What is "eileen"

fem. proper name, from Celtic (compare Irish Eibhlin) but influenced in form by Helen.

Eileen is a comic opera (sometimes described as a musical) with music by Victor Herbert and lyrics and book by Henry Blossom, based loosely on the 1835 novel Rory O'Moore by Herbert's grandfather, Samuel Lover. Set in 1798, the story concerns an Irish revolutionary arrested by the British for treason. Eileen, his nobly born sweetheart, helps him to escape by disguising him as a servant.

After two Cleveland performances at the Colonial Theatre on January 1–2, 1917 titled Hearts of Erin, the musical moved on to Boston, changing its name to Eileen. It then opened at the Shubert Theatre on March 19, 1917 and ran for only 64 performances. It was produced by Joe Weber, formerly of the comedy duo Weber and Fields. It then toured, but a fire destroyed its sets and costumes three months into the tour. The show was not revived in New York until the end of the 20th century. In 1982, a single on-book concert performance was given at Manhattan's Town Hall, featuring E. G. Marshall as O'Day, Judy Kaye as Lady Maude and Roderick Cook as Sir Reginald. In 1997, it was produced and recorded by the Ohio Light Opera. In 2012, a small-scale production was given by the Light Opera of New York.

Herbert was eager to write an "Irish" musical to celebrate the land of his birth. His score was well received by the critics, but the libretto received some harsh reviews. Alexander Woollcott wrote: "Mr Blossom [must have] gathered his material and atmosphere by reading for quite half an hour in some public library."

Eileen, alternatively spelt Aileen, is an Irish feminine given name with the pronunciation aɪliːn. It is the anglicised spelling of the Irish Gaelic Eibhlín, which derives from the Gaelic version of Aveline, Aibhilín. Aveline, which originally came to Ireland via the Normans, is an Old French version of the Old Germanic name Ava, of which the etymology is disputed. One theory traces it to the Germanic alfi, elf, or to possibly meaning desired.

Eileen is also considered by many to be the Irish version of Ellen, and while this is not the name's original etymology, it is certainly possible that when Aibhilín was rendered as Eibhlín it became conflated with Ellen, which was also imported to Ireland in the Middle Ages. Ellen itself is the Medieval form of Helen, from the Greek Helene, which could be derived from Selene, from the Proto Indo-European "light, brightness". It can be argued that this is a second meaning of the name Eileen.

Eileen is a 2015 novel by Ottessa Moshfegh, published by Penguin Press. It is Moshfegh's second novel.

In July 2016, it was longlisted for the 2016 Man Booker Prize.