Definition of "Elaine"

Elaine the fair, Elaine the lovable,Elaine, the lily maid of Astolat,High in her chamber up a tower to the eastGuarded the sacred shield of Lancelot;

1859, Alfred Tennyson, Lancelot and Elaine

My own mother named me after her best friend, as women did in those days. Elaine, which I once found too plaintive. I wanted something more definite, a monosyllable: Dot or Pat, like a foot set down. Nothing you could make a mistake about; nothing watery. But my name has solidified around me, with time. I think of it as tough but pliable now, like a well-worn glove.

1988, Margaret Atwood, Cat's Eye, page 278