Ellena
Feminine
Ellena sits between Ellen and Elena, both of which descend from Helen — a name that has been in Greek literature for three thousand years without anyone establishing what it means.
How old is the name Ellena?
Ellena first appears in US birth records in 1888 — 137 years ago. The typical Ellena alive today was born around 2002, making them about 23 years old. About 2,000 people named Ellena are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Ellena most popular?
Ellena peaked in 1889, reaching #1025 nationally. Today it ranks #3780, 2,755 places below that high. See the whole 1889 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From Helene to Ellena
The story of Ellena
Helene reached English as Ellen through medieval usage and as Helen through the Latin, so English has had both forms side by side for centuries. Elena is the Romance and Slavic development. Ellena appears in nineteenth-century American records in real numbers, sitting between the English and Italian forms, and it is one of a set — Ellena, Elena, Ellen, Elaina — that families used interchangeably.
Meaningnot established
Not established
Helen's origin is genuinely unsettled. The most-cited reading connects it to a Greek root for a torch or light; others propose a word for a wicker basket, or a pre-Greek source. Ellen is the English development and Elena the Romance and Slavic one, and both carry the same uncertainty.
How the name formed
- Helene
- Ellen
- Ellena
Related forms: Elena · Ellen · Yelena
Pronouncing Ellena
eh-LEH-nah
Three syllables with the stress in the middle. Some families say EL-uh-nah.
Nicknames for Ellena
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
- 1888
- Most girls named
- 201267 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #1025reached in 1889
- Change vs 2022
- −18.8%39 in 2025, from 48
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.
Ellena in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Elena in Italian — related form
- Ellen in English — related form
- Yelena in Russian — related form
Strongest US states over the last decade: Texas, California, Florida.
Ellenas among us
people named Ellena are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 girl in 41,212 born in 2025 was named Ellena
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Spellings of Ellena
- #3780
- Ellena on the 2025 chart
- #45
- counting every spelling
The SSA counts spellings, not names. Ellena went to 39 girls in 2025, but Elena and Elenna are the same name said out loud. Together the 4 spellings went to 4,918, which makes it the 45th most-given girls’ name of the year — 3,735 places above the chart.
- Elena4,836
- Ellena39
- Elenna25
and 1 rarer spelling.
About 1 girl in 327 born in 2025 was given one of these spellings — against 1 in 41,212 for Ellena 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
Fashion outlook
Ellena 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 Ellena is headed
Ellena 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.
Ellena beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Ellena in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US girls given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- A documented chain back to one of the oldest names in Greek literature.
- Ella, Lena and Nell are all complete names in their own right.
- Genuine nineteenth-century American use behind it.
- Elena and Ellen are both more written and will be assumed.
- The stress is unsettled between the first and second syllables.
- The meaning is genuinely unknown despite the name's age.
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Ellena
Feminine · #3780 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Ellenas are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 2,000 people named Ellena are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How do you spell Ellena?
- Ellena is one of 3 recorded spellings. Elena is the more common one — 4,836 births in 2025 against 39 for Ellena.
- How popular is the name Ellena in 2025?
- Ellena ranks #3780 among US girl names in 2025, with 39 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Ellena?
- About 1 in every 41,212 US girls born in 2025 was named Ellena — 39 in all.
- Will my child share the name Ellena with classmates?
- Ellena will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Ellena
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Kimberlyn#3780 · Jonah#3780 · Aine#3780 · Jakayla#3780 · Shriya#3780 · Analeigh#3780 · Daliyah#3780 · Jamia#3780
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Ellena? See the current top 100.
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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