Madeleine

Maddie isn’t bad, but I find the full name prettier. Maybe Ellie as a nickname instead? MadELeine. I might have a slight preference for Madeline, but I absolutely love this to. Maddalena is also beautiful. A great name!

I prefer the pronunciation Mad-a-line, though I've never been a particular fan of the name, as I tend to dislike names containing the 'adle' sound for some reason. I don't like mad-uh-lin much at all, though I don't absolutely hate either. I can still sort of see the appeal, even if it's not 100% to my taste, though I prefer Magdalena or Madalena.

I heard it in French and it actually sounded nice. It's just said a little sloppier in English.

My name is Madeline but I literally wish my name was spelled this way but I think my parents didn't use the other because I have a cousin named Adeline and maybe they wanted it to be like my cousin's. It kind of breaks me that others think Madeleine is better than Madeline (my name is pronounced Mad-uh-lynn rather than Mad-uh-line).

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Oh well, what can I do?

Beautiful name yet it's also name of the small sweet cakes as well...

Not a fan of the stressed "mad" at the beginning.

I always LOVED this name but unfortunately I can never use it because… my mom’s old friend who she had a terrible falling out with was named Madeleine. It’s such a beautiful name!❤️ The nicknames are adorable too. Definitely use it if you can. Love it!

I love this name so much. It may look a little bit long but it's just such a pretty sounding name!

This name is pretty and I prefer it over Madeline, it avoids the “made line” and a cute nickname would obviously be Maddie/Maddy!

This is my name! Also, why wasn't it used at all in the 60's and 70's? I thought that was strange.

Your name was most definitely used during the 1960s and 70s, but not enough to rank within the top 1000 most common girl's names. If it is not in the top 1000, the amount of times used may not appear on the chart you have seen, but that doesn't mean it wasn't used at all.

I have the name Madeleine and I love it!

I am a teenager with the name Madeleine. My parents mainly chose it because it sounded good, but also after Madeleine L'Engle (my mom introduced me to her books, which I love) and Madeleine Albright, the first U.S. Secretary of State. I often have to spell it out for people because of the second "e", but to my mind, this spelling is much more elegant than simply "Madeline". It really looks very sophisticated written down. I am NOT a fan of the nickname Maddie AT ALL. Unfortunately, teachers usually automatically assume that's what I go by, and it takes awhile to break the habit. Other than that, it's a lovely name. Overall, I love my name and am proud of being named after two strong females. I recommend this name to parents who want a beautiful, strong, feminine name with great potential for your daughter to live up to.

While I dislike Magdalen(a/e), I think Madeleine, as well as similar spellings like Madeline, Madelaine or even Madelyn (despite I'm usually quite a traditionalist with names) are really nice and elegant. I guess I don't like them enough to actually ever use in real life, but they're interesting to see used by other people. I guess I slightly prefer Madeline over Madeleine but it's only slightly. I think the name Madeleine has something sentimental and even quite sad about it but I don't know why. I quite like the cake Madeleine so that's also quite a strong association for me. And the Madeleine book series. And Mary Magdalene from the Bible. And St. Madeleine-Sofie Barat. And the Swedish princess Madeleine - perhaps it's because of her that I think this name sounds very posh. - Speaking of Swedish, I much prefer the Swedish pronunciation compared with the French one. The abundance of English pronunciations must make this name quite tricky to use in an Anglophone country. Also I'm a big fan of the Dutch name Madelief which means daisy, and I like to think of it as a fancy namenerd nickname for Madeleine, just like some Marguerites go by Daisy, so a Madeleine could go by Madelief. Maddies seem all the rage now but I don't really see the appeal of the nickname. I don't as much as dislike it but it's just meh and if I ever changed my mind and had a baby named Madeleine I'd much rather call her the full, long name than the bland Maddie. Many people here compare Madeleine to Madison and I also prefer Madeleine a whole lot, don't see any appeal in Madison at all.

