Madeleine

French form of Magdalene, tracing back to the New Testament figure from Magdala on the Sea of Galilee. It entered American government records in the late nineteenth century as a quiet import. The spelling gained steady traction through the twentieth century, propelled partly by midcentury children's literature and parents seeking a Continental finish.

The name reads as orderly and deliberate, insisting on the extra vowels that distinguish it from phonetic spellings. With an average bearer age of twenty-five, it belongs mostly to the late-nineties wave of children who grew up with monogrammed stationery. It suggests someone who routinely spells her name aloud before the barista can even ask.