Elinore
Feminine · “Uncertain”
Elinore is one of at least a dozen English spellings of a name that has never been settled. Eleanor, Elinor, Elinore, Eleanore, Elanor, Ellinor — the variation is not modern carelessness but a genuine four-hundred-year uncertainty about how to write a name English borrowed from Provençal and never fully digested.
How old is the name Elinore?
Elinore first appears in US birth records in 1887 — 138 years ago. The typical Elinore alive today was born around 1925, making them about 100 years old. About 600 people named Elinore are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Elinore most popular?
Elinore peaked in 1911, reaching #686 nationally. Today it ranks #7133, 6,447 places below that high. See the whole 1911 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From Aenor to Elinore
The story of Elinore
Eleanor of Aquitaine, queen of France and then of England, carried the name into English royalty in the twelfth century, and it stayed there through several more Eleanors. English never fixed a spelling because the name arrived already unstable in Occitan and French. American nineteenth-century records show every possible arrangement, and Elinore — with the i and the final e — peaked in 1911, alongside Elinor and Eleanore, at the top of the name's long Edwardian run.
Meaningnot established
Uncertain; possibly Provençal, from an Occitan phrase or a Germanic element
Eleanor descends from Aliénor, the name of Eleanor of Aquitaine. Its origin is genuinely unresolved: proposals include an Occitan phrase meaning the other Aenor, distinguishing her from her mother; a Germanic origin; and an Arabic derivation. The traditional gloss of light, borrowed from Helen, is a later folk association and is not supported — Eleanor and Helen are unrelated.
How the name formed
- Aenor
- Aliénor
- Eleanor
- Elinore
Related forms: Éléonore · Leonor · Eleonora · Eleonore · Aliénor
Pronouncing Elinore
EL-ih-nor
Three syllables with the stress on the first and the middle vowel reduced. The final e is silent and adds nothing audible. Eleanor, Elinor and Elinore are indistinguishable in ordinary American speech.
Nicknames for Elinore
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
- 1887
- Most girls named
- 192193 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #686reached in 1911
- Change vs 2023
- −16.7%15 in 2025, from 18
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.
Elinore in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Éléonore in French — same name
- Leonor in Spanish — same name
- Eleonora in Italian — same name
- Eleonore in German — same name
- Aliénor in Occitan — same name
Elinores among us
people named Elinore are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 girl in 107,151 born in 2025 was named Elinore
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Spellings of Elinore
- #7133
- Elinore on the 2025 chart
- #939
- counting every spelling
The SSA counts spellings, not names. Elinore went to 15 girls in 2025, but Ellinore is the same name said out loud. Together the 2 spellings went to 21, which makes it the 939th most-given girls’ name of the year — 6,194 places above the chart.
- Elinore15
- Ellinore6
About 1 girl in 76,537 born in 2025 was given one of these spellings — against 1 in 107,151 for Elinore itself.
Spellings are grouped by a fixed rule that folds interchangeable English spellings of one sound (ck/k, ph/f, x/ks, a non-initial y for i) and keeps vowels apart, so Sean and Shawn stay separate names. It errs towards splitting: a family here is never larger than the truth. SSA national data, 2025. Method
Is it right for you
What happens to a name after it peaks
Fashion outlook
Elinore sits in the calm middle of the cycle — neither chasing a wave nor sliding off one. Middle-of-the-cycle names age slowly and predictably.
A scored estimate from 146 years of naming cycles — not a prophecy. Great names outlive statistics. How this is scored
Elinore beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Elinore in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US girls given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- It carries one of the most substantial figures of the twelfth century.
- Nora, Nell and Ellie are three completely different short forms, each fully established.
- The spelling has a genuine historical pedigree rather than a modern one.
- Eleanor is the standard modern spelling and will be assumed.
- The meaning is genuinely unknown, and the light gloss is borrowed from an unrelated name.
- At least six spellings are in historical use.
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Elinore
Feminine · #7133 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Elinores are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 600 people named Elinore are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How do you spell Elinore?
- Elinore is the most-used spelling in US records — 15 of the 21 babies given the name in 2025. The others recorded are Ellinore.
- How popular is the name Elinore in 2025?
- Elinore ranks #7133 among US girl names in 2025, with 15 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Elinore?
- About 1 in every 107,151 US girls born in 2025 was named Elinore — 15 in all.
- Will my child share the name Elinore with classmates?
- Elinore will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Elinore
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Pennie#7133 · Zina#7133 · Elzie#7133 · Rosabel#7133 · Adelene#7133 · Cruz#7133 · Kansas#7133 · Ione#7133
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Elinore? See the current top 100.
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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