This is such a lovely name. Elegant with a touch of sweetness. It’s beyond me why the tacky Madison is so popular but this name isn’t.

Beautiful. Madeleine is a very elegant and sophisticated name. I love it.

This is my name and I love it so much! But I also like Madison!

I love this name as much as Madeline! It's better than the modern variant, Madelyn, which I dislike.

This is my name! It’s spelled Madeleine but pronounced mad-uh-line. I really like it but I usually go by Maddie or Mads because for some reason, Madeleine is just too difficult for people to spell.

This is stunning because I can give my daughter the nickname of Maddie without using the name Madison like everyone else. How has nobody else used this name? It’s beautiful.

I changed my mind. This name is as beautiful as Madelyn, possibly even prettier. I also love the French cake!

SO BEAUTIFUL! Just, please thank your mother so hard for giving you this name! It is blessed! I just can't explain how much I love it! Sweet and feminine! One of my favorite names ever! Great French name!

Pretty, but I still prefer Madeline/Madelyn.

Beautiful, feminine name! Has class, has quality, just wonderful! Madeleine is a good name!

Love the name, sadly it makes me think of the tragic story of little Madeleine McCann, so for that reason I won't be using.

I tend to love French names a lot, and Madeleine is no exception. It also happens to be the name of a series and character by Ludwig Bemelmans that I also love!

I love it! I named my daughter Madeleine Elise and it's feminine, timeless, classy, and soft sounding. I don’t think her name could suit her better!

I would definitely use this name. It’s pretty, elegant, feminine and has a lovely sound. This is definitely my preferred spelling though, with the “e” after the “l”. Madeline is essentially the words “made” and “line” together and I can’t unsee that and it looks a little off to me. Just my personal taste though.

I really like this name! It's sweet and feminine while also not being snobby or uptight. It also has many nickname opportunities. It is honestly incredible. (I may be slightly biased because my incredible daughter is Madeleine but then again I did pick it so...)

This spelling looks odd to me...too many letters. It looks pretentious in my opinion. It’s okay if you are French but the average American will misspell it. Madeline is more practical and it is the same name. I have seen this name spelled so many different ways. Madelyn, Madeline, Madelynn, Madylin. It is the new trend name for girls. The “new” Madison.

Gorgeous! I think of France and Alice In Wonderland when I hear this. I really dislike the nickname Maddie/Maddy though.

Beautiful name, I think of those little French cakes whenever I hear it. Lovely name.

Madeleine is a very elegant name! This is my favorite spelling. I very much prefer this over Madison :)

Madeleine is the prettiest name in the world! I know a Madeleine and she is awesome!

Way better than Madeline.

Madeleine is an awesome name! I know a girl named Madeleine and she is the bestest friend ever!

I had no idea that this name originated from the name "Magdalene" until I was reading "Le mystère de la charité de Jeanne D'Arc" by Charles Péguy. He mentions the name where I would've assumed he meant to say Magdalene... and that's indeed the same as Madeleine!

I love this name so so much and I think it is so beautiful. However, I meet so many Maddie’s! If one of the girls were to go by Madeleine she would stand out from all of the other girls who share her name yet go by a nickname.

My name is Madeleine. It is very stressful to always correct people’s pronunciation and spelling. People would just replace my name with something else as it seems too complicated for them. This causes me to be sad sometimes as people may say this is just too pretentious. Despite all this, I learnt to appreciate the uniqueness of my name. It is sophisticated and classy. It made me who I am today and I am proud to be a Madeleine.

I see this pronounced Mad-e-lane, which I find very pretty.
However, I dislike the unavoidable Maddy. The nickname itself is okay, but just extremely common and overused. Use the full name, as it’s absolutely gorgeous.

Madeline is better, this one kinda looks weird.

I have a close friend with this name, and despite most people's disability with spelling it, I think that it is a very nice name and she has no problem with it.

This name and its spelling is very charming and authentic. The way it is originally written adds an elegant and historical
weight to this sort of forename. If I had a daughter, I might consider it as a top contender on my short list of names.

