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.
MedievalEleanor 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 JohnEleanor of England, Queen of Castile (1161–1214), daughter of Henry II of England and Eleanor of Aquitaine; wife of Alfonso VIII of CastileEleanor, Fair Maid of Brittany (1184–1241), daughter of Geoffrey, Duke of BrittanyEleanor of Castile (1202-1244) (1202–1244), wife of James I of AragonEleanor of Leicester (1215–1275), daughter of King John of England, wife of Simon de Montfort, 6th Earl of LeicesterEleanor of Provence (1222–1291), wife of Henry III of England, mother of Edward IEleanor of Castile (1241–1290), wife of Edward I of England, mother of Edward IIEleanor of England, Countess of Bar (1269–1298), daughter of Edward I, betrothed to Alfonso III of Aragon, and wife of Henry III of BarEleanor of Anjou (1289-1341), daughter of Charles II of Naples and Mary of Hungary, and wife of Frederick III of SicilyEleanor of Castile (1307-1359) (1307–1359), wife of Alfonso IV of AragonEleanor of Woodstock (1318–1355), daughter of Edward II, wife of Reynold II, Count of GelderlandEleanor of Arborea (1347 – 1404), Sardinian judgeEleanor of Sicily (1349-1375), wife of Peter IV of AragonLeonor Telles de Menezes (1350–1386), wife of Ferdinand I of PortugalEleanor of Castile (d. 1416) (136x–1416), wife of Charles III of NavarreEleanor of Viseu (1458–1525), wife of John II of PortugalEleanor 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)ModernEllinor Aiki (1893–1969), Estonian painterEleanor Bodel (born 1948), Swedish singerEleanor Gwynn (known colloquially as "Nell") (1650-1687), Restoration actress and mistress of Charles II of EnglandUlrika Eleonora of Sweden, its reigning queen 1719-1720Eleonora, three 17th century Swedish queens consortCountess Palatine Eleonora Catherine of Zweibrücken, Swedish princessEleanor Marx (1855–1898), British writer and daughter of Karl MarxElinor Glyn (1864–1943), British novelistEleanor Porter (1868–1920), American novelistEleanor Rathbone (1872–1946), British politicianEleanour Sinclair Rohde (1881-1950), British garden designerEleanor Farjeon (1881–1965), British writerEleanor Roosevelt (1884–1962), First Lady of U.S. President Franklin RooseveltEleanor Lansing Dulles (1895–1996), American economist and diplomatElinor Wylie (1885–1928), American writerEleanor Boardman (1898–1991), American actressElinor Fair (1903–1957), American actressEleanor Audley (1905–1991), American actressEleanor Hibbert (1906–1993), British novelistElinor Smith (1911–2010), American aviatorEleanor Powell (1912–1982), American tap dancer and actressEleanor Parker (1922-2013), American actressEleanor Helin (1932–2009), American astronomerElinor Ostrom (1933–2012), American political scientist and Nobel prize winnerEleanor Duckworth (born 1935), Canadian psychologist and educatorElinor Donahue (born 1937), American actressEleanor Holmes Norton (born 1937), American politicianEleanor Bron (born 1938), British actress and authorEleanor Montgomery (1946–2013), American high jumperEleanor McEvoy (born 1967), Irish musician, singer/songwriterEleanor Friedberger (born 1976), American musicianEleonora Dziekiewicz (born 1978), Polish volleyball playerEleanor James (born 1986), English actressEleonora "Ellen" van Dijk (born 1987), Dutch road and track cyclistElinor Joseph (born 1991), Israeli soldierEleanor Tomlinson (born 1992), English actressElinore Pruitt Stewart (1876–1933), American homesteader in Wyoming and memoiristEleanora, principal woman's rôle in Strindberg's 1901 EasterEllie Bishop, in the television series NCISElinor Dashwood, in the 1811 novel Sense and Sensibility by Jane AustenEleanor of Tristain, fictional character in the novels and anime The Familiar of ZeroElanor Gardner, Samwise Gamgee's daughter in the The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. TolkienEleanor Lamb, one of the main protagonists of BioShock 2 by Irrational Games.Eleanor Nash, in Degrassi: The Next GenerationEleanor Butterbean, in the television series The Grim Adventures of Billy and MandyEleanor "Ellie" Arroway, in the 1985 novel Contact by Carl SaganEleanor 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