View Message

[Facts] Elana
Can anyone help me with the meaning of Elana?I found it in the book "Enchantress from the Stars", released in 1970. It won a Newbery Medal.Please rate my list: https://www.behindthename.com/pnl/6232
vote up1vote down

Replies

For Jewish people, Elana is mostly likely either a variant of Ilana or its own name made of the components "אֱלִ," which refers to god, and "עָנָה," which is often translated in Jewish baby name books as "answered."
vote up3vote down
Perhaps a tweaked spelling of Ilana? I've known a couple of South African Jewish women with that name. Or a merger of Ilana and Elaine?
vote up2vote down
Elana is such a simple sequence of sounds that it can occur in many languages and can have many meanings. It is also the kind of name that is easily made up by a writer or game designer. Does it have an in-book meaning in 'Enchantress of the Stars'?--elbowin
vote up2vote down