(no subject)

[dancing-crazy.livejournal.com]

My boyfriend and I were randomly discussing baby names, and we discovered we both love the French name Aline for a girl. It got me thinking: I think the name has a great sound, but do you think the spelling is a problem? I remember someone told me it looks funny, like an A-line skirt, and now that's all I can see when I look at the name. What do you think? Do you know any alternate spellings for it that would still capture the pronounciation properly?

Comments

[kaleido-scope.livejournal.com]

You're pronouncing it "a-leen", I guess?

That name would normally be spelled Eileen (or Aileen?), I think. I knew someone with that name. But maybe that could also be pronounced "i-leen"... I'm not sure. Personally, I'm not a big fan of that name either way. Aline looks nicer but I still don't like the way it sounds.

[dancing-crazy.livejournal.com]

uh-leen.

I'd definitely read both Eileen and Aileen as eye-leen right away. thanks :)

[kaleido-scope.livejournal.com]

Oh, okay, "uh-leen" sounds nicer. But people probably will pronounce it wrong all the time! ("a-leen", "a-line", "ah-leen", etc.)

[dancing-crazy.livejournal.com]

I definitely agree, it's one of the bigger problems. My friend thought it was one of those "unique" spellings for the name Alan! :(

[frenchnails.livejournal.com]

I was going to suggest Alene, but I dunno how you'd pronounce that.

It's not the same as Aline and doesn't remind me of a-line skirts.

[dancing-crazy.livejournal.com]

True. But I'd pronounce that Ah-Lenn. ::shakes fist:: ARGH!

[jenniferdunn.livejournal.com]

What about Alina? That's always been one of my favorites.

[dancing-crazy.livejournal.com]

I like the name Alina a lot--I have a friend named it! Thanks :-)

[wykd-faerie.livejournal.com]

i would have thought it was ai-leen seen that way. as for uh-leen, I'm sorry but I don't know of any spellings that would make others pronounce it properly. Although, it's a lovely name ^_^.

[dancing-crazy.livejournal.com]

:( I can't think of any spellings either. It's a super popular name here in Europe, so I never thought of it as a problem, but if we're going with the hypothetical discussion all the way, the kid would be living in the US for at least a while. I love how this won't even be an issue for at least 5 years but I'm still sort of upset, haha. thanks! :)

[wykd-faerie.livejournal.com]

don't you just hate that? lol I mean my boyfriend and I are discussing names already and we've only been together 9 months. Tho, truthfully, I'm thinking he's it for me. I've never had these dscussions with other guys.

[dancing-crazy.livejournal.com]

Same with my BF! We like talking about weddings already. We're so young, you know, and we both have lots more to do before we settle down, but I like that we talk about it. He actually called me the other say just to say that he thinks Ethan is the perfect name for a boy. How cute?

[smasharash.livejournal.com]

What is the pronounciation??

[smasharash.livejournal.com]

oh i just read previous comments and realised that it's uh-leen.

[dancing-crazy.livejournal.com]

sorry I didn't mention it in the post. whoops

[krazyhippie.livejournal.com]

I've never heard it before but I immediately thought Uh-leen.

[dancing-crazy.livejournal.com]

YAY! I'm glad to hear that. =D

[cathkitten.livejournal.com]

My name is Catherine. Simple right? People are always saying Cath-a-REEN. No matter what you name your child someone is going to mispronounce it. My friend Marie always gets called "Mary." If you and your husband like Aline, use it. It's a beautiful name. Don't change it to a spelling you like less because of other people. It will just look silly.

[dancing-crazy.livejournal.com]

That's true, I do let silly doubts get in the way. I really like the name Aline a lot. I guess when the time comes, we'll just name her/him what we love and hope it'll work out. That's all you can really do. Thanks :)

[beverly-sutphin.livejournal.com]

Having been raised in Quebec, fluently bilingual, when I see names of a French origin I can't help but pronounce them the french way. I immediately hear/pronounce Aline as Ah-lynn (the 'Ah' rhymes with cat, the 'lynn' is an approximation, in reality it's a sound that we don't use in english... the vowel is nasal), not at all as Uh-leen. But, if you're amongst Americans I'd guess the common pronounciation would indeed be Uh-leen.

[dancing-crazy.livejournal.com]

That's really interesting. I knew a girl named Aline once, I think her mom was from Belgium, and she pronounced it Uh-leen (or everyone else pronounced it that way when they used her name). But I feel like that's probably just because it's easier to say in English. I didn't know her that well so I don't know how her mom pronounced it. Do you know a lot of Alines?

[beverly-sutphin.livejournal.com]

Nope, I don't personally know any Alines, but it is a common enough name in Quebec. It's not overly common though.

[darabelle.livejournal.com]

I read it correctly but maybe only because you first said it was French. Nah, actually, I think most people would pronounce it right. If someone said "A-line" (like the skirt/dress) I think I'd be making fun of that person for a long time, 'cause that's just kind of...stupid. LoL.

What notitleyet explained is similar to the name Celine, which is often pronounced Suh-leen but is actually pronounced Suh-lynn in French (at least Quebecois French).

Anyway, bottom line is I love the name. =D

[piperki.livejournal.com]

Late to the party, but I work with a woman called Alleen and nobody ever mispronounces that.