Head to head · Girls' names
Ella vs Isla
#29 vs #28 in 2025
Isla is a whisker ahead (#28 vs #29 in 2025), but the curves point different ways: Isla is climbing the charts fast, Ella is stepping back from its peak.
Cast your vote
Which one would you pick?
Your gut first, the numbers after — the split shows once you pick.
The tale of the tape
The tape is even: Ella and Isla each lead 3 measures of 6.
Ranks, counts and years are measured in the official US birth record; the classroom and living figures are estimates computed from it. The dot marks the side each measure favours on the charts — more common, not better.
What the records say
146 years of US births, drawn on one scale
Two curves, one scale
Who owned which decade
- 1880s: Ella #17, Isla #956 — Ella higher
- 1890s: Ella #32, Isla #1222 — Ella higher
- 1900s: Ella #50, Isla #1188 — Ella higher
- 1910s: Ella #75, Isla #1313 — Ella higher
- 1920s: Ella #95, Isla #1622 — Ella higher
- 1930s: Ella #121, Isla #1914 — Ella higher
- 1940s: Ella #162, Isla #3408 — Ella higher
- 1950s: Ella #255, Isla #4024 — Ella higher
- 1960s: Ella #435, Isla #6619 — Ella higher
- 1970s: Ella #743, Isla #8474 — Ella higher
- 1980s: Ella #985, Isla #9116 — Ella higher
- 1990s: Ella #659, Isla #6949 — Ella higher
- 2000s: Ella #72, Isla #2769 — Ella higher
- 2010s: Ella #15, Isla #162 — Ella higher
- 2020s: Ella #25, Isla #35 — Ella higher
Ella stood higher in every recorded decade — 15 of 15.
Rank by decade
| Decade | Ella | Isla |
|---|---|---|
| 1880s | #17 | #956 |
| 1890s | #32 | #1222 |
| 1900s | #50 | #1188 |
| 1910s | #75 | #1313 |
| 1920s | #95 | #1622 |
| 1930s | #121 | #1914 |
| 1940s | #162 | #3408 |
| 1950s | #255 | #4024 |
| 1960s | #435 | #6619 |
| 1970s | #743 | #8474 |
| 1980s | #985 | #9116 |
| 1990s | #659 | #6949 |
| 2000s | #72 | #2769 |
| 2010s | #15 | #162 |
| 2020s | #25 | #35 |
Average national rank across each decade. A dash means the name sat outside the recorded top of that decade.
Around the world
Ella
- Scotland#14
- Canada#26
- England & Wales#39
- France#65
Isla
- Scotland#2
- England & Wales#4
- Canada#13
National statistics offices, latest published year.
The names themselves
Meaning, roots, sound and the people who carried each
Where each name comes from
Ella
All, complete — or simply the end of a longer name
Two accounts compete. One takes it from a Germanic name brought to England by the Normans, built on a word meaning all or complete. The other treats it as the tail end of names like Isabella and Gabriella, cut loose and used alone — which certainly happened, whatever the older history. Both are true of different bearers.
Alia → Ella
How it traveled
One Ella won an amateur night at a Harlem theater she had entered as a dancer — lost her nerve when she saw the act before her, sang instead, and was still singing sixty years later, with a range and an ear that other musicians describe in terms usually reserved for instruments. The other never performed at all.
Isla
From a Scottish place name — the island of Islay and the rivers Isla
The derivation from the place name is well accepted. What Islay itself originally meant is not established; the name is old enough that it predates reliable record, with both Norse and pre-Gaelic explanations offered and none demonstrated. Separately, isla is the ordinary Spanish word for island — a coincidence of spelling rather than a shared root, but one that Spanish-speaking families notice straight away.
Ìle → Islay → Isla
How it traveled
Islay has been inhabited and named for far longer than any record of it as a personal name; in Gaelic the island is Ìle. Scottish families began using Isla as a girl's given name in the nineteenth century, part of a wider habit of drawing first names from rivers, glens and islands.
Where a reading is contested the note says so — this page does not turn a guess into a fact. The chain is each name's recorded forms, oldest first; the story is its opening, told in full on the name's own page.
Out loud, and in short
Ella
EL-uh
Two syllables, stress at the front. Said the same way in every language that uses it.
- Ellie — The name softened, which for many bearers becomes the everyday form.
- El — The single syllable, plain and quick.
Isla
EYE-la
The s is silent, as in island. Two common departures: an English speaker seeing it for the first time may try IS-la, and a Spanish speaker will naturally read it as EES-la, since it matches the Spanish word for island. Both are easily corrected, but expect to do the correcting.
- Izzy — Informal; shared with Isabel and Isabella, so it does not point back to one spelling.
- Is — Very informal, family-level; not used as a name on its own.
