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, Leonore, Leanora, Lenora, (etc.) Nell, 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.
While Eleanor of Aquitaine, probably the most powerful woman in Europe during her time, was certainly the reason for the name's later popularity, the name's origin with her, and the explanation of alia Aenor is uncertain; there are records of possible bearers of the name Alienor earlier in the 12th, or even in the 11th or 10th centuries, but the records of these women post-date Eleanor of Aquitaine, at a time when Alienor had come to be seen as an equivalent variant of the name Aenor (so that presumably, these women during their own lifetime used the given name Aenor):
- Alienor, the wife (m. 935) of Aimery II viscount of Thouars and mother of Herbert I (b. 960).
- Alienor, the grandmother of Aénor of Châtellerault, and thus Eleanor of Aquitaine's own great-grandmother, born c. 1050 as a daughter of Aimery IV of Thouars. Her name is also recorded as Ainora, and may have been corrupted to Alienor in genealogies only after the 12th century.
- Eleanor of Normandy (11th century), aunt of William the Conqueror, was so named by the 17th-century genealogist Pierre de Guibours, but de Guibours' sources for this remain unknown and the application of this name may be a mistake of his.
- Eleanor of Champagne (1102–1147), recorded as the name of the first wife of Ralph I, Count of Vermandois who was displaced by Eleanor of Aquitaine's sister Petronilla of Aquitaine, leading to a two years' war (1142–44) in Champagne.
Medieval
Eleanor of Normandy (b. 1011/1013, d. after 1071), daughter of Richard II of Normandy.
Eleanor of Aquitaine (ca. 1122–1204), wife of Louis VII of France and Henry II of England, mother of Richard I and King John
Eleanor of England, Queen of Castile (1161–1214), daughter of Henry II of England and Eleanor of Aquitaine; wife of Alfonso VIII of Castile
Eleanor, Fair Maid of Brittany (1184–1241), daughter of Geoffrey, Duke of Brittany
Eleanor of Castile (1202-1244) (1202–1244), wife of James I of Aragon
Eleanor of Leicester (1215–1275), daughter of King John of England, wife of Simon de Montfort, 6th Earl of Leicester
Eleanor of Provence (1222–1291), wife of Henry III of England, mother of Edward I
Eleanor of Castile (1241–1290), wife of Edward I of England, mother of Edward II
Eleanor of England, Countess of Bar (1269–1298), daughter of Edward I, betrothed to Alfonso III of Aragon, and wife of Henry III of Bar
Eleanor of Anjou (1289-1341), daughter of Charles II of Naples and Mary of Hungary, and wife of Frederick III of Sicily
Eleanor of Castile (1307-1359) (1307–1359), wife of Alfonso IV of Aragon
Eleanor of Woodstock (1318–1355), daughter of Edward II, wife of Reynold II, Count of Gelderland
Eleanor of Arborea (1347 – 1404), Sardinian judge
Eleanor of Sicily (1349-1375), wife of Peter IV of Aragon
Leonor Telles de Menezes (1350–1386), wife of Ferdinand I of Portugal
Eleanor of Castile (d. 1416) (136x–1416), wife of Charles III of Navarre
Eleanor of Viseu (1458–1525), wife of John II of Portugal
Eleanor of Austria (1498–1558), Queen consort of Portugal (1516–1521) and of France (1530–1547)
Eleanor of Toledo (1522–1562), Spanish noblewoman and Duchess and Regent of Florence (1539)
Modern
Ellinor Aiki (1893–1969), Estonian painter
Eleanor Bodel (born 1948), Swedish singer
Eleanor Gwynn (known colloquially as "Nell") (1650-1687), Restoration actress and mistress of Charles II of England
Ulrika Eleonora of Sweden, its reigning queen 1719-1720
Eleonora, three 17th century Swedish queens consort
Countess Palatine Eleonora Catherine of Zweibrücken, Swedish princess
Eleanor Marx (1855–1898), British writer and daughter of Karl Marx
Elinor Glyn (1864–1943), British novelist
Eleanor Porter (1868–1920), American novelist
Eleanor Rathbone (1872–1946), British politician
Eleanour Sinclair Rohde (1881-1950), British garden designer
Eleanor Farjeon (1881–1965), British writer
Eleanor Roosevelt (1884–1962), First Lady of U.S. President Franklin Roosevelt
Eleanor Lansing Dulles (1895–1996), American economist and diplomat
Elinor Wylie (1885–1928), American writer
Eleanor Boardman (1898–1991), American actress
Elinor Fair (1903–1957), American actress
Eleanor Audley (1905–1991), American actress
Eleanor Hibbert (1906–1993), British novelist
Elinor Smith (1911–2010), American aviator
Eleanor Powell (1912–1982), American tap dancer and actress
Eleanor Parker (1922-2013), American actress
Eleanor Helin (1932–2009), American astronomer
Elinor Ostrom (1933–2012), American political scientist and Nobel prize winner
Eleanor Duckworth (born 1935), Canadian psychologist and educator
Elinor Donahue (born 1937), American actress
Eleanor Holmes Norton (born 1937), American politician
Eleanor Bron (born 1938), British actress and author
Eleanor Montgomery (1946–2013), American high jumper
Eleanor McEvoy (born 1967), Irish musician, singer/songwriter
Eleanor Friedberger (born 1976), American musician
Eleonora Dziekiewicz (born 1978), Polish volleyball player
Eleanor James (born 1986), English actress
Eleonora "Ellen" van Dijk (born 1987), Dutch road and track cyclist
Elinor Joseph (born 1991), Israeli soldier
Eleanor Tomlinson (born 1992), English actress
Elinore Pruitt Stewart (1876–1933), American homesteader in Wyoming and memoirist
Eleanora, principal woman's rôle in Strindberg's 1901 Easter
Ellie Bishop, in the television series NCIS
Elinor Dashwood, in the 1811 novel Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen
Eleanor of Tristain, fictional character in the novels and anime The Familiar of Zero
Elanor Gardner, Samwise Gamgee's daughter in the The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien
Eleanor Lamb, one of the main protagonists of BioShock 2 by Irrational Games.
Eleanor Nash, in Degrassi: The Next Generation
Eleanor Butterbean, in the television series The Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy
Eleanor "Ellie" Arroway, in the 1985 novel Contact by Carl Sagan
Eleanor Douglas, in the 2013 young adult novel, Eleanor & Park, written by Rainbow Rowell.
Ellie Woodcomb aka Eleanor "Ellie" Bartowski-Woodcomb, in the television series Chuck (TV series)
Eleanor Rigby, in the 1966 song, "Eleanor Rigby" by The Beatles
