Elvish Names in Lord of the Rings: What Every Character's Name Means

Quick Answer: Most Elvish names in Tolkien describe an image or a quality. Legolas is "green leaf", Galadriel "maiden crowned with a radiant garland", Arwen "noble maiden", Elrond "star-dome", Lúthien "enchantress", Fëanor "spirit of fire", Gandalf's Mithrandir "grey pilgrim", Glorfindel "golden-haired", Gil-galad "star of radiance" and Eärendil "sea-lover". Thranduil's meaning is uncertain.

Tolkien was a philologist first and a storyteller second. He said himself that the languages came before the stories. That is why almost every Elvish name in The Lord of the Rings and The Silmarillion means something, and why the meaning usually tells you who the character is.

This page is a hub. Each entry gives the name, its meaning in one line, a short note on where it comes from, and a link to a full post where one exists. We only give meanings that Tolkien himself stated or that appear in his published linguistic notes. Where Tolkien left the meaning unclear, we say so instead of guessing.

For general Elvish names you can use for people, pets or characters, see the separate guide to Elvish names and their meanings. This page is about the characters.

---

Quick Reference Table

---

The Fellowship and Its Friends

Frodo — Iorhael

Frodo is a hobbit, and "Frodo Baggins" is itself an English stand-in for his true Westron name, Maura Labingi. Maura means "wise, experienced". The Sindarin Iorhael translates that meaning: ior "old" + hael "wise". It is a translation of his name, not a separate name the Elves invented.

Meaning: old wise one. Full post: Frodo's Elvish Name and Meaning: Maura, Iorhael, and the Hobbit's Hidden Identity

Gandalf — Mithrandir

Mithrandir is the name the Elves of Middle-earth gave Gandalf. Faramir lists it among his names in The Two Towers ("The Window on the West"). It joins mith, "grey", with randir, "wanderer, pilgrim". "Gandalf" itself is not Elvish; Tolkien took it from the list of dwarf names in the Old Norse Völuspá.

Meaning: grey pilgrim, grey wanderer. Full post: Mithrandir Meaning: Gandalf's Elvish Name Explained

Legolas

Legolas joins laeg, "green", with golas, "foliage". Tolkien's late notes explain that Legolas is a Silvan form; in pure Sindarin it would be Laegolas. "Greenleaf" in English is the same name translated.

Meaning: green leaf, green foliage. Full post: Legolas Name Meaning: Why Thranduil's Son Is Called "Green Leaf"

Aragorn — Elessar and His Other Names

Aragorn carries more names than any other character: Aragorn itself (Sindarin, his birth name); Estel ("hope"), given to him as a child in Rivendell; Thorongil ("Eagle of the Star"), used when he served Rohan and Gondor in disguise; Elessar, "Elfstone", the Quenya name under which he is crowned (its Sindarin equivalent is Edhelharn); and Telcontar, the Quenya for Strider, the name of his royal house. The sword Andúril, "flame of the West", is reforged from Narsil for him.

Meaning: Elessar = Elfstone; Estel = hope. Full post: Aragorn's Four Elvish Names and Andúril — Complete Guide

---

The Elf-lords and Elf-ladies of the Third Age

Galadriel

Galadriel comes from galad, "radiance", and riel, "a garlanded maiden". It describes her hair, which caught the light of the Two Trees. The name is often wrongly tied to galadh, "tree", because of the tree-cities of Lórien; Tolkien rejected that reading.

Meaning: maiden crowned with a radiant garland. Full post: Galadriel Name Meaning: "Maiden Crowned with a Radiant Garland"

Arwen — and Undómiel

Arwen joins ar-, "noble, royal", with -wen, "maiden". Her title Undómiel is Quenya: undómë, "evening twilight", plus el, "star". The result is "Evenstar". There is no element miel in it.

Meaning: noble maiden; Undómiel = Evenstar. Full post: Arwen Name Meaning: "Noble Maiden" and the Evenstar Undómiel

Elrond

Elrond is the Half-elven lord of Rivendell, son of Eärendil and Elwing. His name contains el, "star", the same element as in Elendil and Elbereth, and Tolkien glossed the whole as "star-dome". His twin brother Elros chose the fate of Men and became the first King of Númenor.

Meaning: star-dome. Full post: Elrond Name Meaning

Thranduil

Thranduil is the Elvenking of northern Mirkwood, the father of Legolas and the king of The Hobbit. His name is Sindarin in shape, but Tolkien never published a clear meaning for it. Sites that translate it with confidence are guessing. We keep it marked as uncertain.

Meaning: uncertain. Full post: Thranduil Name Meaning

Glorfindel

Glorfindel is the Elf-lord who meets Aragorn and the hobbits on the road to Rivendell. In the book, he is the one who says Mae govannen to Aragorn and who sets Frodo on his horse Asfaloth with the cry Noro lim, Asfaloth! (FotR Book I, chapter 12); the films gave that scene to Arwen. His name joins glor-, "golden", with findel, a tress of hair, related to Quenya findë, "hair" (The Silmarillion, Appendix "Elements in Quenya and Sindarin Names").

Meaning: golden-haired.

---

The Elder Days: Names From The Silmarillion

Lúthien — and Tinúviel

Lúthien, daughter of Thingol and Melian, is the Elf-maiden who loved the mortal Beren. Tolkien glossed her name "enchantress", which fits the songs with which she overcame Sauron and Morgoth. Beren called her Tinúviel, "daughter of twilight", a word for the nightingale, because he first saw her dancing at dusk. Arwen is her descendant and repeats her choice.

