Fennella as a Baby Name. Meaning and Origin of Fennella

What is the meaning of the name Fennella ?

The baby name Fennella is a Female name , 3 syllables long and is pronounced feh-NEL-ə (IPA: /fɛˈnɛlə/).

Fennella is Irish, Scottish Gaelic in Origin.

Fennella is a modern respelling of Fenella, an English and Scots (also Manx) form of the Gaelic Fionnuala (Old Irish Findguala/Finguala). Formed from fionn “fair, white” + guala “shoulder,” it means “fair‑shouldered” or “white shoulders.” The name is rooted in Irish mythology through Fionnuala, the swan‑maiden daughter of Lir in the Children of Lir, a legend that kept the name alive across Gaelic‑speaking regions.

While Fennella itself is recent, the wider name family has a long record: medieval Gaelic annals attest Findguala/Finguala, and the Anglicized Fenella gained wider British notice via Sir Walter Scott’s Peveril of the Peak (1823), which set a Manx heroine named Fenella before the public. Variants include Fenella, Finola (modern Irish), Finvola (Ulster tradition), and the diminutive Nuala; Gaelic spellings Fionnuala and Fionnghuala remain in use.

⚙ Fennella is exceptionally rare. There are only 1 recorded use on record, spread over 1 country.