Madelyn is Facebook’s pick for Crystal Lake baby

By the time Madelyn Meske was born Tuesday, more than 4,200 people from all over the world had a say in what her name would be.

Her parents, Dave and Lindsey Meske of Crystal Lake, started an open Facebook poll in September so people could cast a vote for their favorite among four choices: Madelyn, Emily, Addilyne and McKenna.

Madelyn — with 1,354 votes — was dad’s favorite, but mom said she’s cool with it. \

In fact, she said it turned out for the best.

“I liked McKenna, but after having her and having her in my arms, I decided she’s a Madelyn,” said Lindsey, who manages a physician’s office in Elgin. “McKenna would not have been right; it’s spunkier. She’s a real laid-back baby.”

The couple, both in their 20s, also have a 4-year-old daughter, Brianna

Dave, a creative director for a photo novelty shop in Vernon Hills, said he couldn’t believe how popular the poll turned out to be.

“It’s still a shock that 4,200 people voted, and it wasn’t just votes from the U.S. We were getting votes from all over the world — Germany, Ireland, Iceland, New Zealand, Australia,” he said. “People were posting links to pages in Iceland that I used Google Translate to read.”

Dave checked the Facebook poll “pretty religiously” after the story first was published in the Daily Herald in September.

“We made vote posters for each names, put it on our page,” he said. “We had fun with it.”

Lindsey, however, stopped checking after she realized that her favorite name was falling way behind.

“People from Scotland were saying ‘McKenna is a surname in my country.’ I thought, ‘My last hope is going down the drain’,” she said.

The Meskes had considered using McKenna as a middle name, but had a last-minute change of heart.

“I was thinking, I don’t know if I want this to be the last baby we ever have,” Lindsey said.

So they went with Rae, a twist on Brian’s grandfather’s name, Ray.

Dave said they are keeping the name “on reserve,” but won’t go as far as saying that the next baby girl — if there is one — will be named McKenna.

So might there be another Facebook name poll in the family’s future?

“You never know,” Dave said.