Help us with name spelling....

[JoyofBirth]

Our little peanut is a girl. We want to call her Mattie, but have her full name be like Madeline. So what do you think is the best weird spelling?

[PrettyBird]

Are you looking for a really different spelling? I knew someone (who's husband was also named Matt!) who named her girl Mattilyn. I think that is how she spelled it.

(oops, I posted before you added the poll)

[jen and her girls]

I would seriously spell it Madeline. It's a traditional and normal spelling for a lovely name. I think if you go with an alternate spelling your dd will spend her entire life correcting people that her name is not, in fact, spelled Madeline. Mattie is still a common and appropriate nickname for the name Madeline. :thumb

[Bartock]

I think Mateline or something like that would be better the way you want to spell it looks like it should say Mattie-line. Very nice name u picked, I love it.

[2Sweeties1Angel]

I think either Madeline or Madaline would be the best spelling. I've gone through having to correct people on the proper spelling of my name (Rebeccah) and it's annoying to say the least. Of course I decided to be evil and name my son Erick:)

Have you considered Mathilda? It's less common than Madeline and you could still call her Maddie if you wanted.

[pumpkin]

The 'ttie' is a little odd.

I'd go with something like Matylyn or Matyline

[Artisan]

People who name their daughters Madeline often call them Maddy, but that doesn't mean the child's actual name is Maddyline, KWIM? I would stick with a traditional spelling like Madeline and just spell her nickname Mattie.

[JoyofBirth]

It's important that "Mattie" be a part of it because she is partially named for my paternal grandmother, who died when my dad was 15. Also, dd#1's name is Emmaleigh (said like Emily) but we just call her Emma. I guess we're keeping a theme here.

[uccellina]

I've always loved the French spelling: Madeleine.

[jen and her girls]

For the love of all that is holy, please don't go the senseless y route. Adding a y to a name to make it different is trendy in all the wrong sorts of ways.

[Artisan]

If it's really important for the spelling Mattie to be in her name, I suggest just naming her Mattie and not using a longer name.

[Dragonfly]

I've always loved the French spelling: Madeleine.

Same here. :nod

If I saw any of those spellings, I'd pronounce her name Mattie Lynn, not Madeline. Take it from someone who has an unusually spelled first name - it's a royal pain in the tuckus to constantly have to correct people on pronunciation and spelling.

[Girl Named Sandoz]

I would seriously spell it Madeline. It's a traditional and normal spelling for a lovely name. I think if you go with an alternate spelling your dd will spend her entire life correcting people that her name is not, in fact, spelled Madeline. Mattie is still a common and appropriate nickname for the name Madeline. :thumb

Ditto!

[Girl Named Sandoz]

Also, I pronounce Mattie and Maddie differently. The first with a T sound in the middle, and the second with a D sound in the middle.

[BundleFishMama]

I've always loved the French spelling: Madeleine.

Yes! Go with the original! (see my signature, I'm a little biased:) ) Our dd's name is Madeleine Sophie, and we call her Maddy for short, so you could just spell the nickname Mattie - it sounds the same to me, I said it out loud both ways and I find it hard to tell the difference.

[Girl Named Sandoz]

Yes! Go with the original! (see my signature, I'm a little biased:) ) Our dd's name is Madeleine Sophie, and we call her Maddy for short, so you could just spell the nickname Mattie - it sounds the same to me, I said it out loud both ways and I find it hard to tell the difference.

I think I say them differently because I speak with an English accent.

[tuffykenwell]

How about Matleena? Not exactly what you are looking for but it is the finnish form of Magdalene. Personally I would probably just spell it Madeline (pronounce it with the long eye sound because that is how I prefer it...) and call her Mattie as a nickname....heck if you used a middle name like Matilda or Matleena you could STILL use it as a nickname!

Steph

[FancyD]

Also, I pronounce Mattie and Maddie differently. The first with a T sound in the middle, and the second with a D sound in the middle.

:lol

[~pi]

If you really want to use Mattie, you could also consider other names with the same nickname, e.g. Matilda/Mathilde. Much less common than Madeline/Madeleine or any of its crazy spellings.

I don't like any of the spellings offered, but I am not a fan of kre8tiv spellings, so take my opinion FWIW.

[Miss Juice]

My favorite spelling so far has been Mattilyn. That said, if you are going to use Mattie in the spelling (and I think you should, if it's important to you!) then I like Mattielyn. I do agree with what some others have said, it's likely to be prnounced Mattie-Lynn, but mispronunciation is a fact of life.

FWIW in this case I don't think that spelling the name with a Y is at all "trendy", it's just a pretty spelling of the name.

I voted "Mattielyn" :thumb





(we're actually considering Madeleine as well - we have a Caitlyn and an Allison, and if we're having another girl we'd like to keep the N. Beautiful name.)

