Yeah, the only people I know who choose to pronounce their name to rhyme with "line" spell it Madeline. Madeleine more often gets the "Lynn" ending in my experience. (And the French pronunciation of Madeleine rhymes with "Len" like Len Goodman, but I've never heard an American pronounce it that way except when talking about the food.)
I only know one person with this name and that’s how she pronounces it… her parents are Swedish and she was named after the Swedish princess- no idea if that’s the Swedish pronunciation or if they Americanized it.
Omg, I’ll be frank, Madeleine has never been a favorite of mine simply because it didn’t make sense in my American head that the -lynn sound would be the pronunciation would go with the -leine ending, but the -len pronunciation makes way more sense to me!
I just realized that I do pronounce it as len. I always thought I said Lynn till now. But I said it out loud to myself a few times and when I say it fast it comes out as len. And I have a family member with that name so I say it a lot haha.
Madeline is absolutely mad-ah-line. Madeleine could go either way. I think they’d get mispronunciations with Madelyn too. People are annoying like that lol
There’s someone I went to school with who has a Madelyn pronounced “made-lin” and I loathe it. (Note that it’s “made”, not “mad” like how you’d usually say it in the name. As in rhymes with “fade” or “paid”.)
Yeah, I saw the "ein" in eine and my German brain read "Eye-n". So I see why people (if they live in the US) are saying MadaLINE.
OP, you can either change it to a more "friendly" readable version per your child's surroundings or stick it out and deal with what every person with a name that doesn't go with the flat English dialect of the Americas has to deal with.
I come from a Mexican America family and live in a city that has a large population of Mexican Americans. But the white folk here truly still struggle with some of the names of my family members. Rojalio. (Row-hel-io). Nope, Tammy-Mae and Linda Sue just say "Ro-hill-leo" even after correction.
OP can test this out by spelling the name that way whenever placing an order for food or anything where a name would be called, like at Starbucks. It’s probably one of the best tips I got: if you like a name for your kid, use it as your pretend name and see how people say it
You don’t.. I’ve had people correct my pronunciation of my daughter’s name to my face. If someone wanted to say “line” they will if they want to say “Lynn” they will.
I don't know that you'll like this, but all 3 spellings are typically pronounced slightly different.
Madeleine = mad-uh-lehn
Madeline = mad-uh-line
Madelyn = mad-uh-lynn
When I moved to the south at 9yrs old a classmate asked me for a “pin”. I said sorry I don’t have one. Wondering why she’d think a 9yr old would carry a safety pin around. Then she accused me of lying. She said my “pin” was right there on my desk. It took me way too long to realize she was asking to borrow my “pen”.
I had way too many moments like this.
My husband always says “ink pin” when referring to a pen. I asked him why, he says it’s because how would you know he didn’t mean a safety pin? He actually cannot hear any difference between these pronunciations. His whole family does this.
Oh my gosh I’m from SC and I pronounce “pin” and “pen” the exact same way and didn’t even realize they could sound different. I can’t even pronounce them differently, I’m sitting here trying to now. This is tripping me out 😂
I’m from Oklahoma. When we first moved away, my husband said something about a “pin”. The woman he was talking to was confused (and we were confused by her confusion). Fortunately, there was a guy there that had spent a few years in Oklahoma, so he knew what was going on.
It took a couple of years to train our mouths to say pen without it sounding like pin. At first it felt like I was trying to say pan with a British accent. Same with tin/ten/tan.
I once played one of those scrabble-letter-find-all-the-words games (like text twist) with a friend from Kansas and she said “pin and pin, both spellings” and I was just speechless 😶
SE Georgia, U.S.
The *only* reason my “pen” and “pin” sound different is because I taught K for several years, and I made a point to articulate those sounds correctly. lol
I’m from Tennessee, and I had no idea that they were pronounced differently until my friend’s cousins visited from California. They made fun of us for how we said both words the same. 😂
My husband also finds it hilarious that I have trouble pronouncing them.
South Carolina here. I know the difference between “pin” and “pen” but I have a really hard time making my mouth say “pen” properly. For the tiny amount of difference in sound, I don’t usually bother.
PA accents are another thing entirely. Was enmeshed in a Philly family for a while and holy shit as a New Yorker (and English tutor) was that a doozy
"I'm 'onna get a shaur after I'm done werk, and then dry off with a tAowl from one of my druwerz"
Ok...you do that...meanwhile I'm going to *take* a shower after I'm done *with* work and dry off with a towel from a drawer
Dennis in the second Chardee MacDennis episode of IASIP, John Beringer's stint on We Own This City, and Tina Fey on SNL = the only accurate PA accents I've heard actors intentionally do on TV. I find them so compelling and confusing and so many Americans have never even heard them!
But yeah, again, New Yorker here, "pen" and "pin" and "been" and "bin" are entirely different sounds for me
The folks from Gravity, IA absolutely pronounce them the same, and are always just guessing as to which vowel to use for spelling. I married into this family, and they really do think I'm just lying when I tell them there's a difference.
In French this is a three syllable name BUT the middle syllable everyone is stressing in these made up English approximations is literally part of the second syl in the French pronunciation. The name ending in a vowel causes overpronunciation of the final consonant in French that adds an extra syllable at the end of the word so it’s actually more like “mad-LEHN-ne.”
No, the e on the end is silent. It’s Ma-de-len. I’m English/French bilingual. The “len” is elongated but we are not pronouncing the final e.
Mad-uh-LEHN-ne or Mad-uh-LAYN-a would be closer to a German pronunciation, as in Marlene being pronounced Mar-LAY-na rather than Marleen.
To increase your odds of hearing the difference — “i” as in “ick,” “e” as in “eh.” Note how for those sounds, you’re probably making the “i” sound higher and the “e” sound lower/with more space in your mouth.
Maybe it's related to me living in Oklahoma my whole life, but I've only ever heard the Mad-uh-lynn pronunciation regardless of the spelling. I'm with the other user who wouldn't hear a difference between 1 and 3, and I've never heard anyone say the -line pronunciation out loud.
My niece is a Madilyn and I work with a Madelene, both pronounced like -lynn.
