Name of the Week: Elodie

 

Origin:

Élodie (often written as Elodie in English) is the French form of the Spanish name Elodia.  The name is used in honour of a 9th century Spanish saint who is usually called Alodia. She and her sister were the daughters of a Muslim father and Christian mother in the Province of Huesca in Northern Spain. Both girls followed their mother's religion and were martyred for their faith during the persecutions of the ruler of Cordoba, Abdal-Rabman II.  The etymology of the name Alodia is somewhat shaky. Most commonly, it is thought to derive from the Old Germanic ala "all" and od "wealth, riches, prosperity," perhaps an inheritor of Huesca's Visigothic heritage. The main problem with this theory, however, is that this name is completely unknown and unattested elsewhere in Germanic lands. Most Germanic names can be found in multiple forms, spread across Europe, so it is very strange that no other Germanic name deriving from ala and od can be found.  If Alodia is Germanic in origin, it is more likely a form of another Germanic name. Prime contender is the prolific Helewidis from haila "whole, hale, sound" and wid "wide" which can be found in use throughout Europe in multiple forms.  Elodie is also the name of a semi-double pink lily.

Usage:

While Elodia was used in Spain in honour of the saint since at least the 15th century, the French Élodie appears to have been more regularly used from the 17th century.  Both the Spanish and French form of the name was very rare in Britain up until the 20th century when it became slightly more regular in use, but still very uncommon. A breakdown of the number of registrations in England and Wales for Elodie and Elodia per decade are as follows:   Elodie Elodia 1840s: 1850s: 1860s: 1870s: 1880s: 1890s: 1900s: 1910s: 1920s: 1930s: 1940s: 1950s: 1960s: 1970s: 1 birth 0 births 1 births 2 births 6 births 4 births 1 birth 4 births 9 births 2 births 4 births 3 births 8 births 7 births 0 births 0 births 0 births 2 births 1 birth 0 births 0 births 1 birth 0 births 0 births 1 birth 1 birth 0 births 0 births dataaddict.fr (click to enlarge) In France, Élodie was moderately popular at the turn of the 20th century, after which it began to decline. In 1901, 101 girls were given the name giving it a rank of #181. This number gradually declined, and from 1937-1961, Elodie was given to no more than 10 girls in any given year in France (according to INSEE). Its fortune turned at this point, and Élodie began to rise rapidly, peaking in 1988 with 12,087 births. It declined again from this point, but it was still in the top 100 at the turn of the 21st century, ranking #35 in 2000, #53 in 2002 and #78 in 2005, after which it fell out of the top 100 in France.  click to enlarge In England and Wales, the opposite is the case, as Elodie has been steadily rising since 1996 when it ranked #1364 (13 births).  By 2005, it ranked #509 (68 births) and was #260 (187 births) by 2011.  In 2015, Elodie ranked #162 (336 births) in England and Wales and #252 (16 births) in Scotland.

Famous Bearers:

History: * Saint Alodia, a 9th-century Spanish martyr. * Elodie Lawton Mijatović (1825-1908), British author. Contemporary: * Elodie Lauten (1950-2014), French-born American composer. * Élodie Frégé, French singer. * Élodie Bouchez, French actress. * Élodie Navarre (b. 1979), French actress.  * Élodie Yung (b. 1981), French film actress. Literature and Other Media: * Élodie Bradford, title character in French police series of the same name. * "To Elodie" (1904), poem by the Irish poet John Todhunter Other: * Lilium Elodie, a semi-double, pink lily. * 10726 Elodie, a main-belt minor planet.

Variants:

Elodia, Alodia (Spanish, Italian)

Pronunciation:

EL-ə-dee [key]

Possible  diminutives:

Ellie, Ella, Edie, Dee

Sibling Names:

Ottilie     Sylvie     Lilia     Rosa     Felicity    Bonnie  Jasper     Felix    Maximilian     Rafe     Oscar     Miles

Name Lists:

Dulcet Dainties

  

If you like Elodie you may also like:   Cecily, Eloise, Audrey, Eliza, Amelie, Emilia, Dulcie, Esme, Verity, Delphine

Thanks to Gina for requesting this name.