10 September 2007

A Note on Madeleine L'Engle

When I posted about Madeleine L'Engle's death, I neglected to mention that my daughter is named for her. When I was in high school, I chose Madeleine as my name in French class in honor of Ms. L'Engle, and then when Maddie came along, it was the obvious choice.

All of my L'Engle books are home in Oregon. I'm going to have to hit the library for a fix.

9 comments:

Lucky said...

I was almost sure of it when I read your original post. It is an adorable name. This is my favorite quote from one of her interviews:
"If I could comprehend God completely, God wouldn't be worth bothering about. I'm finite, God is infinite; the finite cannot comprehend the infinite. But we get enough glimpses."

~ Jolene said...

so sad. but what a beautiful way to honor her. I love that name.

Yankee T said...

I prefer to think that you named her after a certain someone else, wink, wink.
I agree. It's a beautiful name.

Snickollet said...

Our little secret, YT :).

flossie said...

Friends of mine named their daughter L'Engle after her, which I think is a lovely name, as is Madeleine.

OTRgirl said...

What a wonderful heritage for Maddie.

It's a name that reminds me of a scene "Where the Heart Is" with Natalie Portman and Ashley Judd.

Before she has her baby, Natalie Portman's character is discussing names with an older guy. He asks what she's going to name her girl and she says, "I was thinkin' Windi with an 'i'..."

He frowned and said, "But what does that mean? You better name that baby something that means something. Something powerful and big."

Being named for Madeline L'Engle seems like a powerful and big name to me.

TweedleDea said...

I generally lurk but I had to comment. I'm pregnant now and it's a boy, however my girl's names were Beatrix and Marilla. Beatrix for Beatrix Potter and Marilla for Anne's daugher in Rilla of Ingleside, who is named after Anne's mother, Marilla.
Now if I could think of some great children's lit boy's names....

andidiehn said...

I named my oldest son Tallis, after the watchful Canon who appears in several of L'Engle's books. Which seems odd, considering my atheistic tendencies, but perfectly right considering her lasting influence on my ideas of morality. And parenting. Madeleine is a lovely name.

Anonymous said...

I love the name, which is why my daughter has the same, only we spelled hers as Madeline. Her middle name, Grace, comes from the U2 song. So much in a name, right?