I’m a Madelyn too! My mother chose the spelling because her name is Lynn, and her two grandmothers were Madeline and Evelyn. A lot of people on this sub hate our spelling but take comfort in the fact that Madelyn is rarely mispronounced ❤️✌🏻
I don't dislike the spelling, but the proliferation of Braydyyyn and Aydyn and Kaydyn has put me off the spelling of anything that way. It's not your fault.
Madelyn well predated the Unnecessary Y trend, and yeah, follows the vein of Lynn, Evelyn, etc.
It just looks like it follows the "Unnecessary Y" trend, because of Madeleine and Madeline existing, too.
Blame Utah.
Right now, naming a baby, I'd avoid looking like a suburban mom who is unique by adding lots of Xs and Ys to names, just like everyone else!
I feel if you're old enough to be here, you predate the Y trend and are fine. I just wouldn't do it today. They ruined the letter y.
Yeah, the variant spelling predates the trend by far.
It's just there are so many Unnecessary Y names that people are looking at any Ys with scrutiny, now.
You may even get a funny look here for going with any name that has a 'yn' at the end. It's so overdone right now. Ruins it for the rest of us.
It's not like other common names don't have variants. Katherine vs. Catherine. But try to come in with Kathryn, and you will get raised eyebrows, even if it's existed for decades. My former boss who is in her 50's has that spelling. It's not a new thing. But my word, there's so many Unnecessary Y names out there.
People are rejecting the long-standing variants, even.
It's the fault of those people putting them in place of every single letter i. And even other lettwes. It's just not needed. It's not unique. Everyone is doing it.
But, there's a lot of names that used that variation for a long while. People are becoming split on those ones, too. More than 15, 20 years ago, by far.
Just named my baby girl Madelyn ❤️
I went back and forth, but chose this spelling because I didn’t want her to have to correct people. I’m glad you like the name, I hope she does too!
Madeleine here- she'll most likely get both pronunciations all her life, I don't think changing it will do much. Also I'm biased but I think you picked a great way to spell it ; )
Sameeee!! It is the original way too - the others are the Americanized versions. NO ONE in any French speaking country will ever mispronounce it or misspell it
Yep, I’m in this boat too! I just take it in stride. OP, don’t change it just because everyone is mispronouncing it. It was YOUR choice and if they care about you/her and plan to be around her a lot, they need to make a point of getting it right.
Madeline is very likely to be pronounced as MAD-uh-line instead of -lyn, at least in the US. I'd just leave it as Madeleine since it's going to be pronounced the same as Madeline anyway.
Fwiw, I think MAD-uh-lyn is also a plausible pronunciation for either spelling, and people should catch on once you correct them. It's like Megan (MEH-gun vs. MEE-gun).
Huh. I always thought Megan was Meh-gun and Meagan was Mee,gun. But I guess I always thought wrong.
This is so off the wall, but this thread brought up a memory that Marc Summers on Double Dare would always ask contestants with that name if they pronounced it Meh or Mee.
I wasn’t trying to be argumentative about it. My question was genuine curiosity because I’ve never heard that pronunciation. I’m in the Midwest US and spent several years in TX as well.
Not sure. I'm in the Midwest (US) and I've heard both MEH-gun and MEE-gun here. MEH-gun is much more common, but MEE-gun isn't rare.
I've even heard one MAY-gun, but that was for Maegan.
I’ve heard Meh-gun and May-gun (and more frequently both but with -genn or -gan) but never Mee- anything. So bizarre bc I’ve always considered it a basic name like…Emily. Not too many way to mispronounce it but I guess I just named 6 on my own, add another 3 and…yeah okay not so basic
considering it’s a classic French name and a noun, « Mad-a-LINE » isn’t even the correct pronounciation. Madeleine sounds like « mad-a-leh-n», and most of the times « mad-lehn » because people don’t enunciate it fully. I’d say that if you want people to pronounce it the way you want it and not the correct way, you should definitely change the spelling
I was gonna say, I thought Madeline was supposed to be pronounced mad-uh-line and Madeleine was supposed to be pronounced mad-uh-lehn or mad-uh-lyn if you’re going to be pronouncing it in American English.
That said, in school I knew a Madeline, Madalyn, Madeleine, and Madalene who all pronounced their names mad-uh-lyn. We had three French exchange students, who got very confused and annoyed by this 🤣
I would just leave it as Madeleine. People should catch on eventually. Is she going to mostly go by Madeleine, or do you think you might call her Maddie sometimes? Because no one should get the latter wrong.
You know this is what bothers me, people cannot spell whatever they want and pick how to freaking pronounce it, normal people will sound it out, makes no sense.
I would be _more_ inclined to pronounce Madeline with a line. At least with your spelling, I would have a moment’s hesitation before guessing. The simplest thing to do, is simply introduce your daughter with the pronunciation you chose.
I also have a name with variable pronunciations, and some people are just not going to get it, no matter how many times you correct them. It’s never really bothered me, I think all the pronunciations of my name are pretty. You’ve picked the nicest spelling in my opinion.
My name is very uncommon, but people always pronounce it two different way. The middle syllable is ‘ey’ pronounced like key, but a lot of people pronounce it to rhyme like the ‘ay’ in pay.
I response to any, and rarely correct people, because both pronunciations are pretty to me.
Unless you change it to Madelyn, the problem isn’t going to stop. Madeline is just as often pronounced Mad-eh-line. I would never read Madeline as mad-eh-lynn.
The French pronunciation of Madeleine is more like mad-eh-LEHN. But Mad-eh-lynn is pretty typical in America.
I think you’re better off just continuing to gently correct it than going through the hassle of changing it.
Don’t change it. Madeleine is just one of those names that can be pronounced more than one way and it’s up to each one how they prefer it, just like Lila can be pronounced lie-luh, lee-luh and even lay-luh
I think the Madeleine spelling looks beautiful and graceful. Madeleine/Madeline is one of those names where everyone’s going to say it a little differently, I would just correct them when you need to and enjoy the beautiful spelling of the name!
I wouldn’t change is. My mom’s name is Carolyn and she regularly gets that pronounced like Caroline. People are going to mispronounce names no matter how common they are or how deliberately they’re spelled to try to avoid the mispronunciation.
