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[Opinions] Melanie?...
I thought that I liked this name, but I spoke with a woman on the phone today who had this name and I couldn't help but think of it as 'weak' sounding-even though this woman was very nice and did not give an air of meekness or weakness. WDYT?
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I personally think completely opposite. My best friend has an older sister named Melanie, and she happened to get pregnant her senior year. A lot of ppl looked down on her for it, but out of all the girls having sex, she happened to get pregnant. But she graduated high school, had the baby (a little boy named Braxton Cade, if anyone is interested in what she named him) and enrolled in college. Her dad also died last May, so I know they've gone through a lot. I think she's a very strong person though for handling everything the way she has. She's the only Melanie I know, so I can't help but associate it w/her.
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ugh, this is one of my least favorite names......of all time. It reminds me of melanoma.
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I don't see it as a weak name at all. I think it's very pretty.
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NMS at all.
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I like the name, but prefer the spelling Melany.
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I always think of Melanie from Gone with the wind. She may have seemed weak, but she was a strong woman. I also think the nn Melly is very cute.
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I agree, it does sound kind of weak, but overall I like the name.
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Melanie is one of my favorite names, and the 'weak' quality you're referring to is almost certainly because of unconscious associations you've accumulated about it.Hmm. This is interesting. It seems a bit willowy to me, also - it's very feminine and lucid sounding, and suggests someone upbeat, uncomplicated, kind & gentle, and possibly vain (in a normal femme sense, like someone who paints her nails; not vanity as a vice). I don't think I'd say it was weak or meek, though - it doesn't sound faint to me the way, say, Faith does.I like that. 'Strength' in female names is not the same as in male names, imo. The feminine strength I perceive from the name Melanie is not much like the masculine strength I perceive in, say, Rowan.But there are some 'strong' sounding female names that are strong in a similar way to masculine 'strong' names, to me; and vice-versa, without causing gender confusion. - chazda[edited because I kept thinking of more to say after I posted]

This message was edited 11/1/2004, 9:54 PM

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It doesn't sound weak to me, I actually quite like the sound of it. My babysitter when I was a kid - also a family friend and the daughter of my year 4 teacher - was a Melanie, and she was a lovely girl. Unfortunately though, even she doesn't redeem this name for me - it's a 1980s brat name to me. I've known so many bratty Melanies!
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I think that there are better M names out there. Besides, not only does Melanie sound weak I think it's kind of whiny b/c of the ie at the end.
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