Name of the Week

A rare and sprightly Welsh name
used by Disney for a plucky princess.

 

Origin:

Eilonwy is a Welsh name, coined in the 19th century -- a time of cultural revival when many Welsh names were being readopted from Welsh history and mythology and many new names were created from vocabulary words and common name elements.  On first glance, it looks as if Eilonwy is made up of eilon + wy. The word eilon is a homonym, meaning both "melody, song" and "deer, hart, stag," while -wy is a suffix found in several Welsh names such as Goronwy, Myfanwy, Cadwy and Daronwy.  It may have been inspired by the Old Welsh name Eluned/Eiluned which had been revived several years before and was derived from eilun "image, likeness, icon," referring to cult statues.

Usage:

There is a rather obscure mention of a 7th century Welsh (male) saint named Eilunwy.* This would most certainly be derived from eilun "image, icon," and is very reminiscent of Creirwy -- the name of the beautiful daughter of Ceridwen -- whose name derives from creir "sacred object, relic" + -wy.  Early Welsh history also has mention of Eilon the Crythwr (Harpist) a bard of Lord Rhys who won the music chair in the first eisteddfod in 1177. In his case, his name was probably meant to represent eilon "stag." However, neither name can be found in any other instance and was not revived in these forms in the 19th century.  Eilonwy was first used as a proper name in the late 1800s. It was, from the beginning, only used for girls -- Eilunwy and Eilon were not revived -- which suggests that eilon "melody, song." was the intended meaning.  The earliest reference I can find is a girl named Eilonwy Hughes on the 1881 UK census, born in Manchester in 1874 to Welsh-born parents. The second was a girl (also born to Welsh parents) in Liverpool in 1892.  From that point Eilonwy was confined almost exclusively to Wales and by 1911, there were 10 girls bearing the name. Sibling names included Caswallon, Iorworth, Morfudd, Gwerfyl and Ceinfron, all names from early Welsh history and legend. It is curious these parents didn't use other "new" Welsh names, which suggests that Eilonwy was at least considered at the time to have been an old Welsh name.  Welsh newspapers from the 1880s-1890s make mention of a hymn tune named 'Eilonwy' being performed in North Wales, though I cannot find a copy of the lyrics to ascertain what it was about. There is also a brief mention in John Rhys' Celtic Folklore: Welsh And Manx (1901) in The Fairies' Revenge of a girl named Eilonwy whose mother was a mermaid. Perhaps, then, Eilonwy was a name that had passed down orally through local Welsh folklore. Births for Eilonwy per decade in England and Wales: 1890s: 2 births 1900s: 5 births 1910s: 5 births 1920s: 4 births 1930s: 7 births 1940s: 1 birth 1950s: 1 birth 1960s: 1 birth (middle name)  1970s: 1 birth (middle name)  1980s: 3 births (middle name)  1990s: 3 births (middle name)  2000s: 4 births (middle name)  From 1964 to 1968, Lloyd Alexander used the name in his five children's fantasy novels The Chronicles of Prydain, for his principle character named Princess Eilonwy. The second book The Black Cauldron was made into an animated film in 1985 by Disney.  Despite this exposure by Disney and the high praise the books received, it did not boost the name Eilonwy. In fact, after the 1950s, Eilonwy was only used as a middle name, making it a rare literary and Celtic choice.

Famous Bearers:

Literature and Other Media: * Princess Eilonwy, a character in Lloyd Alexander's Chronicles of Prydainseries (1964-8). * Princess Eilonwy, a character in Disney's The Black Cauldron (1985).

Variants:

Eilona

Pronunciation:

ay-LON-wee, ī-LON-wee [key]

Possible  Diminutives:

Eili, Eila, Lonny, Lola

Sibling Names:

Ceridwen     Tegwen     Morfydd     Morwenna     Arianrhod     Melangell  Iorwerth     Rhydderch     Teilo      Rhisiart      Emrys       Taliesin

Name Lists:

Disney Names

 

If you like Eilonwy you may also like:   Eluned, Gwenonwy, Ealasaid, Eilithyia, Iolanthe, Esyllt, Myfanwy, Eirwen, Aeronwy, Elowen

 

Thanks to Olwen for requesting this post.