Eilean as a Baby Name. Meaning and Origin of Eilean

What is the meaning of the name Eilean ?

The baby name Eilean is a Female name , 2 syllables long and is pronounced EL-en (IPA: /ˈɛlən/).

Eilean is Scottish Gaelic in Origin.

Eilean derives from Scottish Gaelic noun eilean “island” (pronounced ELL-en or AY-lən), long present in place‑names; adopted as a given name in Scotland in the late 19th–20th centuries amid Gaelic revival and romantic landscape associations; found among Highland families and the Scottish diaspora; mostly feminine, occasionally unisex.

In some records Eilean appears as a Scottish spelling of Eileen, linking it to Irish Eibhlín, itself from Norman French Aveline. The Aveline etymology is debated: sometimes traced to Germanic Ava (of uncertain meaning, often “desired”), and sometimes associated with the French word for hazelnut (ultimately “of Avella”). Thus Eilean may be read either as “island” or as part of the Eileen/Eibhlín family. Variants and related forms include Eibhlín, Eileen, Aileen, Ailene, Aveline, and Evelyn; rare Irish spelling Eiléan also occurs.