Meaning & History
From the Old French form of the Occitan name Alienòr. Among the name's earliest bearers was the influential Eleanor of Aquitaine (12th century), who was the queen of Louis VII, the king of France, and later Henry II, the king of England. She was named Aenor after her mother, and was called by the Occitan phrase alia Aenor "the other Aenor" in order to distinguish her from her mother. However, there appear to be examples of bearers prior to Eleanor of Aquitaine. It is not clear whether they were in fact Aenors who were retroactively recorded as having the name Eleanor, or whether there is an alternative explanation for the name's origin.The popularity of the name Eleanor in England during the Middle Ages was due to the fame of Eleanor of Aquitaine, as well as two queens of the following century: Eleanor of Provence, the wife of Henry III, and Eleanor of Castile, the wife of Edward I. More recently, it was borne by first lady Eleanor Roosevelt (1884-1962), the wife of American president Franklin Roosevelt.
Related Names
DiminutivesElea, Ella, Elle, Ellie, Elly, Lenora, Lenore, Nell, Nelle, Nellie, Nelly, Nonie, Nora, Norah, Leanora
Other Languages & CulturesEleonora(Bulgarian) Ellinor, Ella, Nora(Danish) Eleonora, Ellen, Noor, Noortje, Nora(Dutch) Eleonoora, Ella, Elli, Nelli, Noora(Finnish) Aliénor, Eléonore, Nelly(French) Eleonora, Eleonore, Lore, Ella, Leonore, Nora(German) Eleonora(Greek) Eleonóra, Ella, Nóra(Hungarian) Eleonora, Leonora, Nora, Norina(Italian) Eleonora, Nora(Latvian) Noor, Noortje(Limburgish) Ellinor, Ella, Nora(Norwegian) Alienòr(Occitan) Eleonora(Polish) Leonor(Portuguese) Eleonora, Nelli(Russian) Eilionoir, Eilidh(Scottish Gaelic) Eleonóra(Slovak) Leonor, Nora(Spanish) Eleonor, Eleonora, Ellinor, Ella, Nellie, Nelly, Nora(Swedish) Eleonora(Ukrainian)
Popularity
Images

People think this name is
classic mature formal upper class wholesome strong refined strange serious nerdy
Categories
A Song of Ice and Fire characters, Beatles songs, civil rights, Civilization VI characters, Clarence characters, Desperate Housewives characters, Dragon Quest characters, first ladies of the USA, Jane Austen characters, literature, Never Have I Ever characters, never out of the US top 1000, nobility, Ogre Battle characters, Oscar Wilde characters, queens, Rule of Rose characters, Shakespearean characters, Simpsons characters, socialites, song titles, Star Ocean characters, Stranger Things characters, Supernatural characters, Tales characters, The Golden Girls characters, The Good Place characters, The Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy characters, The Haunting characters, The Man Who Came to Dinner characters, uncertain etymology, Virginia Woolf characters, W. Somerset Maugham characters, Will and Grace characters, Winx Club characters, WITCH characters, women's history
Entry updated May 29, 2020