I don't like this spelling. Too long and complicated.

This spelling is so much prettier and exotic than “Madelyn” or “Madeline.” It makes me think of French pastries. Madeleine!

Madeleine is such a stunningly beautiful name and if it wasn't for the presumably unavoidable nickname of 'Maddy/Maddie' which I cannot stand, I would not hessitate to name a second or third daughter Madeleine said as mad-uh-line. (My preferred pronunciation)
Madeleine, Madeline, Madelyn and so forth are exceedingly better than Madison!

One of my favorite names. Seriously, this name is so beautiful and strong.

This is my favourite name. (Pronounced Lin at the end not line.) I love the name Madeleine, the name is beautiful, classic, timeless and can fit anyone of any age. There are also some cute nicknames for it: Maddie, Mads, Lindy, so that's great as well. This name is perfect and I don't think you can go wrong with this name. Anyone with the first name Madeleine is very very lucky to have such a gorgeous name. Simply stunning!

My name is Madeleine, pronounced madeLEHN, and (gasp!) I do go by Maddie. Personally I think it's a beautiful name, and I don't see anything wrong with the nickname Maddie (or Maddy, or Maddi, or Madi). I like it a lot more than Madison.

I love the beautiful name Madeleine. It's so lovely, sweet and cute. :) This name always reminds me of the poor little adorable innocent girl Madeleine McCann who went missing. :( Here in the UK this name is commonly said as "MAD-ə-lin". This is such a perfect name for a girl. ^w^

This is my name! My name is spelt Madeline and is pronounced mad-uh-line NOT mad-uh-lyn. I was named after the story book character. I usually go by Maddie for short by most people but some people still call me Madeline which doesn't really bother me. I personally like the nickname Maddie but sometimes it gets annoying because I do sports, and when I'm on the court or field the other team has another Maddie and sometimes I think they are calling me lol. The one thing I really don't like about the name Maddie is that people always assume it's short for Madison, then when I say "no" they guess mad-uh-lyn and they never guess the way I say my name. I love my name, I think it's a pretty and elegant name. On the top 100 baby popularity name list of 2014 it was ranked #89, it moved up one spot lol. I prefer the spelling Madeline, then Madeleine as my second choice of spelling. It's interesting how many variations there are for the the nick name.

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Some spellings are;
Maddie
Maddy
Maddi
Madi
Madie
Mady
(My favorite spelling is Maddie. That's the spelling I use)

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Fun Fact-> Jamie Lyn Spears named her daughter Maddie, short for nothing, just Maddie with that spelling.

I prefer the spelling Madeline, Madelyn or Madeleine. I prefer simpler spellings.

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I prefer the nicknames Mae, Linnie or Mallie to Maddie. Maddie is cute but doesn't really sound right to me. It might be the "mad" part. And yes, that does put me off Madeline a bit and I like Magdalena better. I think these would make good middle names, Louise Madeline, Charlotte Madeline, Arabella Madeline, etc.

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I feel compelled to add, comments like the one above make me sick to my stomach. "illiterate" is not an insult for you to use on people you disagree with, it's just the inability to read or spell and IS NOT the illiterate person's fault. Plus, all of that gross classism and demonization of the poor. You're welcome to dislike creative spellings, god knows I do, but show some dignity and respect in your expression.

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As a counter to that bile, I say no matter what socioeconomic class you are, you should call your daughter Madeline. It's a lovely name.

A beautiful classic. The name Madeleine is gorgeous. Unfortunately, a whole raft of clueless, borderline illiterates have insisted on butchering this name by utilizing kre8tivve spellings so ugly and numerous that they are almost impossible to list in their entirety:

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Madolyne, Madalyne, Maddalyn, Madalyn, Madolyn, Madelynn, Madilynne, Maddelyn, Madilinne, Madylyn, Madelyn. Just wrong.

