Ilona Explained

Ilona
Gender:	Female
Meaning:	"As a joy [to someone]" (in Finnish)
Language:	Hungarian
Language2:	Finnish
Language3:	Estonian
Nickname:	Ilonka, Ilike, Ica, Illy, Lo
Variant Forms:	Helen, Illona, Ileana, Elena, Helena
Derived:	Traditional 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 (formerly in crown union with Hungary).

People

• Archduchess Ilona of Austria (1927-2011)
• Ilona Andrews, joint pen name of American novelist duo Ilona and Andrew Gordon
• Ilona Csáková (born 1970), Czech pop singer
• Ilona Eibenschütz (1872–1967), Hungarian pianist
• Ilona Elek (1907–1988), Hungarian world and Olympic champion saber fencer
• Ilona Fehér (1901–1988), Hungarian violinist and teacher
• Ilona Gófitz, Hungarian conjoined twin
• Ilona Graenitz (1943–2022), Austrian MP and MEP
• Ilona Gusenbauer (born 1947), Austrian high jumper
• Ilona Hlaváčková (born 1977), Czech swimmer
• Ilona Jokinen (born 1981), Finnish opera singer,
• Ilona Maher (born 1996), American rugby player, 2020 Olympian with the USA Eagles Women's Rugby 7s squad,
• Ilona Massey (1910–1974), Hungarian actress
• Ilona Mitrecey (born 1993), French singer
• Ilona Novák (1925–2019), Hungarian swimmer
• Ilona Ostrowska, Polish actress
• Ilona Palásti (1924–1991), Hungarian mathematician
• Ilona Senderek (born 1988), Polish figure skater
• Ilona Slupianek (born 1956), retired world champion shot putter who competed for East Germany
• Ilona Staller (born 1951), aka Cicciolina, Hungarian-born Italian porn-star, sometime politician, and singer
• Ilona Štěpánová-Kurzová (1899–1975), Czech concert pianist and piano teacher
• Ilona Szabó de Carvalho (born 1978), Brazilian political scientist
• Ilona Szilágyi (before 1455–1497), Hungarian princess consort of Wallachia as the second wife of Vlad III the Impaler
• Ilona Tőzsér, Hungarian sprint canoer
• Ilona Zrínyi (1643–1703), Hungarian-Croatian countess

See also

• Ilonka (disambiguation)
• Elonka (disambiguation)

Notes and References

1. Web site: Finno-Ugric Mythology in Hungarian Fairy Tales.
2. Web site: Hungarian Fairies by Theodora Goss: Summer 2006, Journal of Mythic Arts, Endicott Studio . 2011-09-21 . usurped . https://web.archive.org/web/20110907143604/http://www.endicott-studio.com/rdrm/rrHungarianF.html . 2011-09-07 .
3. Book: Discovering First Names. Jarvis, Stan. 58. Osprey Publishing. 2008. 978-0-7478-0383-6.
4. There are 25,000 women named Ilona in the Finnish Population Register: Name service