Adalynn

Adalynn is essentially a new American invention. It followed Adalyn (with one “n”) onto the female naming charts for the first time in 2008. As newly coined name, Adalyn is thought to have been inspired by one of two more traditional names. The first, Adelaide, comes from the Germanic elements “adal” meaning “noble” and “heid” meaning “kind, sort” (i.e., the noble one). The second possible inspiration behind Adalynn’s creation was an abbreviated form of the popular name Madelynn (by dropping the “m”). Madelynn is an Americanized respelling of the French name Madeleine and refers to Magdalene (or Mary Magdalene from the New Testament). In Luke 8:2 she was one of the women who had been “healed of evil spirits and infirmities” and she is also remembered as one of the loyal Disciples of Christ. In either case, Adalynn is really just a made-up name, very modern and has no defined meaning. It’s one of those cutesy name creations American parents are so good at. American naming practices embrace name inventions, respellings, elaborate mutations and the random combination of different syllables. Adalynn is an example of the latter. Ada + Lynn = new name. No doubt Lynn is one of the most popular name suffixes around. Just consider the following examples: Brooklynn, Ashlynn, Adalynn, Katelynn, Madelynn, Raelynn, Jaelynn, Evelynn, Jazlynn, Kaylynn, Gracelynn, Braelynn, Jocelynn, Kailynn…the list goes on.