Eleanore
Feminine · “Not settled”
Eleanore is the fuller-bodied spelling of a name that came into English from Occitan by way of Norman French, and it has been written in half a dozen ways since the twelfth century — Alianore, Elianor, Eleanora, Eleanore. In the mouth it is three unhurried syllables that most people can spell on the second try and pronounce on the first. It is well represented among the oldest generations and turning up again among the youngest, with a long quiet stretch in between.
How old is the name Eleanore?
Eleanore was already in use when US birth records began in 1880 — it is at least 145 years old. The typical Eleanore alive today was born around 1924, making them about 101 years old. About 4,300 people named Eleanore are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Eleanore most popular?
Eleanore peaked in 1916, reaching #225 nationally. Today it ranks #1396, 1,171 places below that high. See the whole 1916 chart.
Where it comes from
From Aenor to Eleanore
The story of Eleanore
The name arrives in English with the Normans: Eleanor of Aquitaine, duchess in her own right and queen consort first of France and then of England in the twelfth century, carried the Occitan form Alienòr, which French and then English scribes reshaped again and again. Medieval English records spell it Alianore, Elianor and Eleanore more or less interchangeably, since a fixed spelling was nobody's concern yet. Two more English queens named Eleanor followed in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, which fixed the name in the country's naming stock for good. The -e ending survived into modern use as one of several accepted spellings rather than as a separate name.
Meaningscholars disagree
Not settled — two serious explanations compete
The best-known account traces it to Eleanor of Aquitaine, who was named after her mother Aenor and distinguished from her by the Occitan phrase alia Aenor, 'the other Aenor'. The competing reading takes the Occitan Alienòr as a Germanic compound name in its own right, with no such wordplay behind it. The gloss 'light' or 'bright' that circulates widely comes from centuries of confusion with Helen and its Latin forms, not from anything in this name's own line.
How the name formed
- Aenor
- Alienòr
- Alianore
- Eleanor
- Eleanore
Related forms: Eleanor · Éléonore · Eleonore · Eleonora · Leonor · Eleonora
Pronouncing Eleanore
EL-uh-nor
The final -e is silent, so Eleanore and Eleanor sound identical. Some British and Irish speakers compress it to EL-in-or. The four-syllable EL-ee-uh-NOR-uh belongs to Eleanora, a different spelling.
Nicknames for Eleanore
High
What the data says
146 years of official birth records
The long climb, and where it stands now
The same years in position rather than babies
- First recorded
- 1880
- Most girls named
- 1921768 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #225reached in 1916
- Change vs 2022
- +44.4%156 in 2025, from 108
Rank is a position, a count is a headcount, and they move independently — a name can hold its rank while the number of babies behind it falls. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration.
Eleanore in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Eleanor in English — spelling variant
- Éléonore in French — same name
- Eleonore in German — same name
- Eleonora in Italian — same name
- Leonor in Spanish — related form
- Eleonora in Polish — same name
Strongest US states over the last decade: California, Ohio, Texas.
Eleanores among us
people named Eleanore are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 girl in 10,303 born in 2025 was named Eleanore
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Is it right for you
What happens to a name after it peaks
The Elma test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Eleanore's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Elma climbed just as high around 1901, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Elma's path sketches the road Eleanore is walking now.
Eleanore is on its second act. Revived names age gently: the generation that wore them first is far enough away that the name feels classic rather than dated.
A scored estimate from 146 years of naming cycles — not a prophecy. Great names outlive statistics. How this is scored
Where Eleanore is headed
Eleanore looks set to keep climbing gently, with roughly 15% more babies a year by 2030 if the current curve holds.
Medium confidence — fitted on official counts through 2025.
A damped-trend projection of the official birth data — a sketch of momentum, not a promise. Every name's forecast, ranked.
Eleanore beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Eleanore in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US girls given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- An unusually deep bench of established short forms — Ellie, Nora, Nell, Nellie — each with its own long record of use.
- Pronunciation is instantly obvious to English speakers, even when the spelling has to be repeated.
- Documented in continuous use since the twelfth century, with no gap long enough to make it feel recovered rather than inherited.
- Has close equivalents in French, German, Italian, Spanish and Polish, so it travels without translation.
- The default spelling is Eleanor, so this version will be corrected on forms and in email for life. Most people who hear it will write it without the final -e unless told.
- It sits in a cluster of near-identical names — Eleanor, Eleanora, Elinor, Leonora — and adults will occasionally reach for the wrong one.
- Ellie, the readiest short form, is currently very common on its own, so a child called Ellie may share that name with others even while the full name stays rare.
- Among living Americans the name skews strongly toward the oldest generations, so it may register as a great-grandmother's name to some listeners and as a fresh choice to others.
Nobody names a baby alone.
Put Eleanore to the vote.
Add it to a family vote or a couple’s swipe deck — the other person gets one card, a simple answer and room to say why. No app, no account for them.
Only the people you invite can see your list.
Already decided on Eleanore? Hide it among decoys and let them guess.
What they receive
Someone added a name to your list
Eleanore
Feminine · #1396 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Eleanores are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 4,300 people named Eleanore are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Eleanore in 2025?
- Eleanore ranks #1396 among US girl names in 2025, with 156 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Eleanore?
- About 1 in every 10,303 US girls born in 2025 was named Eleanore — 156 in all.
- Will my child share the name Eleanore with classmates?
- Eleanore will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Eleanore
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Inez#1396 · Ayesha#1396 · Erica#1396 · Maeva#1396 · Layne#1396 · Noelia#1396 · Calla#1396 · Kynlee#1396
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Eleanore? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Eleanore and another name?
See them side by side — full stats, history and a gentle verdict.
Compare side by sideIn a hurry? Just pick a winner — one tap, no sign-up, and you see how everyone else voted.
Weighing a whole shortlist? Add the rest in the builder, or settle it with a bracket.
Cast your vote
Which one would you pick?
Your gut first, the numbers after — the split shows once you pick.
US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
No advertising trackers and no data sellinghow we handle your dataindependent and founder-run, about Name Battle