Madeline

Madeline lives forever in a yellow school uniform and two straight lines, Ludwig Bemelmans's small brave Parisian scampering through Luxembourg Gardens. The name is the English form of the French Madeleine, which traces to Mary Magdalene, from the Aramaic Migdal, tower, and further back to the fishing village of Magdala by the Sea of Galilee. In the United States it has held an elegant middle ground for decades, currently near the top 87. The three syllables move with the grace of a French chapter book, slightly continental without being showy. Madeline reads as thoughtful and a little literary, well suited to a child with careful handwriting.