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Elinor

Elinor: name meaning, origin & popularity

Meaning
“meaning uncertain”
Origin
French
Say it
EL-ih-ner · 3 syllables
Used for
Girls

Elinor is a variant of Eleanor. Eleanor's origin is uncertain, though it is strongly associated with Old French usage via Aliénor of Aquitaine.

English namesFrench namesClassic namesVintage namesRoyal names

How popular is Elinor?

202443.0 per million US babies
1880192019602000
Drag the line or the slider to read any year. Values are per million US births recorded by Social Security. Records before about 1937 undercount births, so early peaks can look taller than they were.

Babies named Elinor in 2024144

2024 rank#1,501 girls

Peak year1916

Total US babies since 188021,496

Elinor is steady now but far below its 1916 peak.

Names like Elinor

Variants, related forms and names with the same roots.

  • Eleanormeaning uncertain · French
  • Ellieshort form of names ending in -el or -ella · English
  • Lenoralight · English
  • Eleanorameaning uncertain · French
  • Nellbright, shining one · English
  • Eleanoreuncertain; associated with Aenor · French
  • Elanoruncertain; associated with Eleanor · Unknown
  • Lenorelight · Greek

Elinor questions

What does the name Elinor mean?

Elinor means "meaning uncertain". It comes from French. Elinor is a variant of Eleanor. Eleanor's origin is uncertain, though it is strongly associated with Old French usage via Aliénor of Aquitaine.

Is Elinor a boy or girl name?

Elinor is mainly a girl's name in US records (100% of uses since 1880).

How popular is Elinor?

144 US babies were named Elinor in 2024. Its peak year was 1916.

How do you pronounce Elinor?

Elinor is usually pronounced EL-ih-ner.

Birth counts: US Social Security Administration national data, 1880–2024 (names given to 5+ babies of a sex in a year). How we write meanings.