: : : : Elenwe came from the Vanyar.

: : : : : And what was so 'kingly' about him?
: : : : : He was father of Voronwe, certainly a special Elf.
: : : : : Does it have to do with Gondolin, at all?

: : : : I have no idea.

: : : : There is no real information concerning Voronwe's family.

: : :
: : : You are correct in the meaning of 'WE'. From 'WEG' meaning a male person (similar to the gender suffixes '-ION', '-WEN', and 'IEL'). Thus Finwe= skillful man (note not HAIR these have different roots); Ingwe= principle man; Elwe= star man (possibly)
: : : ; Voronwe= steadfast man; Aranwe= king man (or king's man). One theoretical possibility to his relation to the House of Fingolfin is that he was married to or descended from Fingolfin's sister.

: : Yes, the 'Shibboleth of Feanor' (which I just carefully re-read) explains much! So, I'll concede a few points, & lose any wacky theories. However, its interesting how the suffix *WE* is used primarily, & invariably, for the earliest of Elves. In fact the 1st 8 leaders of distinct peoples (if you count Morwe & Nurwe, who may have been short-lived, but possibly leaders of 2 Avari tribes at the Separation nevertheless); Ingwe, Finwe, Elwe, Olwe, Morwe, Nurwe, Lenwe, & Nowe (Cirdan). It could be that language was so underdeveloped, that anyone requiring a formal name adopted *WE*. But maybe there was a bit more significance to it, as well.

: : Either way, back to the only remaining Elves ending in *WE* (descendants of Finwe don't count - as they all use 'Finwe' anyway):
: : -Elenwe: where is it stated she was Vanyar (& how); and how do you suppose she came by a (mostly) masculine name [PoME,p340 notwithstanding]?

: "...Idril [Turgon's] daughter... was golden as the Vanyar, her mother's kindred...". Elenwe is Idril's mother. Possible explanation ElenWEN is cumbersome to say so drop the N and the name is much more lyrical.

: : -Aranwe: with what little we know about him, could he have been more prominent than we know? Suppose he married a sister of Fingolfin, he could still be quite ancient. Maybe he led the 2nd Tatyar? (But enough theory)
: : -Voronwe & Valwe: the only 2 others I know of. One's a very special case (with evidence of another name), & the other's a mystery (who does *something* prominent).

: Valwe?

: : So, would it not be reasonable to assume a more significant status for those with the suffix *WE* than just 'man'?

: : Heorrenda

I don't know if this fits at all, because I don't know anything about this Valwe person, but I couldn't help thinking of an old norse word "volve" meaning wise woman or which. (in the positive meaning of the word)This is very far ot, but could it have any significance?

Meneldur