Nelly

  • [ NEL-ee ]
  • English
Diminutive of NELL.

NELL   female   English
Medieval diminutive of names beginning with El, such as ELEANOR, ELLEN (1) or HELEN. It may have arisen from the medieval affectionate phrase mine El, which was later reinterpreted as my Nel.
ELEANOR   female   English
From the Old French form of the Occitan name Aliénor. It was first borne by the influential Eleanor of Aquitaine (12th century), who was the queen of Louis VII, the king of France, and later Henry II, the king of England. She was named Aenor after her mother, and was called by the Occitan phrase alia Aenor "the other AENOR" in order to distinguish her from her mother.

The popularity of the name Eleanor in England during the Middle Ages was due to the fame of Eleanor of Aquitaine, as well as two queens of the following century: Eleanor of Provence, the wife of Henry III, and Eleanor of Castile, the wife of Edward I. More recently, it was borne by first lady Eleanor Roosevelt (1884-1962), the wife of American president Franklin Roosevelt.
AENOR   female   Ancient Germanic (Latinized)
Probably a Latinized form of a Germanic name of unknown meaning. This was the name of the mother of Eleanor of Aquitaine.
ELLEN (1)   female   English
Medieval English form of HELEN. This was the usual spelling of the name until the 17th century, when Helen became more common.
HELEN   female   English, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Greek Mythology (Anglicized)
English form of the Greek ‘Ελενη (Helene), probably from Greek ‘ελενη (helene) "torch" or "corposant", or possibly related to σεληνη (selene) "moon". In Greek mythology Helen was the daughter of Zeus and Leda, whose kidnapping by Paris was the cause of the Trojan War. The name was also borne by the 4th-century Saint Helena, mother of the Roman emperor Constantine, who supposedly found the True Cross during a trip to Jerusalem.

The name was originally used among early Christians in honour of the saint, as opposed to the classical character. In England it was commonly spelled Ellen during the Middle Ages, and the spelling Helen was not regularly used until after the Renaissance. A famous bearer was Helen Keller (1880-1968), an American author and lecturer who was both blind and deaf.
HELEN   female   English, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Greek Mythology (Anglicized)
English form of the Greek ‘Ελενη (Helene), probably from Greek ‘ελενη (helene) "torch" or "corposant", or possibly related to σεληνη (selene) "moon". In Greek mythology Helen was the daughter of Zeus and Leda, whose kidnapping by Paris was the cause of the Trojan War. The name was also borne by the 4th-century Saint Helena, mother of the Roman emperor Constantine, who supposedly found the True Cross during a trip to Jerusalem.

The name was originally used among early Christians in honour of the saint, as opposed to the classical character. In England it was commonly spelled Ellen during the Middle Ages, and the spelling Helen was not regularly used until after the Renaissance. A famous bearer was Helen Keller (1880-1968), an American author and lecturer who was both blind and deaf.
FULL FORMS
ENGLISH: Elaina, Elaine, Elea, Eleanor, Eleanora, Eleanore, Elenora, Elinor, Ella, Elle, Ellen, Ellie, Elly, Elnora, Helen, Helena, Hellen, Lainey, Laney, Leanora, Lena, Lenora, Lenore, Nell, Nelle, Nora, Norah
EQUIVALENTS
AFRICAN AMERICAN: Shelena
ANCIENT GREEK: Helena, Helene
ARTHURIAN ROMANCE: Elaine
BULGARIAN: Elena, Eleonora
CROATIAN: Helena, Jela, Jelena, Jelica, Jelka
CZECH: Alena, Helena, Lenka
DANISH: Eleonora, Eli, Elin, Ella, Ellinor, Helen, Helena, Helene, Lena, Lene, Nora
DUTCH: Eleonora, Ellen, Heleen, Heleentje, Helena, Noor, Noortje, Nora
ENGLISH: Nellie, Nonie, Noreen, Norene
ESTONIAN: Helena, Jelena, Leena
FINNISH: Eleonoora, Eleonora, Eliina, Elina, Ella, Elli, Heleena, Helena, Heli, Leena, Noora
FRENCH: Eléonore, Hélène
GEORGIAN: Elene
GERMAN: Alena, Elena, Eleonora, Eleonore, Helena, Helene, Lena, Lene, Leni, Leonore, Lore, Nora
GREEK MYTHOLOGY: Helen, Helena, Helene
GREEK: Eleni
HUNGARIAN: Eleonóra, Heléna, Nóra
ICELANDIC: Helena
IRISH: Léan
ITALIAN: Elena, Eleonora, Ileana, Leonora, Lora, Lorita, Nora, Norina
LATVIAN: Elīna, Helēna, Jeļena, Jelena
LIMBURGISH: Noor, Noortje
LITHUANIAN: Elena, Jelena
MACEDONIAN: Elena
MEDIEVAL SLAVIC: Elena
NORWEGIAN: Eleonora, Eli, Elin, Ella, Ellinor, Helen, Helena, Helene, Lena, Lene, Nora
OCCITAN: Aliénor
POLISH: Eleonora, Helena, Lena
PORTUGUESE: Helena, Lena, Leonor
ROMANIAN: Elena, Ileana, Ilinca, Lenuța
RUSSIAN: Alyona, Elena, Lena, Yelena
SCOTTISH: Eilidh, Eilionoir
SERBIAN: Jela, Jelena, Jelica, Jelka
SLOVAK: Alena, Elena, Helena, Jela, Lenka
SLOVENE: Alena, Alenka, Helena, Jelena, Jelka
SPANISH: Elena, Ileana, Leonor
SWEDISH: Eleonor, Eleonora, Elin, Elina, Ella, Ellinor, Helen, Helena, Helene, Lena, Nora
UKRAINIAN: Lesya, Olena
WELSH: Elen, Elin
OTHER FORMS
ANCIENT GERMANIC: Aenor
CZECH: Ilona
ENGLISH: Alaina, Alayna, Nelda
FINNISH: Ilona
GERMAN: Ilona
HUNGARIAN: Ili, Ilike, Ilka, Ilona, Ilonka
LATVIAN: Ilona
LITHUANIAN: Ilona
POLISH: Ilona
SCOTTISH: Eilidh