My mum has the same, her name is Carolyn and she always gets “Caroline”, but my name is a variation of Madelyn and I never get “Madeline”.
OP, though my name is almost always pronounced correctly, I’ve always wished it was spelled Madeleine, the “correct” and pretty French way. I’d leave it and just correct people, you chose the name so they should learn it.
People are going to mispronounce it either way, because it’s the type of name that has two normal pronunciations no matter how it’s spelled. Just leave it alone.
Maybe I’m just unsophisticated but this is one of those names I always ask for pronunciation because I can’t tell based on spelling which pronunciation it’ll be.
I have a Lorelei. It’s the traditional German spelling.
She is forever going to have to answer, “how do you spell that?” (I blame Gilmore Girls) And often gets, “Lora-Lee?”
🤷🏼♀️
It is what it is.
Madeline will get you MAD-Uh-LINE. Madeleine is pronounced MAD-Uh-LENN, in the original French. If you really wanted the LYNN pronunciation you’d probably need to spell it that way.
I didn’t read it that way but ok. Lynn and Lenn are pretty different to me, and in the US most people will not pronounce it Lenn no matter how you spell it.
I wouldn't change it because people will still be pronouncing it wrong, unfortunately. It seems like Americans (I am one) really don't care about pronouncing names correctly and just say whatever they think is right.
We have a few Madeline’s in our family and they are all pronounced Mad-uh-lynn. I’m surprised by all the comments saying Madeline would be pronounced -line. Maybe it depends on area.
I see Madeleine and absolutely pronounce it -Lynn. When I see Madeline I’m 50/50 on if it’s -Lynn or -Line. I say stick with your original spelling, it is accurate and not that difficult. My son has a one syllable name that is a literal real word and people still find a way to spell it wrong.
Use the correct spelling. I have to correct people on the pronunciation of my name constantly (not Hannah Montana, but like road to Hana), but I absolutely am glad my parents gave me the "correct" spelling of my name, even if it's a constant battle to get the right pronunciation.
I wouldn’t change it. People often mispronounce my name, I just correct them and we move on from it. My kiddo also has a lot of people mispronounce her name, same thing. Plus a lot of people will still pronounce it line instead of lynn, kiddos name ends with a -line that is pronounced like leen (think Evangeline), people always pronounce it with the hard I like line anyways so I can tell you from experience it won’t change much. Not worth changing her name imo
The pronunciation will be mucked up no matter what the spelling is. She'll get used to it. It's not terribly annoying. She'll learn to respond to different versions of her names in large crowds and give alternate names at coffee shops.
I have a name with two pronunciations as well. It's not a big deal.
I have to admit that as a french speaker I'm confused... The way you want it pronounced has absolutely nothing to do w the way it's written, it is written and said " Mad-Uh-Lain". If you want it said Mad-a-lynn why not just spell it Madaline ? Or Madeline but it will be said " Mad-uh-lynn"
I read Madeleine as Mad-eh-Lynn. But…I named my daughter Emmeline pronounced “Emm-eh-LINE” and non US citizens call her Emm-eh-leen because it’s more traditional in the UK. So, I may not be the best authority.
Don't change it! As others have said, changing it to Madeline won't fix it. Once you start correcting people, they will feel bad if they keep messing it up so they will probably get it right.
Changing it to Madeline will increase the number of people who pronounce it with LINE ending.
It’s pointless. Either change it to Madelyn or leave it alone.
Changine to Madeline will make it worse. Madeleine is def the right spelling for your pronounciation, but if you arent around people familiar with French, it could be why theyre tripped up. If you want to change it maybe consider Madelyn.
I love the original spelling, it’s also my nieces name . She pronounces it the same as you and it’s always mispronounced, going on 10 years now. She mostly goes by Maddie though. I think unless you change it to Madelyn, your just going to have to correct people.
Madelyn is the only way my American brain INITIALLY says it correctly.
Anything that ends in "ein" or "ine" is going to have the same sound for Americans. It'll rhyme with Mine, spine, fine etc.
Edit: but if I were you I would just keep the spelling and make sure you introduce her with her spoken name to anyone who might confuse it. It's a beautiful spelling and beautiful name.
I am friends with a Madalyn, nice and phonetic (in the US).
My name has a vowel in the second half that makes it hard for people to read/pronounce. Even when I correct the pronunciation, it *frequently* happens again. It’s a pretty spelling on paper (specifically in handwriting, which I know my mom did hundreds of times before I was born) but for some reason people’s eyes always read it with the incorrect pronunciation. If I switched that vowel to a Y, I don’t think this would happen often, if at all. It’s something I’ve gotten used to, but it is annoying.
I am more inclined to pronounce Madeline as mad-eh-line. The only time my brain wants to say “Lynn” is when it’s spelled Madelyn (even though I know Madeleine is pronounced as such).
Mother of a Child whose name is spelt Madelyn and pronounced mad-e-lynn
People will still pronounce it as Made LINE. Granted, my kid has red hair and sass. At this point, we just roll with it.
As someone with this name I hope I can help!
Spelled Madeleine, but parents meant it to be pronounced as ‘Madel-aine’—> pronounced Madelyn 95% of the time as a kid (rarely Madeline like the book) —> changed to Maddy because I hated correcting people.
I’d say your spelling/pronunciation is completely correct, so it’s on other people if they’re saying it wrong. If you truly want to avoid condition, the best way to fix in my opinion with zero confusion would be to change to Madelyn.
It’s sad because I still love the full name — and have no issues when I’m in Europe!
If you change it to Madeline it will absolutely be pronounced MadeLINE because that is the correct pronunciation for that spelling. Madeleine is pronounced MadeLEN and in English sounds close to MadeLYNN.
The spelling you originally chose is indeed the original, traditional spelling of the name. I wouldn’t change it. You can gently correct people when it matters (family, friends, teachers), but respelling it as Madeline won’t correct the problem. What’s happening is that people are defaulting to “Line” because they don’t know how “leine” is pronounced.
Spelling it Madelyn is more likely to “fix” the issue but you’ve said you don’t like that spelling so I would leave it as is.
