Alternatives To Elena

Spanish form of Eleadora, a combination of Elio and Dora, meaning sun and gift respectively.

Makes a serious name frilly and feminine, which, depending on your viewpoint, might be a good or a bad thing. In this case, we vote good.

Though the most famous Elia, screenwriter Kazan, was male, this name sounds like a spin on many popular girls' names, from Ella to Ellie to Isla and Leah. While the Italian pronunciation has the middle syllable as LEE, making it closer to the original Elijah would give the middle syllable a long I sound -- eh-LYE-ah.

Eliana is a lilting, rhythmic choice, which has caught on in the US and other English-speaking countries. Currently popular in the UK, The Netherlands, Canada, and Brazil, it also makes the US Top 50.

The Elin variation makes an old favorite sleeker and more modern. Elin came to prominence via the ex-Mrs.Tiger Woods and is now perhaps best known via novelist Elin Hildebrand.. It entered the US Top 1000 in 2010, though it's now dropped off again.

Elina is one of the many variations of mother name Helen to make the US Top 1000 list, and is given to around 300 girls each year. While it might blend in among the Helenas, Elenas, and Alinas, it might be a good way to go if you want the eh-lee-nuh pronunciation or the potential for nicknames Elle, Ellie, or Ella.

Slimmed down spelling is well-established and makes an old name more modern, for better and worse. Katie Couric spells her Elinor's name this way.

Eliza is a name with a wonderful combination of streamlined zest and Eliza Doolittle charm and spunk. It's a classic that's popular right now -- but not too popular.

Ella is a sweet, simple name that owes much of its current popularity to the popularity of other names, from Emma to Bella to Emily to Ellie.

Combine the charming heroine of the movie Legally Blonde with supermodel Elle Macpherson and the trend toward all names beginning with "el"—Ellie, Ella, Eleanor—and you have one hit name.

An medieval English form of Helen, the sensitive but clear-eyed Ellen has swung in and out of style for centuries, often alternating with the parent name. Ellen was the more common in medieval England, until after the Renaissance, when Helen overtook her. In Edith Wharton's The Age of Innocence, set at the end of the nineteenth century, one character wonders why another has not changed her "ugly" given name to something prettier, like Elaine—a statement few would make today.

The multicultural Eliana has been rising quickly in recent years and is now popular in Netherlands, the UK, Canada, France, and Brazil. With in-built nicknames Ellie, Elle and Ana, Eliana - and her spelling variants - are versatile and appealing.

Ellie first took off in the UK—yes, in this nickname form—and this warm and friendly name has also become hugely popular here. In 2011, Ellie entered the US Top 100 girl names for the first time and has remained near the top of the charts ever since.

Ellis, a surname used sparingly as a first in the Wallace/Morris period, sounds new now for girls, as a gender-neutral alternative to Ella or Alice. It debuted in the US Top 1000 for girls in 2015.-- Ellis has always been in the Top 1000 for boys -- and seems to be headed straight up. One of the most popular gender-neutral names, currently there are two baby boys named Ellis for every girl.

Elnora is best known as the name of the heroine of the early 20th century novel A Girl of the Limberlost. While Elnora might plausibly have many derivations, the most logical is that isn't a contracted form of Eleanora, the Latinate variation of Eleanor.

As Elodie filters into the mainstream, parents may turn to the rarer Spanish form Elodia as an alternative.

This name comes from a genus of beautiful black and white Australian butterflies. Given the rise of "el" names such as Eleanor, Eloise, and Ella, Elodina could make a good choice for someone looking for a rarer name.

Lost in limbo for decades and decades, Elsa now stands a good chance of following along in the progression from Emma to Ella to Etta, thanks to the ice queen heroine who "Let It Go" in the wildly popular Disney movie Frozen. The name shot all the up to Number 286 (its highest ranking since the 1890s) in the year after the release of the movie, though it's now dropped back down the list in the US.

Eluana is a soft Italian name that might be a nice choice for people who are attracted to names like Elena and Emilia but are looking for something a little more unusual. Eluana is evidence that beyond the few familiar choices such as Gianna and Angelina, there are hundreds of attractive Italian names worth consideration.