She’s a foreign import, a nature name and an unexpected way to get to an all-the-rage nickname.
Thanks to Corinne for suggesting Elowen as Name of the Day.
Think Americans are the only ones discovering new names? Not by a long shot. Just as we’re considering Sailor and Shelter, January and Canyon, parents elsewhere are landing on other word names to bestow on their children, especially those culled from the natural world.
Elowen comes from Cornwall, and derives from the Cornish word for elm tree. But there’s much more to her tale.
Celtic Cornwall has a history dating back perhaps as far as 800 BC, into the British Iron Age. King Edward III made his son Duke of Cornwall back in the fourteenth century. It’s been considered a county of England since 1888, and there’s been some unhappiness about English control, oh, probably since 1888.
Cornwall is a remote, rocky place, located at the southwestern tip of Great Britain. You would expect the language to be different, and so it is. The Celtic carryover known as Cornish traces back to the sixth century, but was nearly extinct by 1900.
Elowen wasn’t in use during the sixth century, or the twelfth or even the nineteenth. Instead, she’s part of a linguistic revival. Instead of heading for obscurity in the twentieth century, Cornish made a comeback. In 2002, Cornish was officially recognized under the European charter for minority/regional languages. A standard written form was adopted in 2008.
Of the half million people living in Cornwall, only a fraction are fluent speakers of Cornish – maybe 3,000. But that 3,000 represents a huge leap from just a century earlier.
Many more people recognize Cornish words – peren for pear, steren for star. Giving your child a Cornish name is one way for parents to honor their heritage.
Only remember that part about the language nearly being extinct? They had to invent them.
The fabulous Bewildertrix wrote to the Cornish Language Partnership last summer and received the following response:
Elowen is indeed used increasingly in Cornwall. … it is a Cornish word and is accepted as a name in Cornwall … The incidence of Cornish names is increasing all the time as people wish to explore their own heritage and pass it on to their children.
While unusual names often have more than one possible origin, all roads lead to Cornwall with Elowen. One possible alternate source is the masculine Elwen, a name related to Alvin and worn by an early saint – from Cornwall.
If you’re standing in Truro, pronounce this one with emphasis on the second syllable: el LOW en. But if you’re in the US, odds are you’ll favor ELL uh wen, sort of like Ellen dressed up with an extra sound in the middle.
While Elowen is undeniably a given name, there is something a tiny bit JRR Tolkein about her. The only notable use I could find was equally geek chic. In 2007, Mike Mignola and Christopher Golden’s graphic novel Baltimore, or The Steadfast Tin Soldier and the Vampire included a character called Elowen. It’s an obscure reference, but there’s talk of a movie adaptation.
With parents embracing ways to get to the nickname Ellie, file Elowen among the more intriguing options. She’s as tailored as surname choices like Ellison. And with El- names from Elsa to Elena to Elyse in the US Top 1000, she’d fit right in – while still standing out.
“Elowen” definitely hits a number of current trends: the “Elle/Ellie/Ella” crowd, the Tolkien-esque Arwen, Anwen, Bronwen types, as well as the new popularity of the lavender-scented Elise, Elodie, and Eloise. It won’t appeal to everyone, but it seems to hit an intersection. I love the history, but can’t seem to shake the “Ella Minnow Pea” association. “These are my twins: L.O.D. and L.O.N.”
Forgive me; I thought this was a Lord of the Rings name. Not my thing, I guess.
I agree: total Lord of the Rings feel to Elowen. And I’ll offer this comment again: if you’re just trying to get to a very-common nickname, the unusual name doesn’t accomplish much. Your child may feel quite ambivalent about their given name.
I don’t know, Joy. I think that the unusual name/common nickname can offer a compromise when parents’ naming styles are miles apart. Or just in case your child would rather blend in than stand out. I knew an Andromeda who answered to Andi. She didn’t hate her given name, it was just a bit much for everyday use.
Yeah, it sounds Lord of the Rings to me too.