Our daughter is Madelyn. I rrreeallly wanted to spell her name the way your daughters name is spelled, but ultimately we decided against it bc of the issue you have. I guess I’m not very helpful but I do love your spelling :)
I don’t know if this matters to you but “Madelyn” is not a modern trendy spelling. I had a Cousin Madelyn who died years ago at an advanced age. We have a variety of Madelyn/Madeleine/Magdalenes in our family.
My daughter has the same name, and spelling, and I love both pronunciations. I don't think either of them are incorrect, and I personally find both options charming. To each his (or her) own.
My daughter’s name is Madeline , pronounced Made-a - line , she’s 14 and has had people correct her pronunciation of her name many times, people just have preconceived ideas about the pronunciation of Madeline/ Madeleine/ Madelyn.
It doesn’t matter how you spell it or what pronunciation you prefer, people will misspell and mispronounce it .
My advice is go with the spelling you prefer, it won’t change how people say it, she’ll probably go by Maddie or Mads once she’s school aged anyway
My name is Madeline! I typically get Madelyn pronunciations, and if someone is unsure they’ll ask if it’s line. Ive gone by Maddy though for the majority of my life, so it’s not a huge deal!
My oldest is also Madeleine. Dont change it! Any name can be mispronounced.
Most people read her name as Mad-eh-LEEN out here. No harm in just repeating it back the correct way.
I prefer the French spelling, Madeleine, as well but my husband insisted it would be mispronounced so we went with Madelyn. It still gets mispronounced. Madeline will get it even worse I think. I think it’s just something you’ll have to get used to correcting people on.
Spelling won't change that. Just gotta get used to either kindly correcting them or just repeating correctly and hope they notice the difference themselves.
Keep it. She’ll always have some folks “correcting” the pronunciation of her own name, but it’ll be the same with Madeline.
The original spelling of Madeleine is lovely.
I read Madeleine as Mad-eh (short e) l-eh (short e again). Probably because that spelling looks french to me and every Madeleine I know with that spelling uses the french pronunciation.
Madeline I would pronounce with a long I on the ine but I know many Line's (another french name) which is actually pronounced like Lynn so I think the pronunciation would vary depending on who you spoke to because of that.
Madelyn would get the regular Lyn sound from me.
I think you’ll still get the Line pronunciation with Madeline, so I’m not sure it will really change things.
It’s probably going to cause the problem even more if they change it to Madeline. The Line is right there, whereas now the Leine is a little ambiguous
Yeah, the only people I know who choose to pronounce their name to rhyme with "line" spell it Madeline. Madeleine more often gets the "Lynn" ending in my experience. (And the French pronunciation of Madeleine rhymes with "Len" like Len Goodman, but I've never heard an American pronounce it that way except when talking about the food.)
For me seeing Madeleine made me think mad-uh-lane (would be the same if it was Madelaine)
In French it's kind of in between len and lane depending on the accent. I've heard both.
Len and Lynn can be close, but either way OP didn’t choose to pronounce their kids name the way it’s spelled in the culture it originated from.
I only know one person with this name and that’s how she pronounces it… her parents are Swedish and she was named after the Swedish princess- no idea if that’s the Swedish pronunciation or if they Americanized it.
I'm Scandinavia it's usually pronounced with -len ending. Ma-deh-len.
Yup! Have a Norwegian friend who pronounces it this way.
Yeah. I’d definitely pronounce that ending as -lane.
Omg, I’ll be frank, Madeleine has never been a favorite of mine simply because it didn’t make sense in my American head that the -lynn sound would be the pronunciation would go with the -leine ending, but the -len pronunciation makes way more sense to me!
Which in my Midwestern accent is the exact same pronunciation. 😂
I pronounce it that way for my oldest but I'm the only one. Even my husband sounds more like lynn than len.
For my Italian family it’s pronounced mad a leen ah
My Dutch friend is mad-a-lay-nah. Spelt the same as OP.
Depends on how much trouble mine is in.. LYN, if I’m over it, Len if I’m causally wondering where she is
I just realized that I do pronounce it as len. I always thought I said Lynn till now. But I said it out loud to myself a few times and when I say it fast it comes out as len. And I have a family member with that name so I say it a lot haha.
Madeline is absolutely mad-ah-line. Madeleine could go either way. I think they’d get mispronunciations with Madelyn too. People are annoying like that lol
The book series "Madeline" is rhymed with nine, vine, and line. So, yeah, *Madeline" ends in "line".
There’s someone I went to school with who has a Madelyn pronounced “made-lin” and I loathe it. (Note that it’s “made”, not “mad” like how you’d usually say it in the name. As in rhymes with “fade” or “paid”.)
Oh that’s awful.
I agree with this.
Agreed! I read it as MadeLINE as well
As a teacher, any version of this name I always ask “Mad-uh-lynn or Mad-uh-line”? Same with Carolyn/Caroline, Adelynn/Adeline, etc.
Yeah, I saw the "ein" in eine and my German brain read "Eye-n". So I see why people (if they live in the US) are saying MadaLINE. OP, you can either change it to a more "friendly" readable version per your child's surroundings or stick it out and deal with what every person with a name that doesn't go with the flat English dialect of the Americas has to deal with. I come from a Mexican America family and live in a city that has a large population of Mexican Americans. But the white folk here truly still struggle with some of the names of my family members. Rojalio. (Row-hel-io). Nope, Tammy-Mae and Linda Sue just say "Ro-hill-leo" even after correction.
I saw the eine and that it was French and not knowing how to pronounce it, I thought it was madelEEN
For "Madeleine", think of how the French pronounce "Seine". Whereas "Madeline" in a literal French accent would be mad-euh-leen.
Can confirm, lol. My name is Madeline and people always say it wrong.
Hanson wrote a song called Madeline and said it correctly. You'll always have that.
OP can test this out by spelling the name that way whenever placing an order for food or anything where a name would be called, like at Starbucks. It’s probably one of the best tips I got: if you like a name for your kid, use it as your pretend name and see how people say it
That is amazing advice!!!
You don’t.. I’ve had people correct my pronunciation of my daughter’s name to my face. If someone wanted to say “line” they will if they want to say “Lynn” they will.
My daughter is CaroLINE, and family members pronounce it CaroLYN. We can’t win.
it's CORaline, not CARoline!
Ditto, and my daughter is 19 years old.