[UnskulinMama]

Have to say that I'm not a fan of the creative spellings either, sorry... Madeline is *such* a beautiful, classic name... And it's certainly not super-popular by any means (if you worry about that sort of thing). I agree with giving a traditional spelling and just calling her Mattie. I understand the desire to include the family reference, but I think in that case she'll be able to appreciate the slightly different nickname...

Personally, the main reason I don't like traditional names spelled differently, is that while I and my child may know the reason behind it, everyone else the child meets is going to think that the parent didn't know how to spell. And yes, I know we shouldn't care what people think, but in real life people can be mean and first impressions do matter... Again, just a personal opinion...

If I had to choose a "t" spelling, though, I think I'd go with Mateline or Matelyn (depending on if you want the "line" or "lin" sound at the end). The double T looks a little forced.

[thismama]

Another vote for traditional over creative spelling.


Personally, the main reason I don't like traditional names spelled differently, is that while I and my child may know the reason behind it, everyone else the child meets is going to think that the parent didn't know how to spell.

What she said.

[cloudstomper]

I vote for Mattieleighyiene

[jango71]

Why mess with a perfectly good spelling of a traditional name? Your poor daughter will spend the rest of her natural life saying "No my name is spelt in some bizarre way my Mother thought up".

[trini]

I guess I'm going against most responses here by saying that I like "uncommon" names. I'd share my son's name here, but I'm not comfortable doing that on a public forum. Let's just say that it is not a "made up" name, but it is very unusual and most people are not sure how to pronounce it. Additionally, our LAST name is also frequently mispronounced. AND my dh has an accent and speaks softly so no one understands much of what he says anyway. My poor son! :lol

As a teacher, I have encountered many, many, many names! Sometimes when I get my class roster at the beginning of each year I do not know how to pronounce many of the names, and it is often unclear from the name if the child is a boy or a girl. What matters, though, is that once I get to know the child, I learn his or her name very quickly and it is never an issue after that. Each child is special and unique, and names have every right to be, too.

Years ago I had a girl's name picked out: Madelyn Grace. I don't think the "y" is trendy - I am anything but trendy. I have not had any dd's, but at this point I would not use it since Madison, Madeline, etc. etc. are so very popular and I also have a young relative with a version of one of those names. But I LOVE the name.

Definitely use "Mattie" in the name. It will be so much more important to your dd that she was named after someone so special than it would be to have a name that other people find "regular" or whatever.

I always have to spell my first and last name for people and it has just never been a big deal to me. I always have to spell my street address, too, FWIW. It just isn't an issue. (Although I did win the school spelling bee when I was in middle school, so maybe I just like to spell. :) I sure hope there aren't any typos in this post!)

I also want to add that people who SPELL their child's name "traditionally" and then PRONOUNCE it in an alternative sort of way probably have more issues. But, again, people who love the child will learn to pronounce it correctly.

[PrettyBird]

I vote for Mattieleighyiene
Why register and make your first post here just to be rude?

[heps]

I guess I'm going against most responses here by saying that I like "uncommon" names.

But Madeline/Madeleine is not an uncommon name. It is a lovely classic name. You can still call her Mattie. I would not want to butcher a simply beautiful name by spelling it Cre8tivleigh.

[cloudstomper]

Wow, I was being sincere. She wanted it to be unique and after family members, by spelling it that way it would even match her other daughter. Geesh

[2 in August]

I voted for Mattielyn. But I have to say that just looking at it, I wouldn't pronounce it like Madeline. When I look at it MAT-tee-lyn is what I hear in my head. It might be a neat way to pronounce it too. Kind of set her apart from all the other Madeline/Madison/Maddie's out there.

[lotus.blossom]

Any possibility of Mattie Lynne? As in Mattie as the first name and Lynne as the middle? I agree that its a bit butchering of the name Madeline. But of thats how you want it to be pronounced -Mattielyn- then go for it!

[writermommy]

I've always loved the French spelling: Madeleine.

This is my daughter's name and her spelling. Her name is Madeleine Isabella. She is named for my grandmother, who was French. Grandma passed away last year. She had Alzheimer's disease. When Madeleine was about 5 months old, we took her to see grandma. Funny story about unusual spellings: When I took her to see my grandmother, she said she was beautiful and asked her name. I told her it was Madeleine. She said, "I've never known anyone but me with that name. I always hated that name." :o Grandpa said it was because it was hard to spell and NO ONE ever spelled it right. But, I love it. My oldest dd just learned to spell her little sister's name. She said, "Mommy, that is really hard. Maybe you should just teach her to write Maddie!"

I agree that it is a beautiful, classic name. It's not new. Grandma was 84 when she died. I love that the old, traditional names are coming back.