I like Madeleine but I prefer Genevieve Pron: JHON-uh-vee-EV.
Congratulations.
I like Madeline best of your choices but it’s very popular. How about Eve instead of Eva? Eve is easily spelled and classic yet not too popular.
I’m 33 weeks with a girl. We’re naming her Charlotte after a Chayim in the family. Charlotte is a bit common but it’s also historical and elegant. Our other choices were Louisa, Elizabeth, Amelia and Josephine. Her middle name will be Winifred after my husband’s grandmother. I don’t particularly like the name Winifred but I knew my husband’s grandmother quite well and utterly adored her. She was a terrific person so we’ll use the name.
Some names to avoid here.
Madeleine sounds best with Alton, imo. Maddie Alton also sounds nice.
In that case, both Eloise Alton and Olive Alton sound great! I admired how curt they sound. They’re almost forceful. Olive Alton, attorney at law.
Why the hell is Olive/Olivia such a popular name right now? A search I did last night showed it’s in the top 10 popular girl names in the US. I hear that name and I think of dark green, oily foods. And Popeye.
God, I’m getting old.
Right now, people like names that begin with vowels, have lots of vowels in them and no consonant clusters, and feminine endings. They also like names that they perceive to be classic-yet-graceful, like Isabella, Olivia, Sophia, and Ava. Never mind that those four (all top ten names) are actually way more popular now than they were back in the day: they’re Classics. Most actual old-fashioned names (think Mildred) that don’t fit the lots-of-vowels, no consonant-cluster rules have little prayer of getting used nowadays.
Madeleine not only because it is the prettiest but also because it has the most nickname potentials – Maddy, Mads, Lena, Lynni, Addi – so when she gets a bit older she can do a little more self-styling with it if she chooses.
I also think it sounds a little better and more dignified with a 2 - syllable last name than a 2 - syllable first name would.
Of those listed, I like “Madeleine” the best, followed by “Olivia.”
In an old house in Paris that was covered with vines
Lived twelve little girls in two straight lines.
They walked each day at half past nine
The smallest one was Madeleine.
I wouldn’t name her Eden because of all the “Garden of Eden” jokes she will have to endure in high school.
Also, don’t worry about the Olive Oyl thing; kids won’t know who she is. We named our daughter Lucy and we were worried about all the “I Love Lucy” jokes, but it never crossed the mind of anyone under 40.
Having seen the surname is Alton, Eden is right out IMHO.
Eden Alton? Those repeating phonemes are jarring.
Eva is also awkward, with the two As fighting each other. In a longer name, like Olivia, it’s less of a problem.
To go with Alton, you need a name ending with an S or an L or a D, perhaps. Eloise Alton is probably the nicest overall name from your list.
I personally like Madeleine as a name, but Maddy et al sets my teeth on edge, and so I can’t pick it because of that. (Madeleine is restricted to non-people so I can avoid all nicknames.)
Of the remaining options, Olive/Olivia and Eloise are my two choices.
Olive would distinguish her a little from the other 12 Olivia’s in her school, but honestly, Olivia is prettier. If I had to pick, I’d go with Olive, just to be a little different. Ollie is a cute boy’s nickname to use on a girl, and Liv or Vee are other common nicknames.
Eloise is pretty, but I don’t like Louise or Louie as nicknames, so that’s a possible strike. (Nickname Isi (pronounced eeeceey) perhaps?)
I would probably use “Elly” or “Ellie” as a nickname.
I don’t get the Eden/porn star thing myself. Eden just doesn’t sound like a person’s name to me (last name fine, but not first). In addition, I think there’s a problem with any first name that starts with a vowel, especially the hard sound in Eden, Eva. The sequential vowels in Eloise also seem problematic. Those names have an obvious difference in sound and intonation when the teacher is taking the roll call.
Olive also sounds strange to me, because of the strong association with the fruit, while Olivia doesn’t seem as bad except for the vowel situations. I’m old enough to think of Olive Oyl, but **Skammer **'s right, kids today won’t make that association so readily.
The thing to consider is what other people will call her. Your relationship with your daughter isn’t based on her name, but her first impression on many will be her first name, and their perceptions will may be shaped by how others use her name.
A couple of things I’ve noticed. First, girls like to change the spelling of their names. I’s and Y’s transpose often. Second, my wife’s name is one of the roots of Kathy, and those variations were incredibly common when she was born. She has numerous friends that go by Kath, Kathy, and Kate.
Actual phone call:
Phone: Ring…Ring
Me: Hello
Female Voice: Hi TriP, it’s Kath. Is Kath there?
Me: Um, no…
Female Voice: Ok, no problem. Tell her Kath called OK?
Me: Um…
Phone: Click…Silence
Actual conversation with my wife:
Me: Kath called.
Her: Kath Somename?
Me: I don’t know.
Her: Kath Anothername?
Me: I don’t know.
Her: Kath Differentname?
Me: I don’t know. I only know she said she was Kath, and to tell you Kath called.
Her: Oh
<2 minutes of silence>
Her: Was is Kath Nameineverheardof?
Me: I don’t know. I don’t know which Kath.
Her: How about Kath Whatshername?
<remainder of conversation inappropriate and irrelevant>
My niece is an Olivia. (And her sister’s a Sophia. Yeah, my sister hit the babyname popularity lottery, but didn’t mean to.) We call her Livvy. And she’s cute as a button, if I do say so myself.
Don’t worry about there being lots of kids with her name in her class - it’s really not an issue. I was born in the mid-70s, and Mom named me Amy. There were Amys everywhere, four in my class in high school. And none of us cared. As I’ve grown up, it’s even less an issue.
My husband’s a Dave. Same deal. Hell, my brother’s name is Dave, but we never get the two mixed up. If your child has an unusual name, it’ll be all they know. If your child has a popular name, likewise - it’ll be all they know. (Except perhaps with less asking of “how do you spell that?”) So I don’t know that I’d sweat the popularity thing.
It’s Madeleine by a nose, but I think all of them are pretty ugly.
Sorry.
Usually an weird spike in popularity can be traced to a TV show or song, and in this case I assume Fringe is to blame, just as Charmed was to blame for Piper several years ago.
Fringe started in 2008. Olivia was the #7 baby name in the US by 2007, so I doubt Fringe was responsible. Sometimes, a show/song causes popularity, like the name Delilah rising significantly in the rankings after the song “Hey There Delilah”, but frequently shows/songs use names that are popular for their characters, so it goes both ways. It tends to really annoy me, actually - characters who are in their twenties through forties will be given names that are common for babies now, but almost unheard-of when the characters should have been born. Gail Godwin’s Unfinished Desires is a great book, but her characters born circa 1910 have names like Suzanne (a 1940’s-50’s name if there ever was one), while the characters born in the 1940s have names that are popular now, like Chloe. It kept yanking me out of the narrative.
If you’re going for a name that sounds like “Madeline,” spell it that way, not with the extra e. Unless the child is being named after a relative, it’s the sound of the name that counts, not the spelling, and so the spelling should be kept as intuitively obvious as possible. I love the name Madeline - it’s my little one’s name - but it should be noted you’ll have morons calling her “Madison.”
“Olivia” is a pretty name but is far, far too popular.
“Eden” is just silly.
“Eva,” meh.
“Eloise” is intriguing; it doesn’t sound old to me so much as “Gladys” or “Ethel” would. I like that idea.
I believe that Madeleine is the traditional spelling of the name, and it gets more than twice as many hits in Google as Madeline does. I don’t think anybody’s going to with on that question - people will misspell it either way, because both versions are very common. It’s the Katherine/Katharine/Kathryn/Catherine of our era.