Nell

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A female first name of English origin; a diminutive form of Eleanor or Helen often used as a given name
2. A personal name typically bestowed upon girls, derived as a nickname from names like Eleanor or Helen
3. A woman's name frequently used as a short form for Eleanor or Helen, common in English-speaking countries

Etymology: Nell is a short form of Ellen, itself a variant of Helen, and its roots go back to the Greek "Helene," a name whose meaning is uncertain but was long associated with the bright light of the sun or torch. The name's journey into English runs through the medieval period, where "Ellen" and "Helen" were both common, and the diminutive "Nell" developed as a pet form, much as "Peg" grew from "Margaret." The pattern of shortening a name by dropping its opening vowel and keeping a single consonant-vowel-consonant sound is typical of English nicknames. "Nell" appears in English records as a familiar form of Ellen, and by the later Middle Ages it was widely used as a given name in its own right rather than only as a nickname. Some people also associate "Nell" with the phrase "Nelly" used for a stereotypically effeminate man, but that sense is a separate later development, not the origin of the name itself.

Synonyms: girl, female, woman