Re: Ellen vs. Helen
in reply to a message by Starfish and Coffee
Helen, every time and all the way. Ellen has never been used much where I live, and though I like Eleanor, Elinor etc a lot, it's never appealed to me. Too many Victorian and Edwardian authors used it for housemaids! Helen has a wonderful pedigree, right back to Troy; granted, a friend's parents wanted to name their youngest daughter Helen but took a calm, thoughtful look at her siblings and decided that it would instantly be shortened to Hel(l), and since their father was a Baptist minister, they went for Eleanor instead. But it's a chance I'd happily take.