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Ilona

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Ilona
GenderFemale
Language(s)Hungarian, Finnish, Estonian
Origin
Meaning"As a joy [to someone]" (in Finnish)
Other names
Variant form(s)Helen, Illona, Ilana, Ileana, Elena, Helena
Nickname(s)Ilonka, Ilike, Ica, Illy, Lo
DerivedTraditional name of the Queen of the Fairies in Magyar folklore

Ilona is a Hungarian female name.

In Hungarian female given name, the traditional name of the Queen of the Fairies in Hungarian folklore.[1][2]

Its etymology is uncertain, could be Finno-Ugric, but a common theory is that Ilona is cognate of the Greek given name Helen.[3]

Diminutive forms include Ilonka and Ilike.

Ilona is a common name in Finland,[4] where, according to folk etymology, it refers to the Finnish word ilo ("joy") and ilona literally means "as a joy [to someone]". It is also common in Latvia, Estonia, France, Lithuania and Poland[citation needed] (formerly in crown union with Hungary).[citation needed]

People

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See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Finno-Ugric Mythology in Hungarian Fairy Tales".
  2. ^ "Hungarian Fairies by Theodora Goss: Summer 2006, Journal of Mythic Arts, Endicott Studio". Archived from the original on 2011-09-07. Retrieved 2011-09-21.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  3. ^ Jarvis, Stan (2008). Discovering First Names. Osprey Publishing. p. 58. ISBN 978-0-7478-0383-6.
  4. ^ There are 25,000 women named Ilona in the Finnish Population Register: Name service