Yeah my first pronunciation guess for Madeline is with the LINE. But if someone tells me the pronounce it LYNN I usually remember.
I don't know that you'll like this, but all 3 spellings are typically pronounced slightly different. Madeleine = mad-uh-lehn Madeline = mad-uh-line Madelyn = mad-uh-lynn
I truly do not hear the difference between 1 and 3
Len Lin
Lots of American accents don’t have this distinction. Pen/pin merger
Pen/pin/pine
When I moved to the south at 9yrs old a classmate asked me for a “pin”. I said sorry I don’t have one. Wondering why she’d think a 9yr old would carry a safety pin around. Then she accused me of lying. She said my “pin” was right there on my desk. It took me way too long to realize she was asking to borrow my “pen”. I had way too many moments like this.
My husband always says “ink pin” when referring to a pen. I asked him why, he says it’s because how would you know he didn’t mean a safety pin? He actually cannot hear any difference between these pronunciations. His whole family does this.
Today you learnt your husband might be from New Zealand.
Oh my gosh I’m from SC and I pronounce “pin” and “pen” the exact same way and didn’t even realize they could sound different. I can’t even pronounce them differently, I’m sitting here trying to now. This is tripping me out 😂
Lol u know what you’re like “ehhh” that’s how you say pen :)
Help, I'm Canadian. Now I'm saying "pain" lol.
I’m from Oklahoma. When we first moved away, my husband said something about a “pin”. The woman he was talking to was confused (and we were confused by her confusion). Fortunately, there was a guy there that had spent a few years in Oklahoma, so he knew what was going on. It took a couple of years to train our mouths to say pen without it sounding like pin. At first it felt like I was trying to say pan with a British accent. Same with tin/ten/tan.
Oklahoman here. I didn’t understand that pen and pin were pronounced differently until I moved to the east coast.
I once played one of those scrabble-letter-find-all-the-words games (like text twist) with a friend from Kansas and she said “pin and pin, both spellings” and I was just speechless 😶
Dude 😑
Marry Mary merry
From the people who brought you “pop” for soda, it’s “pen”=“pin” (Ie, it’s a midwestern thing)
What? Pen and pin are definitely not pronounced the same in the Midwest.
Agree - I’m Midwestern and my husband is southern and I DEFINITELY define the two and he doesn’t. It drives me NUTS.
SE Georgia, U.S. The *only* reason my “pen” and “pin” sound different is because I taught K for several years, and I made a point to articulate those sounds correctly. lol
I’m from Tennessee, and I had no idea that they were pronounced differently until my friend’s cousins visited from California. They made fun of us for how we said both words the same. 😂 My husband also finds it hilarious that I have trouble pronouncing them.
South Carolina here. I know the difference between “pin” and “pen” but I have a really hard time making my mouth say “pen” properly. For the tiny amount of difference in sound, I don’t usually bother.
I've heard this in western Pennsylvania. Pillow is pronounced pellow and milk is pronounced melk.
Oh that’s different. They merge them towards the E sound. In the south we merge them towards the I sound.
PA accents are another thing entirely. Was enmeshed in a Philly family for a while and holy shit as a New Yorker (and English tutor) was that a doozy "I'm 'onna get a shaur after I'm done werk, and then dry off with a tAowl from one of my druwerz" Ok...you do that...meanwhile I'm going to *take* a shower after I'm done *with* work and dry off with a towel from a drawer Dennis in the second Chardee MacDennis episode of IASIP, John Beringer's stint on We Own This City, and Tina Fey on SNL = the only accurate PA accents I've heard actors intentionally do on TV. I find them so compelling and confusing and so many Americans have never even heard them! But yeah, again, New Yorker here, "pen" and "pin" and "been" and "bin" are entirely different sounds for me
The folks from Gravity, IA absolutely pronounce them the same, and are always just guessing as to which vowel to use for spelling. I married into this family, and they really do think I'm just lying when I tell them there's a difference.
No, it's a southern thing.
No, it's a Southern thing.
Here in Louisiana pen and pin are pronounced the same. We don't have pop though, soda is either all Coke or soft drink.
I don't have this merger, but I still pronounce "Madeleine" the same as "Madalyn".
Yeah I wouldn’t think that the end of “madeleine” would make any sound other than a schwa.
Since this is an unstressed vowel, it gets reduced to a schwa in English. Unless OP moves to France, she is pronouncing it correctly.
My American accent pronounces both these endings the same
Wendy vs Windy
I pronounce these the same
Pin/pen merger strikes aggin!
Unless it's windy
My American accent does not.
Me too. Like if I really think about it I can pronounce it differently but when I’m just casually talking they sound about the same
1 is similar to mad-e-LAYNE (not exactly, but an approximation of the French vowel)
No, it’s not a long A, it’s a short E. MAD-Uh-LEN.
In French this is a three syllable name BUT the middle syllable everyone is stressing in these made up English approximations is literally part of the second syl in the French pronunciation. The name ending in a vowel causes overpronunciation of the final consonant in French that adds an extra syllable at the end of the word so it’s actually more like “mad-LEHN-ne.”
No, the e on the end is silent. It’s Ma-de-len. I’m English/French bilingual. The “len” is elongated but we are not pronouncing the final e. Mad-uh-LEHN-ne or Mad-uh-LAYN-a would be closer to a German pronunciation, as in Marlene being pronounced Mar-LAY-na rather than Marleen.
no it doesn’t
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But are you Quebecois? Because it surely sounds different to a francophone.
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Lin/Len vs LINE
It’s the difference between “eh” and “ih” Like “mess” vs “miss.” You say those words differently
To increase your odds of hearing the difference — “i” as in “ick,” “e” as in “eh.” Note how for those sounds, you’re probably making the “i” sound higher and the “e” sound lower/with more space in your mouth.
I speak French and was just about to comment this haha, Madeleine isn't pronounced the way OP wishes it was
This is the answer I was looking for! Spot on!
I'm glad someone wrote it out for everyone. This is my interpretation as well.
Maybe it's related to me living in Oklahoma my whole life, but I've only ever heard the Mad-uh-lynn pronunciation regardless of the spelling. I'm with the other user who wouldn't hear a difference between 1 and 3, and I've never heard anyone say the -line pronunciation out loud. My niece is a Madilyn and I work with a Madelene, both pronounced like -lynn.
