While I was putting together yesterday’s list of girl names outside the top 1,000, I spotted the name Elora, and I was reminded of this story.
Several years ago, Toronto couple Elaine Yuen and Kevin Shimmin welcomed a baby girl. They named the baby Elora after the Elora Gorge in Ontario, Canada.
The name paid tribute to Elaine’s “fond memories of hiking at the gorge.” She also liked that Elora began with El- (like her own name), and that it was “a short form of Elnora, derived from Eleanor, which means light.”
(Actually, the name of gorge comes from the name of a town, which comes from the name of a ship, which comes from the name of the Ellora Caves in India. Also, incidentally, Eleanor is more likely to derive from the name Alienor, meaning “the other Aenor,” than the name Helen, meaning “torch.”)
In any case…Elora Gorge Conservation Area superintendent Dan Morden said that, as far as he knew, Elaine’s Elora was the first baby to be named after the gorge.
Sources:
- Rushowy, Kristin. “Beautiful place, beautiful baby.” Toronto Star 26 Jul. 2008.
- Connon, John. The Early History of Elora, Ontario and Vicinity. Waterloo, ON: Wilfrid Laurier University Press, 1974.
Image: Adapted from Elora Gorge Cliff Face by Kalejade under CC BY-SA 4.0.
I was named after the Elora Gorge in 1981, my mom grew up in Kleinburg and loved the area.