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Eleanor or Penelope, I suppose. Though I knew a Nel (one L) whose full names were Catherine Cornelia. And it was Nel, not Neel!

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Deep in the roots of my family tree, someone married a Nellie, no other name, who was born in the 1870s. It stood alone then; it can stand alone now.

I love Nell as a nickname for Penelope.
Which I find really strange because for a long time I hated Penelope, especially with the nickname Penny. But one day I woke up and snap, suddenly I didn't hate it so much any more, I even quite liked it - but only with the nickname Nell.

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I think it sounds nice on it's own in a day-to-day kind of way but for formal occasions I definitely think it needs a longer form. :)

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I actually quite like Nell, even on it's own.
It could be a nickname for:

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Helena or Helen
Cornelia
Eleanor/Eleanora etc
Elena or Alena
Magdalene/Magdalena
Madeleine/Madeline

I think it could work on its own, but often it's nice to have a full name available for a character for certain situations.

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Let's see...

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Eleanor (and its variations)(Ellinor would be an appropriate choice)
Danielle
Ellen
Helen/Helena (if pron. like helen-a)
Narelle (australian)
Noelle
Chantelle

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if she's from a non-English/American culture, she might use Nell to Anglicize something like:
Natalya/Natalia
Elena
Neela
Antonella

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or you could make one up that sounds good for your tale. something stranger can always work if you want her to hate her full name or have off-beat parents but she's more straight-laced, etc. suggestions:

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Norelle
Ellaryn
Nellara/Nellora
Citronelle (ha! couldn't help it)
Rhondelle
Cornelle

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good luck! and let us know what you pick :)

I think it could convincingly be a nickname for Eleanor or Penelope. It's too short and insubstantial to be a full name, though, imo.

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I think it could stand on its own as a feminine name if it were spelt Nelle. Just the added 'e' makes a big difference to me. The most obvious full name to go with Nell would be Nellie/Nelly, I think. I can't really think of anything else off the top of my head.

Nell is sooo cute. I like it both on its own and as a nickname for Eleanor, Helen, and Penelope. I also like Nellie as an informal path to Nell.

I've been crushing on Nell for some months now! :) I like it best on its own, I'm not that fond of anything it could be a nickname for.

Nell is very nice. Simple, but sweet. I do think its better as a nickname, though. Personally, I like it as a nickname for Eleanor, Helen, or even Nellie.