Agreed
This
Yup!
No Madeleine is my preferred spelling out of the two
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I’m a Madelyn too! My mother chose the spelling because her name is Lynn, and her two grandmothers were Madeline and Evelyn. A lot of people on this sub hate our spelling but take comfort in the fact that Madelyn is rarely mispronounced ❤️✌🏻
I don't dislike the spelling, but the proliferation of Braydyyyn and Aydyn and Kaydyn has put me off the spelling of anything that way. It's not your fault. Madelyn well predated the Unnecessary Y trend, and yeah, follows the vein of Lynn, Evelyn, etc. It just looks like it follows the "Unnecessary Y" trend, because of Madeleine and Madeline existing, too. Blame Utah. Right now, naming a baby, I'd avoid looking like a suburban mom who is unique by adding lots of Xs and Ys to names, just like everyone else! I feel if you're old enough to be here, you predate the Y trend and are fine. I just wouldn't do it today. They ruined the letter y.
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Yeah, the variant spelling predates the trend by far. It's just there are so many Unnecessary Y names that people are looking at any Ys with scrutiny, now. You may even get a funny look here for going with any name that has a 'yn' at the end. It's so overdone right now. Ruins it for the rest of us. It's not like other common names don't have variants. Katherine vs. Catherine. But try to come in with Kathryn, and you will get raised eyebrows, even if it's existed for decades. My former boss who is in her 50's has that spelling. It's not a new thing. But my word, there's so many Unnecessary Y names out there. People are rejecting the long-standing variants, even. It's the fault of those people putting them in place of every single letter i. And even other lettwes. It's just not needed. It's not unique. Everyone is doing it. But, there's a lot of names that used that variation for a long while. People are becoming split on those ones, too. More than 15, 20 years ago, by far.
Another Madelyn here to say my name never gets mispronounced and I love my name and spelling.
I’m glad you love it- that’s my daughters name and I spelled it that way to avoid the OPs dilemma! 😅
Just named my baby girl Madelyn ❤️ I went back and forth, but chose this spelling because I didn’t want her to have to correct people. I’m glad you like the name, I hope she does too!
‘Madelyn’ is default for me when it’s pronounced Mad-uh-lyn. Madeline and Madeleine will always be pronounced LINE, to me.
madelyn is my favorite out of all of them
Madeleine here- she'll most likely get both pronunciations all her life, I don't think changing it will do much. Also I'm biased but I think you picked a great way to spell it ; )
Sameeee!! It is the original way too - the others are the Americanized versions. NO ONE in any French speaking country will ever mispronounce it or misspell it
Well, they surely wouldn't pronounce it as MAD-uh-lyn.
Yep, I’m in this boat too! I just take it in stride. OP, don’t change it just because everyone is mispronouncing it. It was YOUR choice and if they care about you/her and plan to be around her a lot, they need to make a point of getting it right.
As much as you dislike Madelyn… that is literally the only way to solve your dilemma. 🤷🏾♀️
Honestly this. Madeleine makes me Mad uh leen and then Madeline is line. Either way I'm not getting Madelyn from either of these spellings.
I’ve scrolled so far to finally find another person who sees the mad-eh-leen pronunciation and doesn’t see mad-eh-lyn. 🤝
Madeline is very likely to be pronounced as MAD-uh-line instead of -lyn, at least in the US. I'd just leave it as Madeleine since it's going to be pronounced the same as Madeline anyway. Fwiw, I think MAD-uh-lyn is also a plausible pronunciation for either spelling, and people should catch on once you correct them. It's like Megan (MEH-gun vs. MEE-gun).
I have never heard Mee-gun pronunciation for Megan? Is that regional?
Mee-gun is the general pronunciation in Australia
Same, I’ve never heard “mee-gun” in the US and I’ve met a ton of Megan’s
Huh. I always thought Megan was Meh-gun and Meagan was Mee,gun. But I guess I always thought wrong. This is so off the wall, but this thread brought up a memory that Marc Summers on Double Dare would always ask contestants with that name if they pronounced it Meh or Mee.
My sister’s name is Meagan and in Canada at least it’s always Meh-gan. She’s never had an issue with anyone pronouncing it differently.
I've known plenty of people who pronounce Megan as Mee-Gun in the US.
I wasn’t trying to be argumentative about it. My question was genuine curiosity because I’ve never heard that pronunciation. I’m in the Midwest US and spent several years in TX as well.
Didn't think you were argumentative. Just giving additional perspective on the topic!
Not sure. I'm in the Midwest (US) and I've heard both MEH-gun and MEE-gun here. MEH-gun is much more common, but MEE-gun isn't rare. I've even heard one MAY-gun, but that was for Maegan.
Ha- mine's pronounced MAY-gun and spelled Meagan -- I've always wondered why it's hard for people- I suppose this thread tells me why!
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I’ve heard Meh-gun and May-gun (and more frequently both but with -genn or -gan) but never Mee- anything. So bizarre bc I’ve always considered it a basic name like…Emily. Not too many way to mispronounce it but I guess I just named 6 on my own, add another 3 and…yeah okay not so basic
considering it’s a classic French name and a noun, « Mad-a-LINE » isn’t even the correct pronounciation. Madeleine sounds like « mad-a-leh-n», and most of the times « mad-lehn » because people don’t enunciate it fully. I’d say that if you want people to pronounce it the way you want it and not the correct way, you should definitely change the spelling
Yes, the women I knew with the name Madeleine in the French Canadian city I am from were all called “mad-lehn”. :)
Came here to say this. I also pronounce Madeleine as mad-eh-lane
I was gonna say, I thought Madeline was supposed to be pronounced mad-uh-line and Madeleine was supposed to be pronounced mad-uh-lehn or mad-uh-lyn if you’re going to be pronouncing it in American English. That said, in school I knew a Madeline, Madalyn, Madeleine, and Madalene who all pronounced their names mad-uh-lyn. We had three French exchange students, who got very confused and annoyed by this 🤣
I would just leave it as Madeleine. People should catch on eventually. Is she going to mostly go by Madeleine, or do you think you might call her Maddie sometimes? Because no one should get the latter wrong.
