Ella

What Ella means

Short form of Eleanor, possibly meaning “other”

shortening of Eleanor || The first known bearer was Eleanor of Aquitaine (1122–1204), Provençal Aliénor, perhaps from Latin alia (“other”) and her mother's name Aenor, its meaning thereby said to be “the other Aenor”.

Source: Wiktionary, “Ella” (revision 93581456) and “Eleanor” (revision 89333856), CC BY-SA 4.0. Quoted from the etymology; we don’t write our own.

How popular is Ella?

US: Falling: down from #18 in 2015. England & Wales: Falling: down from #6 in 2015.

Biggest US share so far: 1880, when 1,156 girls got the name (#13 that year). First in the US records in 1880.

How common

• About 1 in 276 baby girls in the US in 2025
• About 1 in 272 baby girls in England and Wales in 2025
• About 1 in 109 baby girls in Scotland in 2025

“1 in N” divides by all listed births for that sex. The US list leaves out names given to fewer than 5 babies, and the UK lists leave out names given to 2 or fewer, so the real figure is a little rarer than shown.

Where in the US

Most popular in VT (15.4 per 1,000 girls), ND (10.74 per 1,000 girls), WY (9.86 per 1,000 girls) in 2025.

SSA state data, 2025. Share of all listed girls born in each state.

US vs UK

Ella is #29 in the US and #46 in England & Wales (2025).

Same sex as this page (girls). SSA (US), ONS (England and Wales), NRS (Scotland).

Boy or girl?

In 2025, 99.9+% of US babies named Ella were girls.

Counts below the publishing threshold (US 5, UK 3) are not included.

How to say it

IPA from Wiktionary.

Other spellings parents chose in 2025

• Ayla3,149 US · 980 E&W
• Iyla572 US · 82 E&W
• Aila329 US · 69 E&W
• Ila390 US · 6 E&W
• Ela135 US · 54 E&W
• Elly129 US · 14 E&W
• Eila113 US · 12 E&W
• Ally88 US

Names that sound the same and differ by a letter or two, with baby counts for the same sex. US and E&W counts.

If you like Ella

Girls

• Ava#11Editor’s note Down from #4 in 2015 to #11 in 2025 in the US. About 1 in 210 US girls in the 2025 records
• Serenity#129Editor’s note More popular in the US than England & Wales: #129 vs #997 in 2025
• Lillian#57possibly “lily”^*
• Leila#259Editor’s note Steady in the US: #247 in 2015 and #259 in 2025
• Nevaeh#165From the word “heaven”^*
• Mia#6Editor’s note Steady in the US: #6 in 2015 and #6 in 2025. About 1 in 150 US girls in the 2025 records

For a brother

• Aiden#62Variant of Aidan, meaning “fire”^*
• Xander#259Diminutive of Alexander, meaning “to defend + man”^*
• Owen#31Editor’s note More popular in the US than England & Wales: #31 vs #170 in 2025
• Emmanuel#179Editor’s note Down from #151 in 2015 to #179 in 2025 in the US
• Malachi#134“my messenger”^*
• Jayden#70Editor’s note Cooling off in the US: #20 in 2015, #70 in 2025

Picked from the US top 1,000 in 2025: names Wiktionary also files under where there are enough, topped up with common names whose US popularity since 1990 rose and fell most like Ella’s. Place names are only included if they are in the top 300. Rank is US 2025.