Ellen
Masculine
Ellen is given to girls far more often — 275,284 girls against 745 boys since 1880. See Ellen as a girl name
Ellen is one of the oldest women's names in English, recorded here for boys as well as girls. One woman who carried it dominated the English stage for a generation and conducted a famous correspondence with a man she barely met.
How old is the name Ellen?
Ellen first appears in US birth records in 1884 — 141 years ago. The typical Ellen alive today was born around 1942, making them about 83 years old. About 300 people named Ellen are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Ellen most popular?
Ellen peaked in 1885, reaching #765 nationally. See the whole 1885 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From Helene to Ellen
Our story of Ellen
Ellen Terry played Shakespeare's heroines in London for decades and was, by common consent, the most beloved performer in England. Her letters with Bernard Shaw ran for about thirty years and are one of the great correspondences in English: flirtatious, argumentative, professionally acute, and conducted almost entirely on paper, since they arranged repeatedly not to meet in order not to spoil it. She had a difficult life offstage, with an early marriage at sixteen to a painter thirty years older, a disappearance from the stage for six years, and two children raised alone. She went back to work and stayed there into her seventies.
Meaningnot established
Not established
Ellen descends from Helen, whose Greek origin is argued over and is probably pre-Greek. English has treated Helen, Ellen and Elaine as three names for so long that they function as three.
How the name formed
- Helene
- Elena
- Ellen
Related forms: Ellen · Elleke
Pronouncing Ellen
EL-un
Two syllables with the stress in front. There is nothing in it to get wrong.
Nicknames for Ellen
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
- 1884
- Most boys named
- 194122 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #765reached in 1885
- Change vs 1990
- −14.3%6 in 1993, from 7
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.
Ellen in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Ellen in Swedish — same name
- Elleke in Dutch — related form
Ellens among us
people named Ellen are estimated to be alive in the US today
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Is it right for you
Questions parents actually ask
Fashion outlook
Ellen sits outside the current charts, and that is its own kind of answer: naming cycles can only date the names they carried up. A name this rare has no decade stamped on it — it cannot go out of fashion, because it was never in.
Based on 146 years of naming cycles. How we read them
The trade-off
- It has a continuous documented history in English going back many centuries.
- Nell and Ellie are both available as short forms and both are established names.
- Five letters and two syllables: nobody has ever had to have it spelled twice.
- This spelling goes overwhelmingly to girls but is recorded for boys as well, so a form will occasionally guess wrong.
- Helen and Elena are close relatives and the three get confused in conversation.
- The underlying Greek name has no settled meaning, so that question has no firm answer.
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Ellen
Masculine
Frequently asked
- How many Ellens are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 300 people named Ellen are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Ellen in 2025?
- Ellen is rarely given in the US today — it does not rank in the top 2000 boy names.
- Will my child share the name Ellen with classmates?
- Ellen will almost certainly be the only one in school.
More E names
The most-given names starting with E, all years combined.
Edward#224 · Eric#273 · Ethan#24 · Eugene#943 · Elijah#7 · Ernest#1038 · Earl#2230 · Evan#153
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Ellen? See the current top 100.
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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