While living in Puerto Rico, my eldest sister Donna had a good friend that went by “Ellie Mae.” From as early as I could remember, I liked the “ring” to that name. So I always had it in the back of my mind as an option for a future daughter.
Before Robert and I knew Henry’s gender, we were going through baby names for both sexes. Coincidentally, Robert’s fraternal Grandmother’s name is Eleanor, so it made it much easier for me to get Robert on board with the name. Robert always describes Grandma Brown as “very sweet.” So, if it (Henry) ended up being a girl, we would have named her Eleanor after Robert’s grandmother and nicknamed her “Ellie Mae.”
So it was a total no-brainer when we found out the gender this time around: Eleanor for sure!
The middle name was a little harder to land on for me (Robert didn’t care much about the middle name and pretty much left it for me to decide). I initially considered “Mae,” but didn’t care for the meaning (month of May). So, I nixed it and decided that the middle name needed to start with an “m” so that the nickname “Ellie Mae” would make some sense.
So, being that my middle name is “Marie,” I considered it (at length). I wasn’t happy with the common meaning “bitter sea” for it, though. The meaning bothered me so much that I had initially put the name down at the bottom of the list.
I love LOVE pearls so much that my wedding/engagement ring is with a pearl instead of a diamond, so I was looking at names with the meaning “pearl,” like Margaret, Margot, and Maisie. However, none of those names flowed well with Eleanor. Robert also didn’t care for those names.
So, I revisited the name “Marie” since it flowed so well with Eleanor. My tastes are focused on things being “timeless” and have an “Old World Charm.” Marie has been a popular name, especially in the late 1800s and early 1900s. It also has become an especially popular middle name in the past half century, that it has come to have a “timeless” feel to it. To convince me on “Marie,” I went back searching for possible other meanings and I decided that Marie would mean “lady of the sea.” “Lady of the Sea” was a fitting meaning as Eleanor was expected to arrive early July, a Cancer baby, which is a water sign.
SooooOOOOOoooo, “Marie” was the middle name choice for the majority of the pregnancy. We told EVERYONE that her name would be “Eleanor Marie.” But, I still wasn’t the happiest with Marie and at times would toy with the option of other middle names.
One night, at 32 weeks pregnant, I was sick with a cold and couldn’t sleep. So, I browsed the internet in the middle of the night and so happen to come across the name “Mabel” which means “beautiful, loving, and lovable.”
Back and forth, I went between “Marie” and “Mabel” (Robert was indifferent in this whole process!). What convinced me on “Mabel” was the fact that “Ellie Mae” as a nickname would be much more fitting, plus I really liked that the common meaning for Mabel was “lovable.”
Meaning of the name Eleanor: “Bright, Shining One” (Greek) or “God’s Light” (Hebrew) or “The other Aenor” (Old French)
Origin of the name Eleanor: The origin of Eleanor is not-so-clear. Many baby name websites list “Eleanor” as the English version of “Helen” or “Helene,” Greek for “torch.”
A Google search of the name will bring up a number of websites stating that the origin of “Eleanor” comes from Alienor of Aquitaine, Queen of France & Queen of England. It is speculated that Alienor means “the other Aenor” or “Aenor Junior.”
Some websites attribute “Eleanor” as the English version of “Elinor” which is Hebrew for “God is my light” or “God is my candle.”
More details and theories on the name’s origin: http://www.britishbabynames.com/blog/2015/04/eleanor.html
Named After: Robert’s Fraternal Grandmother Eleanor
Meaning of the name Mabel: Latin origin meaning “lovable.” Diminutive of Amabel.
Origin of the name Mabel: Medieval feminine form of Amabilis. This spelling and Amabel were common during the Middle Ages, though they became rare after the 15th century. It was revived in the 19th century after the publication of C. M. Yonge’s novel ‘The Heir of Redclyffe’ (1854), which featured a character named Mabel.
Named After: No one.
Meaning of the name Hynds: variant of Hinds, Hindes, Hines, Hynes, and other spelling variations. Derived from the Old English word hind, which refers to female deer. Therefore, Hynds refers to keeper of the deer.
Origin of the name Hynds: Scottish (and Irish)