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If you are a parent-to-be of a baby girl, congratulations and well done for surfing to this page and considering the name Madeleine or Madeline. Do your daughter a favour. Spell it one of those two ways. Resist the urge to spell it phonetically (that means "like it sounds") such as Madylyn or some other utter atrocity (atrocity means "bad thing").

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Tacky, made up spellings of classic names make children -- and their parents -- appear dumb. Trust me. If you spell it correctly, your daughter might be the first in the family to go to university, become a professional or leave the trailer park and get a mortgage! Imagine! The power of a name!

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If you can't bring yourself to spell this name properly, can I suggest Neveah? It's "heaven" spelled backwards! Cool, eh? It's much neater than Madylyn, Madoline, Madalenn and Madylynn. So run off now and check it out! Go on!

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If you are still reading, then you have some taste. Congratulations. You give me hope.

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Parents with taste and class: please help resurrect this name. Reclaim it for your daughters. With enough work and perseverance we can right this blight on society and save the classic, beautiful, royal and timeless name Madeleine from a fate worse than Neveah.

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This message is a public service initiative brought to you by the Madeleine Classic Naming-Convention Preservation Society.

I disagree, it isn't classist to insist a name is spelled properly. I agree with the poster two above. That name has been ruined by people who don't appreciate its classical beauty.

My name is Madeleine (actually it`s Madalina, I`m romanian) and my family and friends call me Maddie. I really like this name, it`s very sophisticated and suits me a lot. This name is known in a lot of countries, it`s very easy to remember and very classy, also. In Spanish is pronounced Magdalena, they used to use the nickname Magda or Maggie, but I personally think it`s prettier as Madeleine.

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P.S. Sorry for my bad English, it`s not my first language.

I love the name Madeleine, and normally pronounce it Mad-uh-line, though sometimes I say Mad-uh-lynn. Madeleine is a beautiful, classic name and I associate it with such.

Madeleine is very feminine, and is one of my favorite names.

Another dictionary definition of "Madeleine" is something that triggers memories or nostalgia. The perfect meaning in my opinion!

Could Della work as a nickname?

Looove this name! One of my favorite M names. I'd definitely name my daughter this, but I'd call her Addie or Linnie instead of Maddie if I wanted to use a nickname, although I really like Madeleine (mad-a-len) by itself :)

One of my favorites, much classier than Madelyn, but the pronunciation is what kills me. I like "mad-a-lyn" and I think that's correct, but for some reason it just doesn't look like that's how you'd say it. I'd always be worried someone would say mad-a-line or mad-a-lane, which sounds really long to me. Since I hate the nickname Maddie, I'd probably go with Addie as a more unique option.

I love this name. Though Maddie is overused I love the option of Maisie as a nickname, not related I know, but Margaret is really old fashioned and one of my least favourite girls names but I love the nickname Maisie and I think it works for Madeleine.

My absolute favorite girls' name. My choice for my first daughter. Madeleine has everything I love in a name. I am a stickler for traditional spellings and, despite common confusions, this is the authentic French spelling of the name. In France, it would be pronounced Mad-len, but in modern day US it would be pronounced no differently than Madelyn (that is, Mad-e-len). Madeleine is heaps classier than even the more mainstream spelling Madeline because it carries the French pedigree. To me, this is a soft, yet important, regal sounding girls' name. It calls to mind a European princess, such as Princess Madeleine of Sweden.

I know a rather ditzy girl named Madeleine. She pronounces it mad-el-AYN, which I'm sure is not correct anywhere/is kre8iv. I like it pronounced mad-LEN, or, if one plans on never leaving the US or encountering someone with any connections to another country, then MAD-uh-lien would be my 2nd favorite pronunciation.

Madeleine is a classic name. Most nicknames are more or less a lazy way of referring to someone. As for Matty, Maddie, Madde, etc, it makes me think of a long haired dog with tangled fur. I recommend staying with Madeleine.

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There was also a cartoon character in the early 1990's named Madeline who was an orphan in France. I feel like the spelling was altered to suit American tastes at the time.

