See the results of this poll: Do you prefer Eleanor or Eleanora?
Respondents: 17 (This poll is closed)
- Eleanor : 13 (76%)
- Eleanora: 4 (24%)
I’m an [name_f]Eleanor[/name_f], pronouced ‘[name_f]El[/name_f]-en-uh’ and people have been known to call me [name_f]Nora[/name_f] in the past (I go by [name_f]Ellie[/name_f], but I can see why you’d want to avoid it- it’s so popular now!).I think if you like [name_f]Nora[/name_f] as a nickname it’s intuitive enough that people will use it too as long as that’s what they’re introduced to :-). I’ve never really liked [name_f]Eleanora[/name_f] but I’m probably biased.
Other nicknames that I’ve heard and liked are [name_f]Elle[/name_f], [name_f]Nell[/name_f], and [name_f]Lena[/name_f] (pronounced ‘[name_m]Le[/name_m]-nuh’ and ‘[name_m]Lay[/name_m]-nuh’), but I know there are others about.
[name_f]Hope[/name_f] this helps! 
The main problem isn’t the popularity of [name_f]Ellie[/name_f], it’s part of it but not the deciding factor. I really like the nickname but DH’s cousin in [name_f]Elena[/name_f] ([name_f]Ellie[/name_f]), if she was older I might think we could get away with it more but she’s just a young child. [name_f]Eleanor[/name_f] and [name_f]Eleanora[/name_f] are quite close to [name_f]Elena[/name_f] but since she always goes by [name_f]Ellie[/name_f] I don’t think it’s an issue as long as we avoid the nickname.
I think [name_f]Eleanore[/name_f] …pronounced [name_f]ELL[/name_f] IN [name_f]NOR[/name_f] is very old hat but I’m in my early 60’s. I much prefer it pronounced [name_f]ELL[/name_f] EN A but I would just call the child [name_f]Ellena[/name_f]
I know a couple of [name_f]Eleanor[/name_f]'s that go by [name_f]Nora[/name_f]. [name_f]Eleanor[/name_f] seems strong to me; [name_f]Eleanora[/name_f] seems a bit snobby.