Eileen

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Girl · Irish, from Norman French

Eileen

Say it: eye-LEEN

Try it with your surname

Meaning

An anglicized form of Irish Eibhlín, a Gaelic form of the Norman name Aveline, whose own origin is uncertain (possibly Germanic).

Likelythe main view, with some doubt.

Spread from Ireland to England and America in the late 19th century, and was popular in the US from the 1910s to the 1950s.

Its wave through time

Fading since the 1940s

In the United States

187,700 babies given this name since 1882
At its height in 1943, about 1 in 341 girls
398 babies in 2020

Through the ages

Used by

Irish American English

The family of the name

Other spellings: Aileen, Eilene, Ilene

Irish	Eibhlín

Famous bearers

Eileen Collins, American astronaut

Names worth a look

LorettaGirlAssociated with Loreto in Italy, the shrine of the Holy House of Mary, and treated as a diminutive of Laura (Latin…Victorian · peak 1938

MollyGirlA medieval pet form of Mary, from Hebrew Miryam, whose meaning is uncertain.Renaissance · peak 1991

GeraldineGirlFrom Gerald (ger 'spear' and wald 'rule'); first used by the poet Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey, for a woman of the…Renaissance · peak 1931 · forgotten

RileyGirl or boyFrom an Irish surname (Ó Raghallaigh, of uncertain meaning) or an English place name, 'rye clearing'.Victorian · peak 2008

KatieGirlA pet form of Katherine, from Greek Aikaterine, whose origin is unknown; the popular meaning 'pure' comes from a…Victorian · peak 1986

MaggieGirlA pet form of Margaret, from Greek margarites 'pearl', itself probably borrowed from an Eastern language.Victorian · peak 1884

EleanorGirlFrom Occitan Aliénor, of uncertain origin; it is often explained as alia Aenor 'the other Aenor', but this is not…Middle Ages · peak 1915

EllenGirlThe English vernacular form of Helen, from Greek Helenē, of uncertain meaning.Middle Ages · peak 1884

Where this comes from

United States Social Security birth records, 1880 to today source
National census records of the 19th and 20th centuries
United States Social Security birth records, 1880 to today source

Meanings and histories are compiled from the study of names and their languages and checked by a second review.

Meanings and histories are drawn from the study of names and their languages, each with a confidence rating; popularity figures come from official birth records. Name histories are a living field: if you know of a correction, we would be glad to hear it.