I like the spelling of Madeleine much better than Madeline. Apparently the year I was born, Madeleine & variations were considered extremely stylish names. Although it's a nice name, I'm glad my parents decided to name me something else less common (I've met about 4 Madeleines now).

I don't usually like names that are associated with food, but I make an exception for Madeleine, because it's a food with literary associations, and besides it's such a pretty name.

My name is Madeleine, and heaven forbid, many of my friends call me Maddie. My mother doesn't like it, but they do it because they know I like it. I'm not a huge fan of this name, purely because it's just not very me, if you know what I mean. But it is a very pretty name.

Madeleine is such a lovely, sophisticated name. Spellings like Maddilynn are not. Why do such a thing when you can have a beautiful, respectable name with the same pronunciation?

My daughter is Madeleine, pronounced ma-de-LEN. It annoys me when she gets the Madeline books for presents - Madeline is an English girl living in Paris who pronounces her name ma de LINE. As in rhymes with "12 little girls in a straight LINE, the youngest one was MadeLINE".

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Equally annoying are the atrocious misspellings of the name - Madalyn, Madilin, Madelin, Madalinn, Madilynn, Madylynn. Learn to spell.

This name is just gorgeous, and if I ever have a daughter I will name her Madeleine. I'd rather use the full name, but I think Millie would be a better nickname than Maddie, it just sounds more classy in a way.

It's so gorgeous, regal, and beautiful. I would venture to say this is the most beautiful girl's name ever.

This is SUCH a pretty name! So classic and beautiful. I don't like the name Maddy at ALL! I don't like Maddy, if she needed a nickname I'd shorten it to ADDY. When I hear this name I think of an adorable little girl or a beautiful adult.

My name is Madeleine. I love it. My friends call me Maddie, but my entire family calls me by my full name. I love being called this, I think it's really pretty! All my teachers end up calling me Maddie even if I don't ask them to, which is annoying, but they do it anyway. I pronounce it Mad-el-in with a short I. For the long I, you are talking about the name Madeline.

I really like this name, I was in Paris this summer and there is a metro station called "Madeleine", my boyfriend and I agreed to call our first daughter this.

I really like this name, sounds very royal-like. An alternative spelling, which I like better than this one, is "Madelene" or simply how it's pronounced in Sweden "Madelen".

I love the name Madeleine! It strikes me as very elegant but not too powerful for a little girl. I think it's lovely paired with Elisabeth. I don't mind the nickname Maddie but I'd hate to have people assume that her name is Madison, which is not nearly as good a name as this!

I LOVE this name. Definitely on the top of my list of girl names. Lovely.

I love the French spelling. Our first daughter is Madeleine Grace. Heaven forbid, we do call her Maddie, much to the dismay of many on this board. But it's perfect for her. She may very well choose to be Madeleine as she grows up, but she loves her name.

To me, this name just sounds hopelessly elitist and stuck up, or just plain pretentious and somehow over-the-top. It's like the name of the parents' little princess.

I love this name, if I have a another daughter her name will be Madeleine, it is a pretty name and classy too.

Madeleine is a beautiful name. My daughter is named Madeleine Ruth (pronounced -line not -lyn) but we call her Minnie for short, I am not too keen on overused Maddie.

I think it looks much prettier without the second e, as in Madeline.

Please don't say that you shouldn't shorten the name Madeleine to Maddie or whatever and it's not as nice because it is. Being called Madeleine all the time makes me feel weird and people can't be bothered to call you Madeleine and will call you Maddie anyway.

This is a nice name, but people probably don't use it at the moment for an obvious reason.

Madeleine is really really classy, unlike the ugly Madisons you get today. Madison is more of a boy's name.

Madeleine is best just kept as Madeleine. Not Maddy, Maddie or Mads.

I prefer the pronunciation Mad-e-LINE or Mad-e-LYN. However I think the abbreviation Maddy or Maddie is untasteful and nowhere near as nice as Madeleine.

This is such a beautiful name!