Eloise

From the Old French Héloïse, tracing back to Germanic roots associated with health and wide renown. Medieval romance popularized it through the letters of Héloïse and Abélard. American parents picked it up in the late nineteenth century, gave it a midcentury literary gloss, and revived it in large numbers after the turn of the millennium.

Hearing the name today almost always summons a toddler with a heavy wooden toy or a Great Depression birth certificate. Two distinct waves define it: flapper-era nurseries and contemporary daycares. It carries the faint association of hotel corridors and raw silk without sounding stiff. An Eloise is generally expected to have strong opinions about stationery.