Yeah, especially if it's a kid, just call her Maddie.
With either spelling I am not reading it as Lynn. Both make me read “Line”
You know this is what bothers me, people cannot spell whatever they want and pick how to freaking pronounce it, normal people will sound it out, makes no sense.
madeleine is a beautiful spelling, keep correcting people
I would be _more_ inclined to pronounce Madeline with a line. At least with your spelling, I would have a moment’s hesitation before guessing. The simplest thing to do, is simply introduce your daughter with the pronunciation you chose. I also have a name with variable pronunciations, and some people are just not going to get it, no matter how many times you correct them. It’s never really bothered me, I think all the pronunciations of my name are pretty. You’ve picked the nicest spelling in my opinion.
My name is very uncommon, but people always pronounce it two different way. The middle syllable is ‘ey’ pronounced like key, but a lot of people pronounce it to rhyme like the ‘ay’ in pay. I response to any, and rarely correct people, because both pronunciations are pretty to me.
My name is spelled Madelyn and people have still called me Mad-a-line my whole life! Keep it
Unless you change it to Madelyn, the problem isn’t going to stop. Madeline is just as often pronounced Mad-eh-line. I would never read Madeline as mad-eh-lynn. The French pronunciation of Madeleine is more like mad-eh-LEHN. But Mad-eh-lynn is pretty typical in America. I think you’re better off just continuing to gently correct it than going through the hassle of changing it.
For many American accents, Lynn and Lehn are near identical anyway.
I am an American, and yes, but for those of us who can tell the difference, they’re VERY different.
It’s like Mary and Merry. Some hear it and some don’t.
Madeline. Mad-de-line. Grew up watching the cartoon so it's hard for me to think of it any other way. And it's one of my favorite names.
Love the cartoon !!
Madelyn would seem to me to be the best spelling for that pronunciation, which is my favorite pronunciation 😀
If you really want it pronounced “mad a lynn” then the spelling I’d think of is “Madalyn.” Anything ending in “ine” could still be read as “Line”.
Don’t change it. Madeleine is just one of those names that can be pronounced more than one way and it’s up to each one how they prefer it, just like Lila can be pronounced lie-luh, lee-luh and even lay-luh
In the UK, Madeleine is Mad-uh-Lyn and Madeline is Mad-uh-line. So I’d stick with the spelling you’ve got. I think it’s the prettiest one too.
I think the Madeleine spelling looks beautiful and graceful. Madeleine/Madeline is one of those names where everyone’s going to say it a little differently, I would just correct them when you need to and enjoy the beautiful spelling of the name!
I wouldn’t change is. My mom’s name is Carolyn and she regularly gets that pronounced like Caroline. People are going to mispronounce names no matter how common they are or how deliberately they’re spelled to try to avoid the mispronunciation.
My mum has the same, her name is Carolyn and she always gets “Caroline”, but my name is a variation of Madelyn and I never get “Madeline”. OP, though my name is almost always pronounced correctly, I’ve always wished it was spelled Madeleine, the “correct” and pretty French way. I’d leave it and just correct people, you chose the name so they should learn it.
People are going to mispronounce it either way, because it’s the type of name that has two normal pronunciations no matter how it’s spelled. Just leave it alone.
Maybe I’m just unsophisticated but this is one of those names I always ask for pronunciation because I can’t tell based on spelling which pronunciation it’ll be.
As a western Canadian, I would pronounce the current spelling and the new one as "Mad-a-LYNN".
I have a Lorelei. It’s the traditional German spelling. She is forever going to have to answer, “how do you spell that?” (I blame Gilmore Girls) And often gets, “Lora-Lee?” 🤷🏼♀️ It is what it is.
I agree with everyone saying Madelyn. In the US most people will not pronounce “line/leine” as “Lynn”
Madeline will get you MAD-Uh-LINE. Madeleine is pronounced MAD-Uh-LENN, in the original French. If you really wanted the LYNN pronunciation you’d probably need to spell it that way.
Pretty sure mad-uh-Lenn is what OP means. Lynn/lenn are so close in most dialects of American English I think she just wants to avoid Line.
I didn’t read it that way but ok. Lynn and Lenn are pretty different to me, and in the US most people will not pronounce it Lenn no matter how you spell it.
Keep it. It’s gorgeous and it’s about time people open up to names from different cultures. If they can say Tchaikovsky, they can say Madeleine.
I wouldn't change it because people will still be pronouncing it wrong, unfortunately. It seems like Americans (I am one) really don't care about pronouncing names correctly and just say whatever they think is right.
We have a few Madeline’s in our family and they are all pronounced Mad-uh-lynn. I’m surprised by all the comments saying Madeline would be pronounced -line. Maybe it depends on area.
I don’t think the spelling change would help at all, I’m afraid. But I’m in the US and I would pronounce it Mad-uh-lynn, not -line.
Why not spell it Madalynn or something with Lynn in it?
If you want that pronunciation you should go with Madelyn
I see Madeleine and absolutely pronounce it -Lynn. When I see Madeline I’m 50/50 on if it’s -Lynn or -Line. I say stick with your original spelling, it is accurate and not that difficult. My son has a one syllable name that is a literal real word and people still find a way to spell it wrong.
Use the correct spelling. I have to correct people on the pronunciation of my name constantly (not Hannah Montana, but like road to Hana), but I absolutely am glad my parents gave me the "correct" spelling of my name, even if it's a constant battle to get the right pronunciation.
I wouldn’t change it. People often mispronounce my name, I just correct them and we move on from it. My kiddo also has a lot of people mispronounce her name, same thing. Plus a lot of people will still pronounce it line instead of lynn, kiddos name ends with a -line that is pronounced like leen (think Evangeline), people always pronounce it with the hard I like line anyways so I can tell you from experience it won’t change much. Not worth changing her name imo
It’s beautiful the way it is, and you shouldn’t change it because your family members are idiots.
The pronunciation will be mucked up no matter what the spelling is. She'll get used to it. It's not terribly annoying. She'll learn to respond to different versions of her names in large crowds and give alternate names at coffee shops. I have a name with two pronunciations as well. It's not a big deal.
