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Baby Names
jmay4
member
Maelle
jmay4
member
in Baby Names
Our last name is French and my DH speaks French fluently. I know enough to get by but I like the thought of using a French name. I really love the name Maelle (prn. My-elle) for a girl.
I have only heard it irl once, on a Canadian Olympic snowboarder, Maelle Ricker. Do you like the name? Do you think I'm setting myself up for constant mispronounciation? I realize my DD would always need to spell her name for people so I'm not sure how I feel about that.
I also think it could easily be pronounced May-elle as well, which I don't actually mind because my maiden name is May, but I think the proper pronounciation is "My-elle".
Pretty or too complicated?
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Re: Maelle
This. I think you're going to run into a lot of people who don't know how to pronounce it in the US. Even if you don't mind, your DD will be correcting people her entire life.
Burned by the Bear
I agree.
I think this name is sooo pretty! I had never seen someone with it IRL until recently when photographer friends of mine did a photoshoot with a baby Maelle. I instantly liked the name and thought it would be pronounced My-elle (I have a bit of a French background...so it seemed like it should be pronounced that way)...but I had to do some Googling to be sure.
BFP #1 09/02/11 M/C 09/12/11 8w6days
BFP #2 07/18/12 Baby S born on his EDD 03/23/13
SS - age 12...SD - age 8...DS - 13 mos.
Daughter born at 34 weeks due to PPROM, July 2012
Expecting baby #2, May 8, 2015
May 2015 signature challenge for January: "You had ONE job!"
Use it if you like it. I don't think there will be a big problem pronouncing it. If someone gets it wrong, correct them and move on.
I'm in Toronto too.
I like it. I knew a Maelle once (also French) and I always thought it was a very pretty name.
I think it's one thing to have to correct people because they aren't familiar with a name, rather than just having to stumble over a uneek spelling or something someone is blatantly mispronouncing.
People always get my name wrong. It is a simple, nice but unusual name and 9 times out of 10 it is spelled wrong on my Starbucks cup, and at my doctors office they always turn it into some terrible variation that sounds like a man's name. People are dumb. It doesn't bother me at all, I'm used to it.
It's pretty. As long as you don't mind the May-elle vs My-elle pronunciation thing, then go for it.
Mae (pronounced May) is/was a common American name, that's why most people will say May-elle.
I agree with Motz. Fumbling over a name because of a language barrier is one thing. Fumbling because a parent spelled Katie as Khaytye is completely different. I'm not reaching for a screwy spelling there. There's a girl working at the local Taco Bell named Katie and that's how her name is spelled.
http://pandce.****/index.cgi#general
Eh, a lot of the responses - they could be/ probably were/ still are said about the many Irish names that are becoming pretty popular these days.
There was a time where I didn't know how to pronounce Seamus, Siobhan, Saoirse, Declan - to name a few. But I don't think twice about them any more (even though the spellings may still get me!).
~Benjamin Franklin
DS dx with celiac disease 5/28/10
I agree with this.
I think it's a beautiful name, but like many others would've pronounced it May-Elle. I like the My-Elle pronunciation better. It would be something that she would have to spell and correct people on a lot, so i would keep that in mind as you decide. My husband's last name is long and dutch, and I ALWAYS have to spell it out for people which TBH, does get on my nerves.
But, it's such a pretty name!
In a split second glance, I read it as "male", but then thought May-elle, and guessed that maybe it was My-elle.
I love it. As some PPs have it, it's such a subtle difference between the mispronunciation and the actual one. I would use it in a heartbeat.
My name is Hannah, and I still get people asking me all the time how to spell it. And I also get a lot of people who call me Anna/Anne...and one I will never understand - Heather.
I pronounced it correctly and I think in Toronto it's fine. I say go for it!
I thought it was May-elle. But I also don't understand people who are like "OMG don't saddle your child with having to pronounce and spell her name!!" ... my name is Alexandra, NN Ali and I have spell my name all of the time. So what? And when you have a difficult last name - you can't avoid it and have to spell and pronounce it all of the time. People will catch on quickly and she'll survive.
If you and H love it, use it.
Pretty. My neice has one in her class. I also like Mirelle.
In the US maybe, OP is in Toronto, lots French speakers there. I can see it being difficult in CA, but in Canada, pretty easy.
I must admit, I had a hard time figuring this one out. I assumed it was May-elle, then when you said it was French, I thought it might be "Mah-elle"... Nope, wrong again.
Even with several years spent studying the French language, I still can't get how this is pronounced "My-elle." I don't think it's intuitive at all, and while it sounds pretty, it'll undoubtedly confuse quite a few people who read it.
I don't think that should stop you necessarily, but I do think it's a legitimate concern.
This! Definitely heard of a few new Maelle's since 2010.
BFP 06/25/17 | EDD 02/24/18 | DS2 02/19/18