Word Watch 16, "Ellen"

Again, driven by my thesis topic, I decided to look into the teller of Heathcliff's story in Wuthering Heights, Nelly Dean, or Ellen.
Charlotte Bronte claims that if the reader wants to see a figure who is strong and loyal, a figure of compassion, to look to Ellen Dean. Again, this is one of those things I've looked into that may or may not have an significance in terms of authorial intent, but my result was interesting nonetheless.
According to the OED, Ellen means "strength, courage" and "strength vouchsafed, comfort, grace" and finally, in Old English, "zeal." These definitions fit Nelly Dean perfectly. She has a certain loyalty to those she serves: Cathy Earnshaw Linton (even though she disapproves of Cathy's actions), Healthcliff (even though she doesn't understand and is manipulated by him), and Cathy Linton Heathcliff. She has the strength (possibly the only one) to remain sane and steadfast throughout the entire novel when everyone around her is affected by trauma, grief, sadness, and despair; people die sad, lonely, vengeful deaths, are separated from each other, blackmailed, manipulated. Yet, she alone remains capable of keeping her wits about her through and through. Even to Heathcliff she is a comfort: she lets him see Cathy when she is ill and dying, tries to take care of him--to get him to eat and sleep--and takes pity on him as a child.
Again, whether Emily Bronte chose to name Nelly Nelly, is beyond me. And yet, somehow, whether intentionally or not, it fits perfectly. This reminds me of Harry Potter, where the wand choses the wizard, not the other way around; in this case, maybe the name chose the character, instead of the author choosing the name.