Ilona

Ilona is a feminine given name used primarily in Hungary and Finland, as well as in other parts of Central and Eastern Europe.

Key facts

Given name.name: Ilona
Given name.gender: Female
Given name.meaning: "shining", "joy"
Given name.language: Hungarian, Finnish, Estonian, Latvian, Lithuanian, Polish, German, Czech
Given name.origin: Greek (Helenē), via Slavic (Jelena)
Given name.derived: Traditional name of the Queen of the Fairies in Hungarian folklore
Given name.related names: Helena, Helen, Elena, Jelena, Ileana, Ilana
Given name.nickname: Ilonka, Ilike, Ica, Illy, Lo, Ilka

via Wikipedia infobox

~8 min read

Encyclopedic overview

3 sections

Contents

People
See also
References

Ilona is a feminine given name used primarily in Hungary and Finland, as well as in other parts of Central and Eastern Europe.

The name Ilona is the Hungarian form of the Greek name Helenē (Ἑλένη), which is commonly interpreted to mean “torch,” “light,” or “shining one.” The name likely entered Hungarian through Slavic intermediaries such as Jelena.

Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “Ilona” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.