Eleanor - Origin and Meaning of the name

[ 3 syll. e-lea-nor, el-ean-or ] The girl name Eleanor is pronounced as EHLahNaoR or EHLahNer ^KEY.

1: Eleanor is an English name of Old Provençal origin. The meaning of the name is bright one, shining one; ali. The name is of debated origin; it could be from an Old French re-spelling of Aliénor (Old Provençal), which is itself usually taken as a form of Helen or a derivation from the Germanic 'al' (all) or 'ali' (foreign, other). Eleanor could also be of Greek or Arabic roots. The name Ali�nor was first introduced to England from France when the wealthy and powerful Eleanor of Aquitaine (1122-1204) married Henry II. Two subsequent queens also bore the name, further promoting its popularity in the Middle Ages. Eleanor of Provence (1223-1291) was the wife of Henry III. Eleanor of Castile (1241-1290) was the wife of Edward I; after her death, the king erected Eleanor crosses in her memory, of which three still remain in eastern England. The form Leonora was later made known as the original title of Beethoven's opera Fidelio (1805). Various forms of the name were made known by characters in literature, notably Elinor Dashwood in Jane Austen's Sense and Sensibility (1811), and Nell Trent in Charles Dickens' The Old Curiosity Shop (1841). In addition, Lenore (1843) was a poem by Edgar Allan Poe.

Eleanor is a widely used name; it has 54 variant forms that are used in both English and other languages. Variant forms of Eleanor used in English include Aleanor, Elaine (also used in French), Eleanora (also used in Italian), Elenora, Eleonor (also used in Spanish), Elliner, Elnora, Heleanor, Lainey, Leanora, Lenora (also used in Spanish), Lenore, Leonora (also used in German, Italian, and Spanish), Leonore (also used in German), and Noreen (also used in German and Irish). Other English forms include the short forms El, Elea, Elli (also used in , and German), and Elly (also used in ), the pet forms Ella (also used in Scandinavian), Elle, Ellen (also used in Dutch and ), Ellie (also used in ), Elora, Nell, Nelle, Nelli (also used in German, Hungarian, and ), Nellie, Nelly, Nora (also used in German, Irish, Italian, Scandinavian, and Scottish), Norah (also used in Irish), and Nore, and the variant spellings Elanor, Eleanore (also used in ), Elenor (also used in Spanish), Elenore (also used in ), Elinor, Elinore, Ellenor, and Ellinor (also used in Scandinavian).

Foreign variant forms of the name include the Irish Eileanoir, the Irish Eileanóra, the Finnish Eleonoora, the Dutch, German, Italian, Polish, and Spanish Eleonora, the German Eleonore, the French Eléonore, the Dutch, Frisian, German, Yiddish, and Hebrew Elke, the Dutch and Scandinavian Elna, the Portuguese and Spanish Leonor, the German Lore, the Finnish Noora, the Italian Norina, and the Irish Nóirín. Another foreign variant is the pet form Lora (Italian).

2: Eleanor's origin is Old Greek. Derived from the element 'eleos' which means mercy, pity.

3: Eleanor's origin is Arabic. Meaning: 'god is my light'.

Eleanor is a variant form of the English name Helen.

Eleanor is a popular baby girl name, and it is also regarded as fairly trendy. At the height of its usage in 1915, 0.687% of baby girls were named Eleanor. It was #28 in rank then. The baby name has seen a steep drop in popularity since then. In 2008, it ranked at #256 with a usage of 0.064%, somewhat regaining its popularity in the recent decade. Within the family of girl names directly related to Eleanor, Ella (English, Scandinavian, and Italian) was the most regularly used. It was 7 times more commonly used than Eleanor in 2008.

Baby names that sound like Eleanor include Eleanore (English), Elenor (English and Spanish), Elenore (English), Elinor (English), Ellenor (English), Ellinor (English and Scandinavian), Elliner (English), Elmira (English and Italian), Elnora (English), Aleanor (English), Eleanora (English and Italian), Elenora (English), Eleonor (English and Spanish), Elinore (English), Eleonora (Dutch, German, Italian, Polish, and Spanish), Eleonore (German), Eléonore (French), and Eleonoora (Finnish).

Details of famous persons named Eleanor:
Actress Eleanor Bron, born 14 March 1938, Stanmore, London, England.
Author Eleanor Farjeon, born February 13, 1881 - June 5, 1965, England.
Author Jean Plaidy, born Eleanor Alice Burford 1 September 1906, Kensington, London, England.
Model Elle MacPherson, born Eleanor Nancy Gow 29 March 1964, Sydney, Australia.
Political Relative Eleanor Mondale, born 1960, Minneapolis, Minnesota.
Royalty Eleanor of Aquitaine, born 1122 - 1204, Bordeaux, France.
US First Lady Rosalynn Carter, born Eleanor Rosalynn Smith 18 August 1927, Plains, Georgia.
US First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt, born 11 October 1884 - 7 November 1962, New York, New York.

^KEY: Pronunciation for Eleanor: EH as in "Ed (EH.D)" ; L as in "lee (L.IY)" ; AH as in "hut (HH.AH.T)" ; N as in "knee (N.IY)" ; AO as in "ought (AO.T)" ; R as in "read (R.IY.D)" ; EH as in "Ed (EH.D)" ; L as in "lee (L.IY)" ; AH as in "hut (HH.AH.T)" ; N as in "knee (N.IY)" ; ER as in "hurt (HH.ER.T)"

Popularity Trend
for Eleanor
from 1900 to 2008

Variant Popularity Chart
for Eleanor
in 2008