Elinor

Elinor is an English and Welsh form of Eleanor, itself derived through Old French Aliénor from the Occitan name Alienòr, whose precise origin is debated; it may derive from the Germanic elements ali, meaning foreign or other, combined with a second element, or it may be a Latinized form of the Greek name Helénē, connected to the word for torch or light. The name gained wide prominence in medieval Europe largely through Eleanor of Aquitaine, the powerful twelfth-century queen consort of both France and England. Elinor is closely associated in English literature with Elinor Dashwood, the steadfast heroine of Jane Austen's Sense and Sensibility. Related forms include Eleanor, Eleonora, Leonor, and Elénore.