Who has carried each name
Ella
Ella Fitzgerald (b. 1917) — The "First Lady of Song" with 13 Grammys
Ella Baker (b. 1903) — Master strategist of the civil rights movement
Ella Purnell (b. 1996) — Star of Fallout and Yellowjackets
Isla
Isla Fisher (b. 1976) — Comedy standout of Wedding Crashers and Confessions of a Shopaholic
Source: Wikidata — the one source on this page that is not an official agency.
Is it right for you
The differences that decide it, laid out by what you want
Choose by what you want
Choose Ella if you want…
- a name past its most crowded yearsElla is stepping back from its peak
- a name that charts abroad tooElla is on the national lists of Scotland, Canada, England & Wales and France
- a long American recordElla was already in use when US records began in 1880
- a name that ages quietlyan estimated 12% chance of feeling dated by 2040, against 54% for Isla
Choose Isla if you want…
- a name on the way upup 16 places on the charts in five years
- a newer arrivalIsla entered the US charts in 1886
- a name that feels very nowIsla is climbing the charts fast
Each line is a measured difference between the two names — a rank, a count, a recorded form — never a judgement of either. Save the one that answers your question; it lands on your shortlist.
The trade-offs, name by name
Ella
Strengths
- It is short, soft and easy for a small child to say about herself.
- It is spelled identically across most of Europe and read correctly everywhere.
- It sits inside several longer names, so a child can grow into a formal version if she wants one.
To consider
- It is currently very well used, so she is unlikely to be the only one.
- Ella, Ellie and Bella are close enough to be swapped constantly in a classroom.
- The spelling is recorded for boys as well, though it belongs overwhelmingly to the girls.
Isla
Strengths
- Short, already complete, and needs no nickname to be usable at any age.
- Charts in Scotland, England and Wales, and Canada as well as the US, so it is recognized on both sides of the Atlantic.
- One dominant spelling, which keeps forms and rosters simple.
To consider
- The silent s means a lifetime of small corrections, both in speech and when someone hears it and writes Ayla or Isla as IS-la.
- Its rise is recent and steep, so it is far more common among small children than among adults — the balance may look different by the time she is in high school.
- Izzy overlaps with Isabella and Isabel, which are well represented in the same age group.
Documented properties of each name — how it spells, travels and shortens — not opinions about the child.
How each is likely to age
Ella
12%chance Ella feels dated by 2040
Ella has held the top-100 across 8 different decades — it has never depended on fashion, and names like that read the same at any age.
Isla
54%chance Isla feels dated by 2040
Isla is climbing fast right now. Steep climbs tend to come with steep descents — the quicker a name arrives, the more firmly it belongs to its moment.
A reading of where each name sits on the long naming cycle — computed, not measured, and explained on the data page.
With your last name
Say both in full. The notes are facts about letters and sound — a rhyme, a shared initial, the monogram — not a verdict on either name.
Type a last name to hear Ella and Isla in full.
Weighing the whole shortlist? Run the full comparison — up to eight names with your last name, initials, classroom projections and a printable report.
Decide together
Nobody names a baby alone
Still torn between Ella and Isla?
Put both to the vote.
One link to your partner, your parents, your sister. Each of them gets the two names, a one-tap answer and room to say why — and every reply lands in one place.
Free to start · no account needed · everyone you invite votes in one tap
More than two in the running? Settle it with a bracket or run the full comparison with your last name.
More head-to-heads
Same measures, different pair. Sixty more are dealt daily in the arena.
Lists that carry both names
- Short and sweet: names of four letters or fewer
- Transatlantic hits: loved on both sides of the ocean
- America's top 100 names right now
- Vowel names: soft starts from A to O
- all guides
Every list here names both Ella and Isla — the same style, ranked by the same records.
Ella or Isla — the short answers
- Which is more popular, Ella or Isla?
- Isla, in 2025: Isla ranked #28 with 6,012 babies; Ella ranked #29 with 5,831 babies.
- Which name is rising faster, Ella or Isla?
- Isla. Over the last five years Ella moved down 14 places; Isla moved up 16 places.
- Which is the older name, Ella or Isla?
- Ella was already in use when US records began in 1880; Isla entered the US charts in 1886. On the American record, Ella is the older name.
- How many people are named Ella and Isla?
- About 227,000 people named Ella are estimated to be alive in the US today. About 57,000 people named Isla are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- Will there be other Ellas or Islas in the classroom?
- Ella will almost certainly be the only one in school. Isla will almost certainly be the only one in school.
US figures from the Social Security Administration, 1880–2025; international figures from national statistics agencies. Votes are battle voters on this site, not the birth record. Data & methodology
Keep playing
Sixty more head-to-heads are dealt in the arena every day — or line up Ella, Isla and the rest of your shortlist with your last name in one printable report.
Free to start · no account needed · everyone you invite votes in one tap