What is a common nickname for the Eiffel Tower?

A common nickname for the Eiffel Tower is “The Iron Lady.”

The French expression is “La dame de fer,” a name linked directly to the tower’s wrought-iron construction. The nickname reflects both the material and the tower’s imposing presence over Paris. It is especially fitting because the structure became one of the most visible symbols of modern iron engineering when it was unveiled.

The tower’s name did not begin as “The Iron Lady.” Early project descriptions called it a 300-metre iron tower, and the monument soon became known as the Eiffel Tower after engineer and entrepreneur Gustave Eiffel. Feminine imagery developed gradually, partly because the French word tour is grammatically feminine and partly because the tower’s four legs and lace-like lattice suggested a graceful figure.

“The Iron Lady” can also refer to Margaret Thatcher, Britain’s former prime minister. That separate nickname is a frequent source of confusion, but in a question about Paris’s monument, “The Iron Lady” means the Eiffel Tower.