Talk:Eleanor

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Supposed Yoruba derivation[edit]

I am removing the following paragraph:

In the language of the Yoruba peoples of West Africa, a similar name has existed for centuries, recently rising to prominence as a result of its similarity to the Western name Eleanor. Eyla-Nor, literally translated means “nosey” or “overly inquisitive”, typically used as a moniker for someone who is excessively concerned about the affairs of others. The domestic mouse, is known by the Yoruba as Eyla-Nor Rob, (Pronounced Eleanor Robb) literally meaning the inquisitive little rat, to differentiate this creature from its larger rodent cousin.

The above is highly unlikely. Eyla-Nor doesn't look like a Yoruba word to me. The online English-Yoruba dictionary I found (http://www.yorubadictionary.com/englishyoruba.htm) gives the Yoruba words for "mouse" as èkúté and eliri, and the Yoruba word for "rat" as èkútéöfonlárìnká . "Nosey" is given as ÿôwòti imú bö çjôçlêjô, and "inquistive" as ti ìwáàdí tìtôsë. It seems highly unlikely to me therefore that Eyla-Nor Rob could possibly mean "inquistive little rat" in Yoruba. This paragraph is almost certainly a cruel joke written to tweak some real person named Eleanor Robb, and I am amazed that it has been in this Wikipedai article for almost ten months without anyone else objecting to it. Clevelandkentevans 20:00, 5 February 2007 (UTC)[reply]




Well, what is now the origin of the name? 02:24, 23 November 2006 (UTC)

I don't agree, I don't see any contradiction. We do not know the origin of the name, there are several possibilities. The article makes that clear. Ammi 14:02, 4 December 2006 (UTC)[reply]
It seems that wikipedia prefers to keep uncertain informations to make sure that everything is uncluded? (See the said Yoruba meaning). Actually I believe that the origin of the name is quite clear and the part about Helen is a common misbelief. The part about the first known bearer of the name is really clear about it's origin and meaning.
I can only find one page stating the origin of the name to be Helen, while all the others say that it has a french/teutonic origin. Some mix it up, but even those connecting it to Helen mention Eleanor of Aquitaine to be the first known bearer. So maybe they simply connected it to "Elene"/"Elena" (-> Helen) and the similar sounding arabian name (which is mentionned in the article), because they didn't know about the meaning in the Occitan language. If the part about Helen should be included, it should be mentioned afterwards and as being uncertain, since the part about the origin of the name being "Alienor" is certain (like I said it is even mentioned on pages that state the origin to be Helen). And there connecting "Alienor" to Helen is already more difficult since the sound isn't close to Elena or Elene/Ellen at all. The french wikipedia also explains the meaning of Alienor and Eleanor in the same way ("other Aenor"). So in fact a valid source for the connection to Helen is much more needed than for the connection to Alienor.
If anybody has some information on the "Helen" part, please post it here, if not I believe that it should be removed or mentioned as a common misbelief or the uncertain meaning of the two. 81.56.106.64 12:50, 24 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]

meaning of Ænor[edit]

It isn't clear to me how Ænor comes from the words lenire and adoucir. Is this really true? —Preceding unsigned comment added by Ships at a Distance (talk • contribs) 03:46, 18 August 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Perhaps that came from a French source which attributed it to Latin lenire and gave adoucir as a French gloss (both mean 'to soften'). It's still rather absurd, but I wouldn't be surprised if early philologists – and dime-a-dozen modern Name Your Baby lists – took it seriously. —Tamfang (talk) 05:22, 28 October 2013 (UTC)[reply]

removed from Helen[edit]

I took this out of Helen (given name), a false cognate.

Eleanor is derived from the Provençal name Ænor, which comes from the words lenire, meaning "to heal," and adoucir, "to soften".[citation needed] The first woman called by the name was Eleanor of Aquitaine, a queen consort of France and of England in the twelfth century, who was named Ænor after her mother and called Aliénor, from Alia-Ænor, meaning "the other Ænor" in the Occitan language.[citation needed] The name Eleanor has also been associated with and regarded as a form of the older name Helen and shares many of its variants. It is the name of many saints and queens.

Also removed forms with 'r' from the list there:

—Tamfang (talk) 05:19, 28 October 2013 (UTC)[reply]

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