Eleanor

Where Eleanor comes from

The first known bearer was Eleanor of Aquitaine (1122–1204), Provençal Aliénor, perhaps from Latin alia (“other”) and her mother's name Aenor, its meaning thereby said to be “the other Aenor”. This Aenor seems to come from earlier Adenordis, which might be some corruption of Adamardis, feminine form of Ademar or Adamarus, from Proto-West Germanic *Audamār, from the Proto-Germanic elements *audaz (“riches”) + *mēraz (“fame”). An Arabic origin from نُور (nūr, “light”) has also been suggested. Eleanor has often been erroneously interpreted as a variant of Helen. More at Eleanor on Wikipedia. Also see Aenor.
— Wiktionary's entry for Eleanor
  • 3 syllables
Along the way
  1. 1124
    Eleanor of Aquitaine born
    Queen consort of France; Queen consort of England; suo jure Duchess of Aquitaine; patroness
  2. 1880
    First SSA year
    Already #126 among girls — 129 babies in the first year on record.
  3. 1884
    Eleanor Roosevelt born
    American diplomat and activist, First Lady of the United States from 1933 to 1945
  4. 2025
    Peak, #12
    7,649 babies named Eleanor — more than any year before or since.
  5. 2025
    The comeback
    Back to #12 after sinking to #692 in 1986.
In the dictionary
  • A female given name.
Namesakes
  • Eleanor Roosevelt · American diplomat and activist, First Lady of the United States from 1933 to 1945, 1884–1962
  • Eleanor of Aquitaine · Queen consort of France; Queen consort of England; suo jure Duchess of Aquitaine; patroness, 1124–1204
  • Eleanor Parker · American actress, 1922–2013
  • Eleanor H. Porter · American novelist, 1868–1920
  • Eleanor F. Helin · American astronomer, 1932–2009

Sources: the origin note and dictionary entry are quoted from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0); the namesakes come from Wikidata (CC0); the milestones are worked out from the SSA record.