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Greetings,
Here's the information we found on the names "Alienora" and "Linnet" in Britain and France.
"Eleanor" derives from the Provencal name "Aliénor," a form of "Helen." It was introduced to England by Eleanor of Aquataine (mid-1100's) and became popular during the reign of Eleanor of Castile, queen of Edward I (1290). (1)
Some examples of spelling are (1,2)
We didn't find any form of "Eleanor" in Scotland, and didn't find it in Wales until the early 1500's, when the forms "Eleanor" and "Elynor" are both found. (3)
Although the only citation for the spelling you want is from 1428, the earlier examples demonstrate a range of spelling variation that justifies the use of "Alienora" as early as 1200.
"Linnet" has a more tangled history. It appears that it was first used as the name of a character from French stories about King Arthur. The same character in Welsh stories is called "Eluned," and writers disagree as to whether the Welsh or French name was used first. (1,4) However, we didn't find any use of "Linnet" or "Eluned" among real people in either France or Wales.
We did find the name "Lyonnete" in a list of names from the Paris census of 1292. (5) Although it's not at all clear what the origin of the name is, or whether it has any relation to "Linnet," we do know that it was used by at least one French woman.
We hope this has been helpful. If you need further assistance, please let us know.
In service,
Alan Fairfax
Academy of S. Gabriel
(1) Withycombe
(2) Reaney & Wilson
(3) "Early Chancery Proceedings Concerning Wales"
(4) Bronwich, "The Welsh Triads"
(5) Catledge, 1996 KWHS article