My husband and I love the name [name]Eleanor[/name]/[name]Elinor[/name], but I really do not want our daughter to have a popular/trendy name. [name]Eleanor[/name] is so popular in these forums and is really trending up on the SSA website, but how popular/trendy do you think this name really is? [name]Do[/name] you know any baby Eleanors? I thought we might counteract the popularity by spelling it [name]Elinor[/name] (which is not even in the SSA top 1000), and/or using the nn [name]Ellen[/name] (which is trending down on SSA).
What do you think? Too popular? Any less popular but similar suggestions? Thanks!
I’ve never met an [name]Eleanor[/name] of any age! I think it’s so lovely and vintage, but by no means raging in popularity.
I think it’s more popular on nameberry than in the actual world. I wouldn’t worry about shooting up in popularity, either.
I prefer the [name]Eleanor[/name] spelling.
If your husband and you really love the name, use it! [name]Eleanor[/name] is beautiful
I love [name]Eleanor[/name]/[name]Elinor[/name] too! I haven’t met any child with the name but it comes up a lot on here. I think it is a good name that makes lots of short lists but gets culled later on. I don’t think it is too popular [name]IRL[/name]. I hope not cause I would love to use [name]Elinor[/name] after my brother [name]Eli[/name]!
Having an [name]Eleanor[/name] myself, I can almost guarantee it’s not going to become too popular in real life. I have an [name]Amelia[/name] [name]Rose[/name], (almost 3, [name]Amelia[/name] after my grandmother, [name]Rose[/name] after my husband’s) and the reaction to her name is always, “What a beautiful name, or oh how sweet.” When I tell people that my 5 month old is named [name]Eleanor[/name] I always get silence I love both names equally and knew I was going to name my first [name]Amelia[/name] 10 years ago, but I do wish that [name]Amelia[/name]'s name was not as popular as it is. Based on my personal experience, I would say you are good to go.
Yeah, [name]Eleanor[/name] may experience a minor bump because of the [name]Ellie[/name] trend, but I think it’s too old lady for many people’s tastes. NB taste tends to skew differently. If it makes you feel any better, I really like it, but am really unlikely to pick it ever as I love [name]Helena[/name] more : D. I think enough people are in similar boats to keep it from ever growing too high.
The only [name]Eleanor[/name] I know is my boyfriend’s 14 year old sister, therefore I don’t really see it as being popular! It’s one of my favourite names, and definitely I wouldn’t hesitate to use it, even though it sits at around #54 on the UK popularity list. It’s gorgeous (I don’t think [name]Elinor[/name] looks as elegant as [name]Eleanor[/name]) and has a plethora of lovely nicknames - [name]Ella[/name], [name]Elle[/name], [name]Ellie[/name], [name]Nora[/name], [name]Nell[/name] - so I think it’d be a great choice for your daughter. If you both really love it, that’s pretty marvellous, too - my OH and I never agree on names - so go for it!
The only [name]Eleanor[/name] I know is a 20 year old who I used to go to school with and goes by [name]Ellie[/name]. I don’t see it as being too popular either. I know a lot of kids named just [name]Ellie[/name] (I’m in the UK where the nickname as first name trend is big) but none that are actually [name]Eleanor[/name]. I prefer the [name]Eleanor[/name] spelling to [name]Elinor[/name]. Also I love the name [name]Ellen[/name], though I only know one person named it so if you used that as a nn it makes your daughter avoid being one of many Ellies/Ellas in the class.
@melcorral23. That’s funny, I have an [name]Eleanor[/name] and an [name]Amelia[/name] too! I get the exact same reaction, people just love the name [name]Amelia[/name] but when I tell them the other name I get “Oh, is that a family name?” or they just nod, smile and change the subject. We call our [name]Eleanor[/name] “[name]Nora[/name]” though. I know several other little [name]Nora[/name]'s including a couple of other toddlers at library story time and my dentists daughter. If you met any Eleanors they were likely introduced to you as [name]Ellie[/name] or [name]Nora[/name] with no mention of their full name.
I know two young [name]Ellie[/name]'s, but they are actually not [name]Eleanor[/name] as I thought, but [name]Elizabeth[/name] and [name]Eliana[/name]…the only [name]Eleanor[/name] I know is my age (she is also [name]Ellie[/name], incidentally). So it seems to me as long as you don’t call her [name]Ellie[/name] you’ll be golden. (I also know two young Ellens, strangely enough.)
[name]Love[/name] the name [name]Eleanor[/name]! (either spelling) It’s one of my faves, but I couldn’t get my husband behind it for any of our girls. Who cares if it’s popular? Choose a name you love. Also, I wouldn’t trust the popularity of names on websites to reflect real life. Maybe it’s just me living under a rock, but I NEVER hear most of the names everyone seems to love on baby naming sites, even though I know many people with kids and live in a large city. Hmmm…
I think you should use it! I don’t know any Eleanors personally, although I know people who know one or two Eleanors. I agree with the others–I think [name]Eleanor[/name] is much too old-fashioned for it to get much more popular than it already is. When I mention that I like [name]Eleanor[/name] (would only use it as a MN), people look at me weird, lol. I just don’t expect it to be a big hit. TBH, I was really surprised when I clicked on the [name]Eleanor[/name] link and saw it was ranked at 165 on the SSA list. I figured it was somewhere in the 400s or something.
[name]Ellie[/name] is a very popular nickname, but I don’t think [name]Eleanor[/name]/[name]Elinor[/name] is incredibly popular yet. [name]Love[/name] the [name]Elinor[/name] spelling (big [name]Jane[/name] [name]Austen[/name] fan over here).
I have an [name]Amelia[/name], too, and considered [name]Elinor[/name]/[name]Eleanor[/name] for awhile, but went with [name]Eloise[/name]. I guess the two names compliment each other well!
The only [name_f]Eleanor[/name_f] I know is my 3 yr old daughter! We love her name and always get compliments on giving her a beautiful old fashioned name!
I love [name_f]Eleanor[/name_f]! I’ve only met one and heard of two others. I don’t think you have to worry about it being the next [name_f]Isabella[/name_f].
I love the name [name_f]Eleanor[/name_f]! I’ve only ever met two people named [name_f]Eleanor[/name_f], both were the older sisters of my husband’s best friends (both named [name_m]Timothy[/name_m]). And they are late 20’s, and I’ve never heard anyone else with it. I think it’s a lovely name, and it makes me think of [name_f]Jane[/name_f] [name_u]Austen[/name_u]'s Sense and Sensibility
[name_f]Eleanor[/name_f] is great! I agree with pps that it isn’t going to get that popular. I would recommend the [name_f]Eleanor[/name_f] spelling. Using [name_f]Elinor[/name_f] won’t really change whether or not there are other Eleanors in her class, and people will just spell her name wrong (I think [name_f]Eleanor[/name_f] is prettier, too.)
I like [name_f]Elle[/name_f] as a less common nn (if you don’t like [name_f]Ellie[/name_f]). [name_f]Ellen[/name_f] is middle-aged-lady to me.
