Ellah
Feminine · “terebinth”
Elah is the Hebrew for a terebinth tree, and the valley named for it is where David is said to have met Goliath.
How old is the name Ellah?
Ellah first appears in US birth records in 2000 — 25 years ago. The typical Ellah is a kid of about 12 — this name's wave is very recent. About 1,000 people named Ellah are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Ellah most popular?
Ellah peaked in 2010, reaching #2514 nationally. Today it ranks #4661, 2,147 places below that high. See the whole 2010 chart.
Where it comes from
From elah to Ellah
The story of Ellah
The Valley of Elah is a real wadi in the Judean foothills, named for its trees, and the account of David and Goliath places the two armies on the hillsides either side of it. Archaeological work at Khirbet Qeiyafa above the valley has found a fortified tenth-century town. Elah is also the name of a short-reigned king of Israel. The doubled l is a modern American spelling.
Meaning
terebinth, oak
From Hebrew elah, a large tree of the terebinth or oak kind; the word is related to the terms for strength and for God, which share the same consonants, though the tree sense is the plain one here.
How the name formed
- elah
- Ellah
Related forms: Elah · Ella
Pronouncing Ellah
EL-uh
Two syllables, first stressed. Hebrew gives eh-LAH.
Nicknames for Ellah
Moderate
What the data says
146 years of official birth records
The long climb, and where it stands now
The same years in position rather than babies
- First recorded
- 2000
- Most girls named
- 201073 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #2514reached in 2010
- Change vs 2024
- −12.1%29 in 2025, from 33
Rank is a position, a count is a headcount, and they move independently — a name can hold its rank while the number of babies behind it falls. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration.
Ellah in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Elah in Hebrew — spelling variant
- Ella in English — related form
Strongest US states over the last decade: California, Texas, Florida.
Ellahs among us
people named Ellah are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 girl in 55,423 born in 2025 was named Ellah
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Spellings of Ellah
- #4661
- Ellah on the 2025 chart
- #32
- counting every spelling
The SSA counts spellings, not names. Ellah went to 29 girls in 2025, but Ella, Ela and Elah are the same name said out loud. Together the 4 spellings went to 6,028, which makes it the 32nd most-given girls’ name of the year — 4,629 places above the chart.
About 1 girl in 267 born in 2025 was given one of these spellings — against 1 in 55,423 for Ellah itself.
Spellings are grouped by a fixed rule that folds interchangeable English spellings of one sound (ck/k, ph/f, x/ks, a non-initial y for i) and keeps vowels apart, so Sean and Shawn stay separate names. It errs towards splitting: a family here is never larger than the truth. SSA national data, 2025. Method
Is it right for you
What happens to a name after it peaks
The Miyuki test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Ellah's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Miyuki climbed just as high around 1924, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Miyuki's path sketches the road Ellah is walking now.
Ellah sits in the calm middle of the cycle — neither chasing a wave nor sliding off one. Middle-of-the-cycle names age slowly and predictably.
A scored estimate from 146 years of naming cycles — not a prophecy. Great names outlive statistics. How this is scored
Where Ellah is headed
Ellah should hold steady through 2030 — the curve is flat, and flat curves are the most predictable kind.
Medium confidence — fitted on official counts through 2025.
A damped-trend projection of the official birth data — a sketch of momentum, not a promise. Every name's forecast, ranked.
Ellah beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Ellah in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US girls given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- A settled meaning in a real tree tied to a real and famous valley.
- Ella is available immediately as an ordinary English form.
- Five letters and two syllables, quick to write.
- Ella is far more common and will be written for her constantly.
- The silent h is invisible aloud and will be dropped.
- The stress differs between the Hebrew and American readings.
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What they receive
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Ellah
Feminine · #4661 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Ellahs are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 1,000 people named Ellah are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How do you spell Ellah?
- Ellah is one of 4 recorded spellings. Ella is the more common one — 5,831 births in 2025 against 29 for Ellah.
- How popular is the name Ellah in 2025?
- Ellah ranks #4661 among US girl names in 2025, with 29 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Ellah?
- About 1 in every 55,423 US girls born in 2025 was named Ellah — 29 in all.
- Will my child share the name Ellah with classmates?
- Ellah will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Ellah
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Ellenor#4661 · Roselie#4661 · Marni#4661 · Menucha#4661 · Infinity#4661 · Lilya#4661 · Railyn#4661 · Zada#4661
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Ellah? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Ellah and another name?
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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