I saw someone else post about websites having different meanings for different names…
So heres my question…
Some sites say that [name]Eleanor[/name] is a version of [name]Helen[/name]…which makes sense to me and would mean that the meaning is [name]LIGHT[/name]…
Other sites say that [name]Eleanor[/name] is a name in itself and has NO MEANING… other sites say that it means from Aenor…
Some sites say all 3 of the above!!!
What do you think… Anyone know the real meaning???
I’ve always heard that [name]Eleanor[/name] is a form of Aenor, I think, with the meaning “pity”. I heard someone say that they had planned to use [name]Eleanor[/name]/[name]Lenora[/name] to honor a family tradition of using [name]Helen/name from generation to generation, and it really confused me, haha, because I’d never heard that [name]Helen[/name] and [name]Eleanor[/name] are related. Behind the Name and [name]Baby[/name] Names World (the two sites I trust the most) both list [name]Eleanor[/name] as a form of Aenor so that’s what I would go with…
Most likely from Aenor, I think [name]Eleanor[/name] of Acquitaines mother was known as Aenor and [name]Eleanor[/name] was used to differentiate between the two but I could be wrong.
Wanted to add that if the name stems from Aenor (which I believe it does) then “[name]Alia[/name]-AENOR” would be a translation of the name meaning “other-AENOR” in the Occitan language. [name]Ali[/name]énor is another version of the name that is currently somewhat popular in [name]France[/name].
I used a wiki as my source so it might not be 100% right but this has always been my understanding of the name [name]Eleanor[/name] and it’s roots but I’m not great at explaining things. Here is my source: Aliénor — Wikipédia
Really? [name]Alienor[/name] (sorry, can’t do accents on my laptop!) is semi-popular in [name]France[/name]? I was just talking to someone about how much I loved it as a French alternative to [name]Eleanor[/name] and they said it was like an old-person name there, haha. For some reason I thought I’d been talking to you, but I guess not, lol.
@ashthedreamer a lot of old names like Enguerrand, Garance, calixte and Alienor are popping up on boards and growing in popularity. I’m glad because I love old names Here’s a link to some info on Alienor with popularity charts and ratings if you’re interested! Aliénor (prénom fille) : signification, origine, sainte, avis
I would compare it to a name like Margaret here, it’s older but it’s coming back around, some people will think its fresh but some will only imagine it on old ladies. Right now I’d say “ette” names in France are being put in the old lady category but older older names are becoming chic again.
Typing on my phone sorry for any typos or weird autocorrections!
Agree with the posters above that [name]Eleanor[/name] most likely is a form of Aenor, and about the meaning, like ashthedreamer, I trust [name]Baby[/name] Names World and Behind the Name, so I think the meaning is ‘pity’, which is unfortunate because ‘light’ is so much better.
Thank a lot thetxbelle for the links! On a slightly unrelated note, I wonder whether French boy names like Clotaire and [name]Marcel[/name] could make a comeback. But I am not sure that we could make a comparison because when you look at the chart given on Journal des Femmes, [name]Alienor[/name] was almost completely unheard of for decades.
@minorbeatrice I’m not sure about marcel or clotaire coming back, marcel isn’t taken very seriously for some reason that I don’t understand buy [name]Marion[/name] cotillard and guillaume canet just named their son marvel so who knows. I don’t know much about clotaire but I will look into it when I can!
Typing on my phone sorry for any mistàkes or autocorrections!
When I heavily considered [name]Eleanor[/name], I researched and researched the meaning, I was never able to get a definite understanding for an original meaning…
The name [name]Eleanor[/name], or versions of it, predate [name]Eleanor[/name] of [name]Aquitaine[/name], which puts a hole in the theory of [name]Alia[/name]-Aénor. Also, some etymologies have Aénor derived from [name]Helen[/name] as well.
Youre right! Upon further inspection I found the following info, I think in my excitement I didnt fully read this wiki Aliénor — Wikipédia but below is a translation with more information. I should point out that on the French wiki the name [name]Ali[/name]énor is used throughout but I changed it to the English version [name]Eleanor[/name]. Any parenthesis with italicized info is from me, I took some liberties with the translation by cutting out a few words but leaving all the info intact (if that makes sense)…
"[name]Ali[/name]énor is a female name, the best known is [name]Eleanor[/name] of [name]Aquitaine[/name]. Acquitaine’s mother was Aenor Châtellerault, so she was named “[name]Eleanor[/name]” (contraction of “[name]Alia[/name]-Aenor”), meaning “other-Aenor” in langue d’oc (Occitan language) . However, because Aenor Châtellerault herself sometimes signed under the name [name]Eleanor[/name], there are doubts about the veracity of this hypothesis.
Moreover, it seems there were at least two other Eleanors before [name]Aquitaine[/name]: the wife of Viscount of Thouars, Aimery II, and [name]Eleanor[/name] de Thouars, daughter of Aimery IV of Thouars, who was the grandmother of Aenor Châtellerault. (interesting!)
[name]Ali[/name]énor became Éléonore (Langue d’oïl* variant) in most European languages and [name]Eleanor[/name] in English. The meaning of the name Aenor is still unknown. It’s possible that the name [name]Eleanor[/name] is closer in origin to the Hebrew name “[name]Eliora[/name]” ( ‘[name]El[/name].î’ [name]Orah[/name] ) which means “God is my light.” or the arabic “Allah.î nur” which has also been suggested."
[name]IMO[/name] [name]Eleanor[/name]'s etymology cannot completely be determined but it has a very rich and royal history!
*this is hard to explain so I will give you a link for anyone interested but basically it’s medieval French dialects (I think Occitan in this case) variants Langues d'oïl - Wikipedia
Please chime in with any corrections or new info! Sorry for any confusion or typos!