Pronunciation Question

newbabymakes4 · March 2016

DH and I are considering Madeline for a girl's name, but we are having a disagreement over pronunciation. I like the sound of "lynn" at the end, and he pronounces it like "line". He thinks if we want it to sound like "lynn" we need to spell it Madelyn, and that if we spell it Madeline, it needs to be pronounced "line". I don't think the spelling matters. Just curious what others think about this.

Smax0822 · March 2016

I agree with your husband

LizaKate1213 · March 2016

I agree with him as well. Madeline reminds me of the girl from the story books and it was pronounced "line."

ashleyandely · March 2016

I always thought

Madeline = Mad Uh Lynn

Madeleine = Mad Uh Line

But the cartoon does pronounce Madeline like Mad Uh Line.

AndiPandi127 · March 2016

And in France, Madeleine is pronounced like "Mad-Elaine".

virginiaunicorn11 · March 2016

I agree with your husband too (sorry!)

SuperNerd42 · March 2016

I have a cousin -lynn and a niece -line. I believe the -line pronunciation is more traditional, but my family has lived it both ways

groovylocks · March 2016

I've heard it both ways. But I speak french too and first encountered it in the french way. "line". But "Lin" is also perfectly acceptable in the English pronunciation.

You're honestly fine either way.

groovylocks · March 2016

oh and btw, THANK YOU for not spelling it "Madelyn". Literacy is a gift and too many choose to squander it.

ecwk · March 2016

I'm a teacher and have students with this name who pronounce it both lyn and line. Both work IMO.

emjeve · March 2016

I pronounce it "Lynn". My cousin spells it Madeline and pronounces it that way and I 100% prefer this spelling to Madelyn.

jenna8984 · March 2016

To me, it works the same way as Caroline/ Carolyn. Different names. Anything ending in -line I'd pronounce Line.

llbne · March 2016

I would pronounce Madeline with a -lynn sound and Madeleine with a -line sound. I hate hate hate the Madelyn/Madalyn spelling.

keri0426 · March 2016

I agree with your husband. Line is line, Lyn is Lynn.

Paturkey · March 2016

I seem to be in the minority but I'd pronounce it "Lynn" by default and "line" if corrected.

DanyTargaryen · March 2016

My cousin Madeline pronounces it -lynn and it hasn't been a problem.

newbabymakes4 · March 2016

DH is standing firm on the pronunciation, so since I much prefer the "lynn" sound I think we're going with Madelyn. I prefer the more traditional spelling but DH doesn't like any kind of ambiguity with names.

newbabymakes4 · March 2016

Thanks for all the feedback, I appreciate it!

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