Maele

[sayga.livejournal.com]

When my husband and I were on our honeymoon, we met a couple from France with their almost-two-year-old daughter. Her name was Maele. They pronounced it "my-ell." Slightly more emphasis on "ell." I asked them to spell it, so I KNOW it was Maele. We're having anther daughter, probably in April, and are considering this name for her. However, I haven't been able to find anywhere that this is a REAL name. Does anyone know the origin, meaning, or other spelling variations on this one?

Also, what might be another way to spell it so it looks more like my-ELL, without looking ugly? Seeing as I can't find that Maele is a real name, I'm not opposed to changing the spelling. Great, figured that part out!

Any middle names you think would work well with Maele/Maelle, if we were to choose that name? Our other daughter is named Kira Jade, if that makes a difference. Oh, and our last name ends with "-son" so no names ending in -en, -on, -un, etc.

Edit I just found on one site that Maille means "coin" in French. Would that be pronounced the same?
Hmm. I also just checked my Madagascar journal and had written down that it means "Princess" in Celtic. So I guess it's NOT a French name...?

Comments

[secret-x-stars.livejournal.com]

Maielle? Meielle?

Mielle would make more of an meee-elle kind of sound, so that doesn't work...

it sounds like a pet name for a name like Mireille or Marielle or something.

[sayga.livejournal.com]

Not sure how to spell "honey" in French, but in Spanish it's miel, and I think they're pronounced the same or at least similarly. We're definitely not looking for honey/"mee-ell."

[secret-x-stars.livejournal.com]

oh definitely not.

Mai... Ma... Mei... My... Mi... Mie...

can't think of more ways to make the 'my' sound! :(

[xcuore.livejournal.com]

honey in french is Miel :)

[apple-seed.livejournal.com]

maielle, maelle, mayelle, mielle? i think it's a gorgeous name and i especially like maielle. i prefer it with a different letter between the "ma" and "el(l)e" parts because in french "ma" is pronounced "mah," not "my," which could be confusing and doesn't really make sense if you're looking for something phonetic.

maielle jean came to mind and is pretty, but you might not be looking for same-letter middle names... maielle grace?

[apple-seed.livejournal.com]

and no, "maille" isn't pronounced the same way, if i recall correctly, although it's been a while since french class :)

[sayga.livejournal.com]

i took a year or two of french at age 8/9, but after that i took 8 years of spanish, so any french i might have learned has completely left me. :P

[apple-seed.livejournal.com]

http://behindthename.com/php/view.php?name=mae12lle

considering that's a french/breton name, i'm betting that's what you're looking for.. it's the feminine of mael, meaning "prince," so i suppose it would mean "princess."

[apple-seed.livejournal.com]

oh, and jesus, i keep commenting, but...

i also found this variant that is actually really pretty:
http://behindthename.com/php/view.php?name=mae12lys

i'm guessing it's pronounced "my-EL-ees" or something similar- i like it!

as for your second edit, the ending -elle or anything similar is NOT a factor in celtic names at all, so i'm pretty sure it isn't celtic.

[sayga.livejournal.com]

i think you're right. thanks!

[tokossel.livejournal.com]

gotta add to this, haha.
lys is french for lily, and is pronounced like LEE. maelys is actually a variant of maylis, or a combination of maylis + maelle. and it's pronounced: my-lee (mah- eh- lee if you were to sound out the syllables).
it's cute. i knew sisters called anais & maelys.

[sayga.livejournal.com]

awesome, thank you for that addition! i was wondering how to pronounce that.

i know someone with a daughter named maylie, which is not a name we're interested in. but it's occurred to me that a maelle might get called "maylie" by accident, and i think i'm okay with that. hope a kid would be too. i guess i've been asked if my kira is kee-ra or kai-ra. so hopefully they won't think one of them got the good name...

my dad wanted me to name my first daughter piper (not horrible, but not our style). he thinks this one should be darby. i'm having a hard time not laughing at him, because it seems he MUST be JOKING!! plus, how did me and my sister end up named sarah and jennifer???

[sarahrose.livejournal.com]

Maielle is pretty.


Like I always say - anything is a name. If you like it, use it! :)

[rexlezard.livejournal.com]

Maille is pronounced kind of like a long "my" if that makes sense - the lle is almost silent. Basically say "My" and then hold it for twice as long.

Chain maille is the word I bet most English speakers would pull from it, you know, the armoured clothing that's made of interlocking chain links.

If you name your kid Maille, though, I have to warn you that the name is most commonly associated with Maille which is a brand of dijon mustard.

Maele would not be pronounced the same, but more like My-ELLE, and might almost sound like "Mee-ELLE" (Miel) which is not a cat meowing, but the French word meaning honey.

*meow*

[sayga.livejournal.com]

great idea! we are not considering "Honey Meow" as the alternative name for her! ;)

thanks for the response. we're not considering maille, i was just wondering if the names were linked in origin. but good to know about the mustard, just in case!

[sayga.livejournal.com]

hmm, i meant to say, "we are NOW considering." oops.

[neroli.livejournal.com]

Could it perhaps have had two Ls? I have heard of Maëlle which is a Breton name (from Brittany, a region in the northwest part of France. Breton is a Celtic language, which is why Breton names don't sound particularly French!).

Here's a page about the name in French (http://www.linternaute.com/femmes/prenoms/prenom/9604/2002/maelle.shtml).

[sayga.livejournal.com]

they may have decided to spell it alternatively, but they said their daughter's name was spelled m-a-e-l-e. my husband and i read all these replies together a few minutes ago, and if we choose the name, we'll probably use 2 Ls.

[tokossel.livejournal.com]

that name is pretty popular in french right now, it's breton/celtic.
the original name is masculine, 'mael', and means 'chief, prince' according to a french name website (http://www.meilleursprenoms.com). i think the most common female spelling is Maëlle, but some also spell it Maële.

similar french/breton names i've heard on kids are:
'anaelle'
'gwenaelle'

a lot of breton/celtic names used in france are masculine originally, then become unisex. also like loan/loane, which was pretty popular for a while.

i knew a boy called mael, but it's pretty feminine to me, i guess cause it ends in the 'el' sound, haha. i don't think it sounds great in english though.

[sayga.livejournal.com]

oh man, i always forget about popularity in other countries. at least there isn't a big breton influence in Tucson, AZ and we won't be going to france (maybe once)... hmm.

[queen-mab.livejournal.com]

I would spell it Maëlle or Mai-Elle. Anything besides that looks strange to me and I can see people pronouncing it as may-lee or may-elle. It's a nice name, though.

[anapology.livejournal.com]

hmmm i like it but I prefer Marielle.
I can't find a prety spelling of the name...Maelle makes more may-elle IMO.

[so-there.livejournal.com]

the only way I could see pronouncing it my-elle is to jsut spell it myelle. maelle looks more like may-elle.

[maine-girl.livejournal.com]

I haven't read the other responses so here goes:
my first language is french and my best friend is named Maele (she is not french). She pronounces it "May-lee".
Maille is not really French for coin in current usage. Maille can be used as a word for "stitch" (as in sewing) or chain mail.
Miel (mee-elle) is indeed French for honey.
I would spell it Maelle or Maele for the pronunciation you are trying to acheive.
Maelle Anne
Maelle Dora
Maelle Sophie
Maelle Grace
Maelle Rebecca

[maine-girl.livejournal.com]

Oh and Maille in French is pronounced more like "Mah-y-uh"