Madelyn

A phonetic respelling of Madeline, the French form of Magdalene, from the Hebrew Migdal meaning tower, the town on the Sea of Galilee that produced the Mary of the Gospels. Proust dipped a madeleine in tea and unlocked a seven-volume novel; the name has carried cake crumbs and canonical weight ever since. The y spelling is an American twenty-first-century refinement, crisp and classroom-friendly, and it has been steadily rising with the Addisons and Brooklyns of its cohort. Madelyn currently ranks 65, given to about one in 480 girls. Three syllables, the nickname Maddie built in, a Gospel town in the background.