emmeline - Em-Muh-lin

I will not claim to be fond of any of the initial options, but I find Shea to be the most tolerable and sophisticated. As for the second, both are wonderful; I have gone through periods of preference for one or the other... currently, I favor Claire, as it seems more complete.

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Madeline: There is no single, sure pronunciation that I use (it is based on the context I see the name in.) I suppose that I typically use Mah-Deh-LIEN (but also MAH-Deh-Lin and Mah-Deh-LEEN.)
Madeleine: Again, the pronunciation depends... on a normal day, this form would receive Mah-Deh-LEN from me (with a small chance of Mah-Deh-LIEN.)
Rosaline: ROHS-Ah-Lin, (long 'o') with an occasional ROHS-Ah-Lien. Admittedly, I have never seen appeal in this name.
Caroline: KER-Oh-Lin, and potentially KAR-Oh-Lien.
Emmeline: Because this name has never been at the top of my list, I have never really settled on a pronunciation (or known the correct)... EM-Eh-Lien is relatively accurate, as is the possibilities of EM-Eh-Lin and (less) chance of EM-Eh-Leen.

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- Francesca

Shea, Shay, Shae? I don't mind any of them. None look awkward, and they are all anglicized spellings as it is, so even though Shea is closest to the original spelling, it still technically isn't the original anyways. Shay looks more masculine than feminine to me, but I think it's okay for a girl.
Clare or Claire? I definitely prefer Claire. Clare reminds me of the words "blare" and "glare." Claire looks more feminine and appealing.

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How do you pronounce:

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Madeline - MAD-ə-lin
Madeleine - MAD-ə-len
Rosaline - ROZ-a-leen
Caroline - KER-ə-lien (with the ending rhyming with the word "line")
Emmeline - EM-ə-leen

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I don't find any pronunciations of the above weird or awkward.

This message was edited 2/22/2012, 6:56 AM

Shea
Claire

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Madeline- "MAD-uh-line."
Madeleine- "MAD-uh-lane."
Rosaline- "ROZ-uh-line."
Caroline- "CARE-uh-line."
Emmeline- "EM-uh-line."

Shae
Claire

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Madeline - MAD-uh-line
Madeleine - MAD-uh-lyn
Rosaline - ROZ-uh-line
Caroline - CAR-oh-line (car as in carrot)
Emmeline - EMMA-line

I perfer Shay- it just looks nicer
Claire is prettier here

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Madeline-Mad ah line
same with Madeleine
Roz-ah-line
Emma-line

Shay - though I don't like any of them.
Claire

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Madeline: mah-duh-leen
Madeleine: mah-duh-lin
Rosaline: roz-uh-line
Caroline: kair-o-line
Emmeline: em-uh-leen

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(all approximations)

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My automatic instinct is to go with "leen" from -line names. However, "Carolina" influences my Caroline pronunciation, and in a high school R&J production we used the roz-uh-line pronunciation.

Shea
Clare

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Madeline- mad-uh-lin
Madeleine- mad-uh-len
Rosaline- roz-uh-lin (but I prefer Rosaleen- roz-uh-leen)
Caroline- ca-ro-line
Emmeline- emma-leen

Shea, I guess
Claire

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Madeline - MAD-ə-lin, because I know that's how people pronounce it, but I always want to say MAD-ə-lien like the storybook.
Madeleine - MAD-ə-lin
Rosaline - ROZ-ə-lin
Caroline - KAR-o-lien (kar has a long a)
Emmeline - Em-ə-lin

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I don't think any are weird or awkward, but there can be some discrepancies between Madeline, Madeleine, Rosaline, and Emmeline. There are multiple correct options. Caroline, on the other hand, has no issue.

Madeline- with a LINE at the end
Madeleine- same as Madeline
Rosaline- rosa-leen
Caroline- cair-o-line
Emmeline- em-a-leen

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I prefer Claire to Clare because Clare looks like more of a surname to me. As for Shea/Shay/Shae I think Shay looks masculine and Shae looks childish and informal. I don't particularly like it, but out of the three Shea is my favorite spelling.

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I like Shea and Shay. Shae I don't like the look of, but I'm not quite sure why.
I like Claire better than Clare. It just doesn't look right to me.

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I pronounce all of them with the LINE sound at the end except for Madeleine, which I pronounce with a LEEN.

Shea looks best to me. I don't actually know which one is most authentic, but Shea has that feel to me. Shae looks mixed up, like when I would get confused with Michael and Micheal as a kid. And Shay looks oversimplified phonetically.

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Claire. But just because I know one and I've never known a Clare.

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Madeline - MAD-uh-line
Madeleine - MAD-uh-linn
Rosaline - ROSE-uh-line
Caroline - CAR-uh-line
Emmeline - EMM-uh-line

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I think all of those spelling could be pronounced line or lynn. If I saw any of those names, I would ask pronunciation, not assum pronunciation.

Shea, Shay, Shae? I prefer Shea because Shae looks spelled wrong and I don't usually care for "y" spellings in girl names.

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Clare or Claire? I prefer Claire because to me Clare looks more masculine.

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How do you pronounce:

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Madeline-Mad-uh-line
Madeleine-Mad-uh-lin
Rosaline-Ros-uh-lin
Caroline-Car-o-line
Emmeline-Emma-line

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I actually prefer Madeline and Emmeline to many of the spellings and pronunciations of these names.

Shea: Shae looks misspelled, and Shay looks dumbed down.
Clare: There's nothing wrong with Claire--and given how much more common it is, it's probably the easier of the two to live with--but Clare was my godmother's name, and I'll always prefer it for sentimental reasons. On top of that, I also think it looks tidier, more compact and clean.

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I assume you're interested mostly in the endings?
Rosaline & Caroline: like "line"
Emmeline: like "lean"

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I've seen Rosaline and Caroline pronounced like Rosalyn and Carolyn. That seems awkward to me.

Shea, Shay, Shae? Shea looks "correct" to me, but I would pronounce all the same.

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Clare or Claire? - I like both, though lean toward Claire as it looks more complete.

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How do you pronounce:

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Madeline - like the word, "line", unless I'm told different
Madeleine - like the word, "line", unless I'm told different
Rosaline - with a long "o" and either "line" or "leen", depending on the combo
Caroline - "line", unless told differently
Emmeline - "line" or "leen", depending on the combo

Shea is my prefered spelling of the name. While I'm no expert, it *looks* like the most authentic transliteration of the Irish "se." I suppose I'm used to it from the surname O'Shea. Shay is my least favorite because it looks the most phonetic.

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Clare! Claire is nice too, but the "i" looks rather prissy to my eyes. Disclosure: Clare is a county in Ireland and my niece's name, so I'm biased. (She's Clare Siobhan). But even without those references, I think I'd still be drawn to the Clare spelling. It makes me think of English history, with titles / names like "the Duke of Clarence" and "Richard de Clare, Strongbow."

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Madeline -- "MAD-uh-line" or "MAD-uh-lin" (I'm never quite sure)

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Madeleine -- "MAD-uh-lin" in English, "mad-uh-LEN" in French

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Rosaline -- "ROZ-uh-line" although I could be talked into "ROZE-uh-line"

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Caroline -- "CAR-uh-line" (with a short "a" as in "cat" and "carrot")

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Emmeline -- "EM-uh-line" or "EM-uh-leen" (I've heard and like both)