Melanie?

[lyricmom]

Interestingly, Melanie has only been in use in the U.S. since 1938. Gone with the Wind was published in 1936. Perhaps the name took off (it peaked in the early 70's--#42 in 1972) because of the book.

Regardless, it sounds quite dated, IMO, but the important thing is the associations you have with the name, which are all very positive.

[vivimay]

I like Melanie! I also like Valerie, another French name that people seem to consider dated in the U.S.

[donna.lewis]

I think it is a beautiful name, and not at all dated. Perhaps because I've only met one Melanie, and although she was a little bit older than me she was charming and kind.

I don't see the appeal of the name Scarlett, I don't mind the character...But the name Scarlett sounds rather harsh to me.

But here some other names from GWTD:

Ellen
Belle
India
Suellen
Bonnie
Carreen
Emmy

[tay2thestars]

Oh, I love that book! It is always so interesting that people think it is a love story, it never really seemed that way to me. Melly from GWTW is exactly what pops into my head when I hear Melanie. It gives the name a certain antique charm that it wouldn't otherwise have. I think people who have read the book will associate the name with it, those who haven't will think of it as a dated name.

This sums it up for me; I've always liked Melanie and never thought of it as dated. When I first heard the name, I thought it was a variation of Melody that was prettier, softer and more sophisticated (though now I know its not). Reading GWTW just made me like Melanie even more

[sodallas3]

I don't have any ideas for middle names, but please don't make her middle name Esther. My friend's middle name is Esther and everyone calls her Mel, doesn't sound too good does it?

[charliedog99]

My mother is named Melanie Ann and for a short period of time (when she was married to my father) she was Melanie Hamilton. She was born in the mid 1950's and her name definitely came from GWTW. She has said that people still mistakenly call her "Melody". My grandparents call her Melly as a nickname and she gets annoyed when people shorten her name to "Mel". As far as middle names are concerned, "Ann" or some variation is a family middle name for most of the women in my family. Think "Ann", "Diane", "Breanna", and "Annaliese". My mom has wondered why they didn't give her the middle name of "Charlotte" as she was born in Charlotte, North Carolina.

I don't think the name is as dated as the Peggy's, Linda's, and other names from that generation. Probably because there aren't a lot of them. The spike of the name Melanie in the 1970's is probably due to a popular singer from that era.

I think it's a lovely name that has that special magic of being familiar enough without being too popular. Scarlett is a great name too, but I think it's a lot more popular right now and there is always the single "t", double "t" situation (said the woman who named her son Elliott).

On a side note, the GWTW naming didn't end with my mother. My nickname is "Katie" (Scarlett's first name was Katie) and I have a sister named Ashley.

[cmarie3687]

I like Melanie, it does not seem dated to me. I was born in 1990, so names like Brittany, Ashley, Chelsea, Courtney etc I consider dated. I guess it just depends on the person. I think it is a sweet name.