Elna

Popularized Catalan name that refers to the northern Catalan city of Elna. At the end of the Spanish Civil War, a Maternity Hospital was set up in Elna, run by a Swiss nurse - Elisabeth Eidenbenz - who looked after pregnant women from the Republican refugee camps who were fleeing Franco's fascist troops. When this story became known, many girls began to be named Elna, in tribute and memory of Elna's Motherhood and the many children and mothers she saved. Currently, according to official data from the Catalan Government's IDESCAT (2020) there are 910 women with the name Elna in the territory of Catalonia alone, with many more in the rest of the Catalan domain (Balearic Islands, Valencia , Northern Catalonia, Andorra and Catalan-speaking areas of Aragon and Sardinia.