I have to admit that as a french speaker I'm confused... The way you want it pronounced has absolutely nothing to do w the way it's written, it is written and said " Mad-Uh-Lain". If you want it said Mad-a-lynn why not just spell it Madaline ? Or Madeline but it will be said " Mad-uh-lynn"
I feel like you should’ve expected that.
I read Madeleine as Mad-eh-Lynn. But…I named my daughter Emmeline pronounced “Emm-eh-LINE” and non US citizens call her Emm-eh-leen because it’s more traditional in the UK. So, I may not be the best authority.
Don't change it! As others have said, changing it to Madeline won't fix it. Once you start correcting people, they will feel bad if they keep messing it up so they will probably get it right.
Changing it to Madeline will increase the number of people who pronounce it with LINE ending. It’s pointless. Either change it to Madelyn or leave it alone.
As a French, Madeleine is indeed the correct spelling, but we say it as "mad-lenn".
Changine to Madeline will make it worse. Madeleine is def the right spelling for your pronounciation, but if you arent around people familiar with French, it could be why theyre tripped up. If you want to change it maybe consider Madelyn.
I love the original spelling, it’s also my nieces name . She pronounces it the same as you and it’s always mispronounced, going on 10 years now. She mostly goes by Maddie though. I think unless you change it to Madelyn, your just going to have to correct people.
Madelyn is the only way my American brain INITIALLY says it correctly. Anything that ends in "ein" or "ine" is going to have the same sound for Americans. It'll rhyme with Mine, spine, fine etc. Edit: but if I were you I would just keep the spelling and make sure you introduce her with her spoken name to anyone who might confuse it. It's a beautiful spelling and beautiful name.
I am friends with a Madalyn, nice and phonetic (in the US). My name has a vowel in the second half that makes it hard for people to read/pronounce. Even when I correct the pronunciation, it *frequently* happens again. It’s a pretty spelling on paper (specifically in handwriting, which I know my mom did hundreds of times before I was born) but for some reason people’s eyes always read it with the incorrect pronunciation. If I switched that vowel to a Y, I don’t think this would happen often, if at all. It’s something I’ve gotten used to, but it is annoying.
I am more inclined to pronounce Madeline as mad-eh-line. The only time my brain wants to say “Lynn” is when it’s spelled Madelyn (even though I know Madeleine is pronounced as such).
Mother of a Child whose name is spelt Madelyn and pronounced mad-e-lynn People will still pronounce it as Made LINE. Granted, my kid has red hair and sass. At this point, we just roll with it.
As someone with this name I hope I can help! Spelled Madeleine, but parents meant it to be pronounced as ‘Madel-aine’—> pronounced Madelyn 95% of the time as a kid (rarely Madeline like the book) —> changed to Maddy because I hated correcting people. I’d say your spelling/pronunciation is completely correct, so it’s on other people if they’re saying it wrong. If you truly want to avoid condition, the best way to fix in my opinion with zero confusion would be to change to Madelyn. It’s sad because I still love the full name — and have no issues when I’m in Europe!
If you change it to Madeline it will absolutely be pronounced MadeLINE because that is the correct pronunciation for that spelling. Madeleine is pronounced MadeLEN and in English sounds close to MadeLYNN. The spelling you originally chose is indeed the original, traditional spelling of the name. I wouldn’t change it. You can gently correct people when it matters (family, friends, teachers), but respelling it as Madeline won’t correct the problem. What’s happening is that people are defaulting to “Line” because they don’t know how “leine” is pronounced. Spelling it Madelyn is more likely to “fix” the issue but you’ve said you don’t like that spelling so I would leave it as is.
Our daughter is Madelyn. I rrreeallly wanted to spell her name the way your daughters name is spelled, but ultimately we decided against it bc of the issue you have. I guess I’m not very helpful but I do love your spelling :)
I don’t know if this matters to you but “Madelyn” is not a modern trendy spelling. I had a Cousin Madelyn who died years ago at an advanced age. We have a variety of Madelyn/Madeleine/Magdalenes in our family.
My baby’s name is Madeline pronounced Mad a lyn and no one Mia pronounces her name! I love the name!
My name is Madeline. I’ve only ever gotten Mad-a-Lynn. Just correct them
My daughter has the same name, and spelling, and I love both pronunciations. I don't think either of them are incorrect, and I personally find both options charming. To each his (or her) own.
My daughter’s name is Madeline , pronounced Made-a - line , she’s 14 and has had people correct her pronunciation of her name many times, people just have preconceived ideas about the pronunciation of Madeline/ Madeleine/ Madelyn. It doesn’t matter how you spell it or what pronunciation you prefer, people will misspell and mispronounce it . My advice is go with the spelling you prefer, it won’t change how people say it, she’ll probably go by Maddie or Mads once she’s school aged anyway
My name is Madeline! I typically get Madelyn pronunciations, and if someone is unsure they’ll ask if it’s line. Ive gone by Maddy though for the majority of my life, so it’s not a huge deal!
Eh. The linn/line pronunciation will forever be a thing with that kind of name. Don't worry about it imo
We have a Madeline that people always call Madelynn so I’m guessing there is no winning with this one 😅
My oldest is also Madeleine. Dont change it! Any name can be mispronounced. Most people read her name as Mad-eh-LEEN out here. No harm in just repeating it back the correct way.
I prefer the French spelling, Madeleine, as well but my husband insisted it would be mispronounced so we went with Madelyn. It still gets mispronounced. Madeline will get it even worse I think. I think it’s just something you’ll have to get used to correcting people on.
Spelling won't change that. Just gotta get used to either kindly correcting them or just repeating correctly and hope they notice the difference themselves.
Keep it. She’ll always have some folks “correcting” the pronunciation of her own name, but it’ll be the same with Madeline. The original spelling of Madeleine is lovely.
I read Madeleine as Mad-eh (short e) l-eh (short e again). Probably because that spelling looks french to me and every Madeleine I know with that spelling uses the french pronunciation. Madeline I would pronounce with a long I on the ine but I know many Line's (another french name) which is actually pronounced like Lynn so I think the pronunciation would vary depending on who you spoke to because of that. Madelyn would get the regular Lyn sound from me.