There is a long, painful backstory to this question (let’s just say it involves someone attempting to argue that the name is, in part, a tribute to Ella Fitzgerald…)- but is there a reason for the ‘ella’ in sweets like Nutella and maybe Fruitella? Is it a word ending (Dutch or German, I think) that means sugar or maybe paste?
Nutella is an Italian product.
For years, I thought it was German, as that was where I first learned to love it. Incidentally, I pronounce it NOO-tella, but have been rudely corrected by silly people who call it NUT-ella.
“-ella” is a latin modifier that means “small.” It makes words it’s attached to into diminutives – sometimes this adds an affectionate sense, especially when it’s applied to a favoured niece. Sometimes it’s just literal, as in blatella, wee cockroaches.
For the first twenty years of Nutella’s existence, it was marketed exclusively in Italy by Ferrero, under the name “Supercrema Gianduja.” (Gianduja is very nice Swiss hazelnut chocolate.)
In the US, UK, and Canada, it was marketed as an Italian specialty item, so the “ella” suffix reinforces that, while “Nut” gives English speakers something to grab onto. The product name conveys “little nuts,” with a hint of “sweet nuts, or nice nuts.”
It would be easy enough to manufacture a number of connections of Ella Fitzgerald, (smooth, sweet, with just a hint of bitterness, etc…) but it’s extremely unlikely that the marketers of Nutella had that great lady in mind.
From the US Nutella website:
History
Nearly three generations of Europeans have grown up eating Nutella® spread, which was created in the 1940’s by Pietro Ferrero, a pastry maker and founder of the Ferrero company.
At the time, cocoa was in short supply due to war rationing, and chocolate was a delicacy limited to a lucky few. So Pietro Ferrero mixed cocoa with toasted hazelnuts, cocoa butter and vegetable oils to create an economical spread of chocolate which he called “pasta gianduja” (pronounced: pasta jon-du-ja). Pasta gianduja’s success was unprecedented.
In February 1946, 660 pounds were sold. To keep up with demand, Ferrero worked with local farmers to improve and extend the cultivation of hazelnuts.
In 1949, Ferrero made a “supercrema gianduja” which was spreadable as well as inexpensive. This product became so popular that Italian food stores started a service called “The Smearing”. Children could go to their local food store with a slice of bread for a “smear” of “supercrema gianduja”. In 1964 supercrema gianduja was renamed “Nutella” (its origin being the word “nut”), and began to be marketed outside Italy!
Today, Nutella is the number one spread in Europe (In Germany Nutella is a favorite breakfast spread, and in both Italy and France Nutella is a popular after school snack!). Worldwide, it outsells all peanut butter brands combined.
Nutella can be found in supermarkets throughout the United States.
(website can be found at: http://www.nutellausa.com/history.htm)
So as you see the name derives from the words Nut (for the hazelnut) and ella is an Italian suffix meaning “small or diminutive”
“nice nuts.”
[blush]Thanks, Larry[/blush]
your pronunciation is correct…!
I realise I’m not adding much, but I just thought I’d add that I’ve seen this done occasionally, and generally at least partly humorously, in english.
Larry Mudd I guess -ella for small or nice is where the name Cinderella came from. I had never thought about that before. Thanks for the information.
oops, I forgot! alterego thanks for the confirmation on the pronunciation. I have some people I get to smack upside the head now.