Editor’s note: This post was originally published on January 20, 2009. It was substantially revised and re-published on October 7, 2013.
Take one medieval saint, transport her to Paris and what do you get?
Thanks to Mariuccia and JNE for suggesting today’s Baby Name of the Day: Elodie.
In the age of Ella, plenty of parents are searching for creative ways to arrive at that nickname, or the equally appealing Ellie. Factor in the fashionable allure of French appellations for girls, and it comes as no surprise that Elodie is attracting quite a bit of attention.
She sounds like modern noun name Melody, but goes much farther back.
Sisters Alodia and Nunilo lived near Cordoba in the ninth century. It had been more than a century since the Muslims had come to power in Spain, and the girls’ mother remarried a Muslim man. The girls refused to convert.
It was a perilous time for Christians – the tolerance that had characterized the first century of Muslim rule was fading. Four dozen Christians would be executed for apostasy in the 850s.
Nunilo and Alodia were both martyred for their beliefs, are both considered saints. The carving pictured to the right is from a church in the small town where the sisters once lived.
Alodia is probably a Visigoth name – the Visigoths ruled the area for centuries. That means that Elodie is a cousin to Otto – both are derived from od – wealth.
It is also a place name. Part of Nubia was called Alodia while under Christian rule during the Middle Ages. It was established before the girl known as Alodia was born, and would last for several centuries after her death. We’re not sure how the state got its name, but it may share the same roots as the saint’s name.
As the saint’s story traveled from Spain to France, Alodia eventually became Élodie.
Variants like Elodia and Alodie appear occasionally in various European languages, and all forms appear in the US Census records, too. But they’re very rare. In the late 19th century, British citizen Elodie Lawton married a Serbian diplomat, learned his language and translated many classic Serbian works. Women religious sometimes took the name.
Alodia is nearly unknown today, but Elodie is at her most popular:
- She peaked in the 1980s in France, peaking in the 1980s, and ranks in the Top 50 in French-speaking Canada.
- French actress Elodie Bouchez appeared in the final season of television sensation Alias, playing a secret CIA assassin.
- Gail Carson Levine gave the name to the heroine of her 2011 novel, A Tale of Two Castles.
- My favorite? Short-lived cast member of The Hills, Elodie Otto, because of the link between her first and last names.
Elodie charted in the US a few times in the late nineteenth century, then disappeared. But she looks to be making a comeback. 149 girls received the name in 2012. That’s double the number in 2010. Judging by the positive attention Elodie generates, she’s likely to continue her rise.
She’s startlingly pretty, even delicate. There are so many great three-syllable, ends in ‘ee’ choices. Elodie is among the most ethereal of them all, a sister for Ariel or Lorelei.
Overall, she’d wear well on a modern girl. Elodie is tremendously historic, in step with current trends and still nicely uncommon.
My daughter is Elodie Jayne Lily and is 10 months old. We chose the name as we wanted something unique yet pretty at the same time. We get lots of comments, mostly saying how unusual but lovely the name is. We do also get lots of people asking how to spell and pronounce it, we usually say, it’s like melody without the ‘m’!
Our daughter who turned four a few weeks back we named Elodie Amina: after initially looking at Freyja, we lost our love for the name Freyja/Freya due to the notice of the popularity rise at the time within the UK [our birth country]. We wanted something unique for our daughter to be representative of her European parentage as she grows up within the U.S, but also maintain a uniqueness to girl names in the U.K.
Like others have communicated, it’s often commented how beautiful a name it is, but also I have had to say ‘like Melody’ to help with pronunciation – must be a guy thing, as I know my wife does not offer that explanation.
Our baby girl is nearly 7 months old and so excited to find and read this page as we named her Elodie Margaret! The middle name after my lovely grandmother who passed away recently. Elodie was on our list but not really in the running, but as soon as we saw her we knew she was Elodie! I love the name, and the majority of people genuinely seem to love it too, although few have heard it before!
We named our new baby Elodie Elizabeth. She is 5 weeks old and she is so beautiful and I am glad we gave her such a beautiful unique name to suit her!
Congratulations, Angela! What a lovely name.
I too am an Elodie. I can trace my name through my family tree. I had an aunt Elodie. She was our aunt DeDe. My name traces back to my French ancestors that settled in Acadia (now known as Nova Scotia) back in the early 1600’s. I have always wondered about the origins of the name. I always thought it meant “little white flower”. That fits me as I am very petite. Much love to all the other Elodie’s out there.
Love this name plan on using it for my little girl’ well its either going to be Elodie or Acacia. I love the nickname Ellie and I’m hoping when people hear Ellie they will say is that short for Eleanor and I can’t wait to say nope It’s short for Elodie I adore this name 🙂 x
My precious little girl, Elodie Anne, turned four months yesterday. I find myself constantly having to repeat the name to people and instruct them on how to pronounce it, but that does not make me love it any less. I think it’s the perfect combination of feminine and uncommon but not strange. It suits her perfectly, and I am so happy we decided on it. We call her Ellie or Elle a lot, and I like the fact that she’ll have options as she gets older, matures and goes through different phases. I love my Ellie Belly!
My name is elodie Anne, also. I am 53 years old and was named for my French grandmother, who was born in the late 1800’s.
My beautiful little girl is called Elodie Scarlett 🙂
She turns 3 in December, and she suits the name perfectly. I can’t imagine her being called anything else.
We’re in the UK, and its barely heard of. The mispronunciations were a little annoying at first but 2 1/2 years on it doesn’t seem to be a problem anymore.
My little bright bubbly redhead is the light of my life 🙂
Great combination! And glad to hear Elodie wears well.
I really like the name Elodie although it’s very close to my own name Jodie I still think it works. I was looking for a name that could be my girls choice when I came across Elodie and since then I’ve been hoping to find some history on the name so thank you for the update. What’s strange is you quote the name Lorelei which is in fact the name of my friends daughter so perhaps this means I’ll be expecting a girl. So looks like Elodie Iris Briony will be arriving in the not to distant future…. As aposed to her male counter part Caleb Seth Isaac. I also noticed someone else here has an Elodie Iris not too far off my soon to be daughters Elodie Iris Briony how much more of a hint do I need!
I really like the name Elodie although it’s very close to my own name Jodie I still think it works. I was looking for a name that could be my girls choice when I came across Elodie and since then I’ve been hoping to find some history on the name so thank you for the update. What’s strange is you quote the name Lorelei which is in fact the name of my friends daughter so perhaps this means I’ll be expecting a girl. So looks like Elodie Iris Briony will be arriving in the not to distant future…. As aposed to her male counter part Caleb Seth Isaac.