Meaning: enchantress; Tinúviel = daughter of twilight, nightingale. Full post: Lúthien Name Meaning: "Enchantress" and Tinúviel the Nightingale

Fëanor

Fëanor is the Sindarin-shaped form of Quenya Fëanáro: fëa, "spirit", plus nár, "fire". His mother Míriel gave him the name. His father-name was Curufinwë, from curu, "skill", and his father's name Finwë. He made the Silmarils, and Appendix E of The Lord of the Rings credits him with devising the Tengwar.

Meaning: spirit of fire. Full post: Fëanor Name Meaning: "Spirit of Fire" and the Maker of the Silmarils

Celebrimbor

Celebrimbor was the greatest smith of Eregion in the Second Age, the grandson of Fëanor through his son Curufin. He made the Three Rings of the Elves, and Sauron deceived him over the rest. His name joins celeb, "silver", with paur, "fist, hand". It is a smith's name: the hand that works silver.

Meaning: silver fist, silver hand.

Gil-galad

Gil-galad was the last High King of the Noldor in Middle-earth. He fell with Elendil when Sauron was overthrown at the end of the Second Age, and Sam recites a fragment of a poem about him in The Fellowship of the Ring. Gil-galad was an epithet; his given name in The Silmarillion is Ereinion. The epithet joins gil, "star", with galad, "radiance" — the same galad that is in Galadriel (The Silmarillion, Appendix).

Meaning: star of radiance.

Eärendil

Eärendil the Mariner is Elrond's father. He sailed to Valinor to ask the Valar for help against Morgoth, and he was set to sail the sky with a Silmaril on his brow; the light in Galadriel's Phial is his star. Many sites translate his name "Star of the Sea". That is wrong. It is ëar, "sea", plus -ndil, "devoted to, friend of": a lover of the sea. When Frodo and Sam cry Aiya Eärendil Elenion Ancalima! in Shelob's Lair, it is the star they call on, but the name itself is about the sea.

Meaning: sea-lover.

---

Patterns in Tolkien's Elvish Names

Read the list above together and a few habits stand out.

Light and stars come back again and again. El "star" appears in Elrond, in Undómiel and, through gil, in Gil-galad. Galad "radiance" appears in both Galadriel and Gil-galad. The Elves called themselves the people of the stars, and their names show it.

Nature gives the rest. Legolas is a leaf. Glorfindel is a colour of hair. Eärendil is the sea. Lúthien's second name is a bird.

Skill and craft mark the Noldor. Curu, "skill", is in Fëanor's father-name Curufinwë and in his son Curufin. Celebrimbor's name is literally a smith's hand. The same curu is in Saruman's Elvish name Curunír, "man of skill".

Many characters have more than one name. Lúthien and Tinúviel, Arwen and Undómiel, Aragorn and Elessar, Fëanor and Curufinwë, Ereinion and Gil-galad. Elves received a father-name and a mother-name, and others often gave them a third. The well-known name is not always the first one.

Sindarin in Middle-earth, Quenya in Valinor. Most names spoken in Middle-earth are Sindarin. Quenya appears in names from Valinor and in formal titles. Fëanor shows both at once: a Quenya name worn in a Sindarin shape.

---

Writing These Names in Tengwar

Every name on this page can be written in the Tengwar, the script Fëanor devised. Quenya names are usually written in the Quenya mode, with vowel signs over the consonant before; Sindarin names often use a mode with the sign over the consonant that follows. Try any name in our Tengwar name generator, and check the Tengwar alphabet guide before you use one for a tattoo.

If you want to read these names for yourself instead of looking them up, our Elvish course teaches Quenya and Sindarin from the sounds up.

---

People Also Ask

What do the Elvish names in The Lord of the Rings mean? Most describe a quality or an image. Legolas means 'green leaf', Galadriel 'maiden crowned with a radiant garland', Arwen 'noble maiden', Elrond 'star-dome', Mithrandir 'grey pilgrim' and Glorfindel 'golden-haired'.

Which Elvish name means star? Several contain a star word. Elrond means 'star-dome', Gil-galad 'star of radiance', and Arwen's title Undómiel means 'Evenstar', from undómë 'evening twilight' plus el 'star'.

Does Eärendil mean Star of the Sea? No. Eärendil means 'sea-lover', from ëar 'sea' and -ndil 'devoted to, friend of'. He later sails the sky as a star, but the name itself is about the sea.

What does Thranduil mean? The meaning of Thranduil is uncertain. Tolkien never published a clear gloss for it, so any confident translation you see online is a guess.

Related Reading

• Elvish Names and Their Meanings: The Complete Guide
• Legolas Name Meaning: Why Thranduil's Son Is Called "Green Leaf"
• Galadriel Name Meaning: "Maiden Crowned with a Radiant Garland"
• Arwen Name Meaning: "Noble Maiden" and the Evenstar Undómiel
• Lúthien Name Meaning: "Enchantress" and Tinúviel the Nightingale
• Fëanor Name Meaning: "Spirit of Fire" and the Maker of the Silmarils
• Mithrandir Meaning: Gandalf's Elvish Name Explained
• Female Elvish Names by Book: Every Named Elf-Woman in Tolkien