Pronunciation | /ˈɛlənə/, US CA /ˈɛlənɔːr/ |
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Gender | feminine |
Language(s) | Old French / Occitan |
Word/name | Aliénor |
Region of origin | France (Aquitaine?) |
Variant form(s) | Elinor, Elenor, Eleanore, Eleonora, Éléonore, etc. |
Eleanor (usually pronounced /ˈɛlənɔːr/ in North America but /ˈɛlənə/ elsewhere, variants Elinor, Ellinor, Elenor, Eleanore, Eleanour, Eleonor(a), Éléonore among others; short form Leonor and variants) is a feminine given name. It was the name of a number of women of the high nobility in Western Europe during the High Middle Ages, originally from a Provençal name Aliénor.
In modern times, the name was popularly given in the United States in the 1910s to 1920s, peaking at rank 25 in 1920. It declined below rank 600 by the 1970s, but has again risen above rank 150 in the early 2010s.
Common hypocorisms include Ella, Ellie, Elly (etc.), Leonor, Leonora, , Leanora, Lenora, (etc.) , Nella, Nellie, Nelly, Nelda, Nelle, (etc.), Nora(h), Noor, Noreen, Norene, Nonie (etc.)
The name derives from the Provençal name Aliénor which became Eléanor or Eleonore in the northern Langue d'oïl and from there also to English.
The name probably originates as that of Eleanor of Aquitaine (1120s–1204). She was the daughter of Aénor de Châtellerault, and it has been suggested that having been baptized Aenor after her mother, she was called alia Aenor, i.e. "the other Aenor" in childhood and would have kept that name in adult life; the name Aénor itself appears to be a Latinization of a Germanic name of uncertain form.