Pretty sound to the name though.
I love this. I’d never use it myself, but I think it has such an elegant sound.
It’s very nice. A bit more user friendly than Éowyn (which I also like) and fresher than similar Gwen, Bronwyn/Bronwen, Olwyn/Olwen and the modern Raewyn etc.. the latter three which are not uncommon names here in NZ and found a lot on older females. I think it would work really well here. While it’s a rare name, it has an incredible familiarity about it.
And I glossed over how similar it is to Ellen with the ELL ah wyn pronunciation. I agree. I personally prefer eh LOW en now but that’s not how I originally said it.
I think some might dislike it being confused for a Tolkien name but many Welsh and Cornish names get this a lot. There are worse references. Still, could be deal breaker for some parents.
I also think its more modern history might put some off too, no matter how special/noble its origins.
I’d be thrilled to see more use. It’s been one of the most popular name searches on my blog for months so I could be rewarded.
We’re going to be naming our new daughter Elowen! She’s due in February. We are all in love with this name, even my 4 yo. Now, for a middle…
Wow! The American pronunciation really surprised me. I say it th other way. Though, that’s purely just accent etc . I can see the Lord of the Rings association, though that doesn’t bother me. It’s too similar to some of the names that I come across & just sounds very Welsh-like to me. It’s a pretty name, though not one I’d go for
I found this page while googling our daughter’s name so I thought I’d leave a comment. I was in a graduate linguistics program when my daughter was born, so the idea of choosing a name from a language undergoing a revival was very appealing to me. However, the main reason we picked it is that it sounds pretty.
Only a few people have ever assumed the Tolkein thing (and I had a little fun with one of them by claiming the name was actually from Battlestar Galactica); most people are courteous and curious enough to just ask rather than assume we’re nerdy enough to name our daughter after a fantasy or sci-fi character. Occasionally people will assume it’s spelled “Elowyn” and will look really confused when we explain that it’s not.
She’s in first grade now, about to turn 7, and she loves her name. We pronounce it with stress on the first syllable because that fits the typical American English stress pattern, but we don’t reduce the /ow/ entirely to a schwa. We have never, ever called her Ellie, though when she was very little we sometimes called her Lowie. She’s quite happy with Elowen as it is, and we are too.
Thanks, Steve. It sounds like the perfect choice for you – and I appreciate that you opted for the pronunciation that makes sense to most American English speakers. I’m sure that’s part of what makes the name so easy for your daughter to wear.
I too just saw this while googling my daughter’s name, she’s almost 3. We are plain old English not Cornish but have spent a lot of time there so thought we could get away with it. We also thought we’d end up shortening to Ellie or Elle but that’s never happened as Elowen suits her so well……a beautiful name for a beautiful girl!
i love this name, but i’d spell it elowyn…just feels more right
I have just Googled my daughter’s name too. We pronounce it Elle-oh-when, I like the slow, soft sound and the way the word feels. My husband and I had trouble deciding on a name, Elowen was 2 weeks old and we were under pressure to name her. He found the name and we both loved it immediately.
Unfortunately we have ended up shortening her name to Ella but they use Elowen at her pre-school and this is what she writes. She said to me the other day “Which one am I Mummy, Elowen or Ella?” She has just turned 4 and since her comment my husband and I have made an effort to call her Elowen.
We have recently moved from England (though not Cornwall) to Australia and some Aussies have trouble with the pronunciation but this doesn’t bother us, we appreciate it’s an unusual name. Like Steve’s post above, if we get any comments people are simply interested and don’t assume it’s a Tolkien or a Welsh name (though as a Tolkien fan I don’t mind the association).
I am pleased to have read this blog as it has has made me even more determined to stick with Elowen and not use Ella any more (though I still like the name Ella a lot).
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We have just named our brand new daughter Elowen Jane. Thank you for introducing me to this lovely and magical name on your excellent blog!
Congratulations, Emily! What a lovely, lovely name.