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Carolyn
I've always really liked this. Does it sound dated to you? Do you know many? Carolyn or Caroline? Do you think there are many people who'd pronounce them the same?

This message was edited 5/12/2012, 7:09 PM

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I like Caroline very much. Carolyn seems dated, much like Marilyn. And I pronounce them differently - never heard anyone pronounce them the same either.
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One of my best friends names :) She's the only one I've ever met. Actually I take that back I think it might be another girl I went to high school with. mom's name. It has always seemed a little dated to me, even though I grew up with one. I like Caroline better. I've never encountered anyone pronouncing them the same. Actually when my friend Carolyn joined a sorority she became friends with a Caroline AND a Karolina (the only ones with those names I've ever met). They took to calling her "Lynnie" to cut down on confusion.
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Definitely dated. Carolyns here are all probably over 40, and possibly over 50. I don't know any, but I know quite a few Carolines, including a cousin.
I prefer Caroline, but Carolyn is okay, it looks and sounds quite nice.
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I love it. It's definitely dated. I know one about my age and maybe a few others who are older, not sure. I prefer it to Caroline. Carolyn is so golden and bell-tone-y. I like how it looks more than how it sounds. Caroline prn Carolyn I just can't stand. I can't see many people pronouncing Carolyn "Care o line," but tons of people pronounce Caroline like Carolyn.
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It sounds a bit dated but not much. I know an older woman named Carolyn but I also know a teenager named that. I know a young woman about 19 or 20 named Caroline. I don't pronounce them the same. Carolyn ends in -lyn pronounced lin with a short i sound. Caroline ends with -line like the word line. It has a long i.
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I like Carolyn better than I like Caroline. I think the lyn ending is more current than the line ending even though Caroline is more popular. I don't think I've heard anybody say Caroline and Carolyn the same way, but I'm aware that a few people do.The youngest Carolyn I know of is about 18, but she's hard-living and hard-drinking and looks like she's at least 35... a hard 35. I'm not exaggerating.
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I think it's way more dated than Caroline. I think of someone in their 50s or 60s. Carol and Carolyn were much more popular in Australia than Caroline. )Caroline is not used to the extent it is in the U.S.) I only know one young Caroline, and she is 19, whereas I know plenty of middle-aged Carols and Carolyns. I can't even think of any other Carolines off the top of my head.I pronounce Caroline and Carolyn differently, and so would nearly everyone I know.
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I like it. I never see it as Carol + Lyn but as a version of Caroline.
I adore Caroline but can't use it as it rhymes with my surname, whereas Carolyn doesn't (I pronounce them differently, whereas Americans seem to pronounce them the same).
Carolyn is less classy than the beauutiful historic Caroline, but I'd consider using as a mn it to honour a Caroline, my grandmother's sister. It seems a tad too dated for me to put in fn spot.
I have known one girl called Carolyn Mary and one called Caroline (middle name unknown) at my school.
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I only know a handful of people by this name and it's not over used. Both versions are nice and worth considering. They're pron'd completely differently and the end... -lyn vs. -line isn't that hard to figure out.

This message was edited 5/12/2012, 11:39 PM

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My aunt is named Carolyne and my mom (her sister) pronounces it -line and my grandmother pronounces it -lyn. Go figure.I don't like Carolyn or Caroline very much. I like Caro though. :P I don't know any Carolines, interestingly, but I went to school with a Carolyn. So it doesn't strike me as superdated.
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Totally dated, but so what. It's like Marilyn. Still works.
I've never heard of Caroline pronounced like Carolyn.
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I pronounce Caroline same as Carolyn
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I don't know any Carolyns, only Carolines. I love the sound of Carolyn, but I despise the spelling. BtN says that Caroline may be pronounce the same as Carolyn. So, I can see some people doing it. I personally do not. Carolyn ends with a -lin sound for me and Caroline ends in a -line sound.I don't really think it's dated. I think it's close relationship to Caroline keeps it youthful. Though, I'm sure there are quite a few people who feel the opposite!
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How would you spell it? Like Caroline? Or Carolynn, Karolyn, Carolin?
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I'm not sure.I was thinking Carolin or maybe Karolin. I have an aversion to Y's. Nothing to do with trendy names or anything. I just don't like the way they're shaped. :)
Actually, disregard that! I think if I were to use the name I would go with the Caroline spelling. Carolin and Karolin just seem out of balance. Maybe there would be a little confusion with the Caroline spelling. After you tell someone how it's pronounced it shouldn't be an issue, especially given that it is an accepted pronunciation.

This message was edited 5/12/2012, 8:58 PM

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It sounds really dated to me. I've only known one, a friend I had in middle school, who would be fifty-one years old now. I far prefer Caroline. I've never known anyone who pronounces the two the same. The Carolyn I was friends with was never called Caroline by mistake.
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A (maybe) interesting sidenoteI just remembered why the girl I was friends with was named Carolyn. Her father's name was Carl and her mother's name was Evelyn, and she told me that her parents thought that Carolyn was a way of combining parts of their two names. I know of one other case like this---a Marnie whose mother was MARguerite and father was ErNIE.
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That's really cool, actually. I don't think anyone would pronounce Carolyn with a -line ending but I guess some people pronounce Caroline like Carolyn. I was wondering because Caroline is getting pretty common and if many people pronounce it like Carolyn that would be common too.
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I'd go with Carolyn. Caroline's getting too popular. Stick with something old-fashioned.
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http://www.behindthename.com/top/name/caroline/us?viewing=graphThere's no data that suggests that Caroline is getting popular.
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It's in the top 100, it is popular. It is in the top 20 in some states, as far as I know.
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Yes, but it's been in the top 100 since 1994. And since then it's fluctuated, going up and down, but not by much, for almost 20 years. Therefore, it's not *getting* popular. And I guess I don't consider #88 popular. Genesis is #89 and I surely don't consider that popular. Mariah, Natalia, and Naomi are all in the top 100 too, but I don't consider them to be popular names. I guess it depends on how we define "popular," so it's kind of pointless to discuss a name's popularity if we don't agree. But I'll agree with you that it's definitely popular (in the top 20 or so) in some states, my home state for one. I think DC also, and I bet that's because of Caroline Kennedy.
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I think it sounds like a middle-aged house wife who has matching gardening gloves and clogs. I prefer Carolyn but probably because I've spent so much time living in North and South Carolina that it's hard for me to see Caroline(a). Whenever I type Caroline, it nearly always comes out Carolina. I do know some people would pronounce it the same but after one or two corrections I don't think it'd be that big of a problem.
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OMG American Beauty's Carolyn. Totally forgot about her.
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Ha! Knew you'd get that reference!! :)
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