Nellie
name, noun ·2 syllables ·Rare ·Advanced level
Definitions
- 1 Clipping of high nellie, a type of roadster bicycle. Ireland, abbreviation, alt-of, clipping
"CHORUS:Be the holy man above tonight did ye ever see the likes. Sally Doran sitting there upon her great big nellie bike. It was at twelve o'clock at night, I got an awful fright. But it was only Sally Doran on her great big nellie bike."
- 1 A diminutive of the female given names Eleanor, Ellen, Helen, or Chanel; popular as a formal given name at the turn of the 20th century.
""Then we will call her Matilda," said he, "as it is a maxim of mine never to spoil children by giving them pet names." "But you call your daughter Nellie," suggested the little widow, and in her soft, blue eye there shone a mischievous twinkle, as if she fancied she had beaten him in his own argument. - - - "That is sister Kelsey's idea, and as she is very fond of Nellie I do not interfere."
- 2 A diminutive of the female given name Chanel. rare
- 3 A diminutive of the male given name Nelson. rare
Example
More examples""Then we will call her Matilda," said he, "as it is a maxim of mine never to spoil children by giving them pet names." "But you call your daughter Nellie," suggested the little widow, and in her soft, blue eye there shone a mischievous twinkle, as if she fancied she had beaten him in his own argument. - - - "That is sister Kelsey's idea, and as she is very fond of Nellie I do not interfere."
Etymology
Suffixed with -ie, compare Noll and Neddie, respectively from Oliver and Edward.
Related phrases
More for "nellie"
Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.