Female Elvish Names and Meanings
Tolkien-Inspired Elven Baby Names From LOTR and The Silmarillion
Dec 8, 2008
This list is not definitive, but contains some of Tolkien's most memorable female Elven characters. Although Tolkien's relative preponderence of male characters is often noted, Middle-Earth boasts many female Elves with carefully-constructed, meaningful names. Names of characters who appear in Peter Jackson's LOTR movies are indicated with an asterisk.
Female Elf Names and Translations
*Alatáriel -- the name given to Galadriel by her husband, meaning "maiden crowned with a radiant garland".
Amarië -- One of the Vanyar, Amarië was loved by Finrod but refused to follow him to Middle-Earth.
Anairë -- The wife of Fingolfin, mentioned in The History of Middle-Earth.
Aredhel -- 'Noble Elf', a minor character in The Silmarillion. Her name in Quenya was Irissë.
*Artanis -- another of Galadriel's names, meaning 'noble woman'.
*Arwen -- Elrond's daughter and wife of Aragorn. Arwen means 'noble maiden'. Arwen chose to renounce immortality in order to stay on Middle-Earth with Aragorn.
Celebrían -- Arwen's mother. Celebrian means 'silver queen'.
Eärwen -- Galadriel's mother. Her name means 'sea-maiden'.
Eirien -- Not the name of a character, but Tolkien's Sindarin translation of the name 'Daisy', who was a daughter of Samwise Gamgee.
*Elanor -- Elanor in LOTR was not an Elvish character—rather, she was the hobbit daughter of Samwise Gamgee. However, her name comes from 'elanor', meaning 'sun-star', an Elvish flower.
Elenwë -- The mother of Idril. Her name means 'star' in Quenya.
Elwing -- Elrond's mother. The name means 'star-spray'. Elwing spoke with sea-birds and had the power of flight.
Enelyë -- One of the first six Elves to be created. Her name means 'third'.
*Galadriel -- An important figure in Middle-Earth history, Galadriel ruled the forest of Lothlórien with her husband Celeborn. She was famous for her power and her very long, beautiful golden hair. The name means 'maiden crowned with a radiant garland'--it is a Sindarin form of her name Alatáriel.
Idril -- roughly translates as 'sparkling brilliance'. Idril and Tuor, a mortal man, married and produced Eärendil, the savior of Middle-Earth.
Iminyë -- wife of Imin, and one of the first Elves to awake according to Tolkien's creation myth. Iminyë is presumably a feminine form of Imin, which means 'first'.
Indis -- the second wife of Finwë, following the death of Míriel. Grandmother of Galadriel.
Irimë -- one of the daughters of Finwë. Some of Tolkien's manuscripts give her name as Írien; Irimë was also nicknamed Lalwen.
Lúthien -- Lúthien married Beren, a mortal, in the first of only three recorded Elf-human marriages. Brave and resourceful, Lúthien tricked Morgoth himself (the ultimate evil in Middle-Earth) in order to rescue her beloved. After many adventures, which are recounted in The Silmarillion, Lúthien and Beren died together as mortals. The name means 'enchantress'.
Melian -- a Maia who married Thingol; Lúthien's mother. 'Melian' is Sindarin for 'Beloved'.
Míriel -- the first wife of Finwë, Míriel was so drained by the birth of her son Fëanor that she deliberately allowed herself to die.
Mithrellas -- an Elf who bore children to a Numenorean man, and later disappeared.
Nellas -- a friend of the unfortunate Túrin, Nellas saved his life by testifying at Túrin's trial for killing his attacker.
Nienor -- Sindarin for 'mourning'. The original name of Níniel, Túrin's ill-fated bride.
Nimrodel -- a tragic Elf-maiden after whom a river was named. The word means 'Lady of the White Grotto'.
Níniel -- Sindarin for 'tear-maiden'. Another name for Nienor, a human woman who unknowingly married her brother.
Tatië -- One of the first six created Elves. 'Tatië' means 'second'.
Tinúviel -- Lúthien was known as 'Tinúviel', 'nightingale' for the sweetness of her song which charmed even Mandos, the keeper of the dead.
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