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Greetings,
We get so many questions about "Eilonwy" that one of our members wrote a short explanation of the history of the name. I've included that explanation:
Concerning the Name "Eilonwy"
by Heather Rose Jones
known in the SCA as Tangwystyl verch Morgant Glasvryn
The name "Eilonwy" is found as the given name of a female character in a modern juvenile fantasy series by Lloyd Alexander, very loosely based on medieval Welsh literature [1]. Many of Alexander's character names are actually found in period Welsh literature, but although "Eilonwy" is composed of elements that can be found in historic Welsh names, it appears that Alexander invented this name. No example of "Eilonwy" has been found in period sources.
"Eilonwy" could be postulated as a constructed given name, based on period names such as "Eilfyw" (m), "Eiludd" (m), etc. and "Euronwy" (f), "Goronwy" (m), "Llifonwy" (m), "Tegonwy" (m) [2]. Alexander may have used these names as his starting-point in inventing "Eilonwy". As the above examples show, the ending "-onwy" appears in both masculine and (one) feminine names, so the name "Eilonwy" could reasonably be either masculine or feminine.
This remains, however, a hypothetical construction. While it is known that not all names used in medieval Wales were recorded in contemporary writings, there is currently no known evidence that "Eilonwy" was actually used anytime before the late 20th century.
References
[1] Alexander, Lloyd, _The Book of Three_; _The Black Cauldron_; _The Castle of Llyr_; _Taran Wanderer_; _The High King_ (New York: Dell Publ. Co., 1969).
[2] Bartrum, P. C., _Early Welsh Genealogical Tracts_ (Cardiff: Univ. of Wales Press, 1966).