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[ 3 syll. fe-nel-la, fen-e-lla ] The girl name Fenella is pronounced FehNEHLah †. Fenella is of Celtic origin. It is used mainly in the English, Irish, and Scottish languages. The meaning of the name is 'white shoulder'. Derived from fionn meaning 'white, fair' ; guala meaning 'shoulder'. The name is the Anglicized form of the Irish name Fionnuala, which is also found as Fionnghuala, Finnguala, or Fionola. In Irish mythology, Fionnuala was the daughter of Lir; she was turned into a swan by her stepmother and subsequently wandered for 900 years before the spell was broken. Her wanderings later became the subject of Thomas Moore's The Song of Fionnuala. The name was adopted by English speakers in the 19th century, popularized by a character bearing the name in the Sir Walter Scott novel Peveril of the Peak (1823). Fenella has 16 variants that are used in both English and foreign languages. Variants of the name used in English include Finelia (used in Scottish as well), Finola (used in Irish and Scottish as well), Fionola (used in Irish and Scottish as well), Nola (used in Irish, Italian, and Mende as well), Nora (used in German, Irish, Italian, Scandinavian, Scottish, and Czech as well), and Nuala (used in Irish as well). Foreign variants include Fen, Fennella, Finella (Scottish), Finnguala (Irish), Fionnaghuala (Scottish), Fionnghuala (Irish), Fionnguala (Gaelic), Fionnuala (Irish), and Fionuala (Irish). Another foreign variant is the short form Nella (Irish). Fenella is unusual as a baby girl name. It is not listed in the top 1000. Out of the family of girl names directly linked to Fenella, Nora was the most regularly used in 2008. Baby names that sound like Fenella include Fennella, Finella (Scottish), Finola (English, Irish, and Scottish), Fanuel, Finelia (English and Scottish), Finlea, Finley, Finnley, Fionnuala (Irish), Fionola (Irish, Scottish, and English), and Fionuala (Irish). A famous person named Fenella is Fenella Fielding, Actress, born Fanella Feldman 17 November 1934, London, England.
† Pronunciation for Fenella: F as in "fee (F.IY)" ; EH as in "Ed (EH.D)" ; N as in "knee (N.IY)" ; EH as in "Ed (EH.D)" ; L as in "lee (L.IY)" ; AH as in "hut (HH.AH.T)"   |
