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 [ 2 syll. ei-lee(n), eil-e-en ] The girl name Eileen is pronounced as ayLIYN KEY. Eileen is used mostly in the English and Irish languages. Its language of origin is Old French and Old Greek. Old French and Old Greek origin: Derived from the words 'aveline' meaning hazelnut ; 'avis' meaning bird. The name is Anglicized from the Gaelic name Aibhilin (Old Irish) or Eibhlín, from the omitted pronunciation of the Gaelic '-bh-'; in another pronunciation of '-bh-' as 'v' comes the name Evelyn. The Gaelic names are themselves from Aveline (Old French). Aveline is of uncertain origin; it could be from the Old French word for 'hazelnut', or the word 'avis' (bird), or it could be ultimately from a diminutive of Ava. The name Eileen was adopted by English speakers in the late 19th century through the influence of Irish migrants. Eileen is a widely used name; it has 30 variant forms that are used in both English and other languages. Variant forms of Eileen used in English include Aila (used in Finnish as well), Ailey, Aili (used in Finnish as well), Aily, Aleen, Alena (used in Russian and Czech as well), Alene (used in Czech as well), Aline (used in French, Russian, Irish, and Scottish as well), Aveline (used in French as well), Aylin (used in Turkish as well), Eilean, Eleen, Elene, Ilean, Ileana (used in Romanian and Hungarian as well), Ilena (used in Spanish as well), Leana, and Lena (used in German, Russian, Scandinavian, Polish, and Spanish as well). Other English forms include the pet form Eily, and the variant spellings Aileen (used in German, Irish, and Scottish as well), Ailene, Eilene, Eilin, Eilleen, Ileen, Ileene, and Ilene. Foreign variant forms of the name include the Portuguese Ailinn, the Irish Aillin, and the Irish Eibhlín. In addition, Eileen is a variant form (Irish) of the English name Helen. See also the related form, the English Evelyn. Eileen is a classic favorite. Today it is still somewhat popular as a baby girl name, but not as much as it was previously. At the height of its usage in 1943, 0.285% of baby girls were given the name Eileen. It was #68 in rank then. The baby name has markedly fallen in popularity since then, and it is of modest use in recent years. In 2008, its usage was only 0.019% and its ranking #760. Within the family of girl names directly linked to Eileen, the English Evelyn was the most widely used. In 2008, it was 13 times more widely used than Eileen. Baby names that sound like Eileen include the English Eilene, the English Eilleen, the English, German, Irish, and Scottish Aileen, the English and Irish Isleen, the English and Irish Islene, the English Eilin, the Welsh Elain, the English and French Elaine, the name Elane, the name Elayne, the Hebrew Elon, the Arabic Ahlam, the English Aleen, the English Aleena, the English and Czech Alene, the English, French, Russian, Irish, and Scottish Aline, the English Alleen, the English, German, Italian, Spanish, and Hebrew Alma, the Irish Almha, and the German Alwine. A famous person named Eileen is Shania Twain, Country Singer, born Eileen Regina Edwards 28 August 1965, Windsor, Ontario, Canada. KEY: Pronunciation for Eileen: AY as in "hide (HH.AY.D)" ; L as in "lee (L.IY)" ; IY as in "eat (IY.T)" ; N as in "knee (N.IY)"   |
