Ellie
Top 1000
About Ellie
Ellie first took off in the UK—yes, in this nickname form—and this warm and friendly name has also become hugely popular here. In 2011, Ellie entered the US Top 100 girl names for the first time and has remained near the top of the charts ever since.
Ellie derived as a nickname for names beginning with El-, such as Eleanor, Ella, and Elizabeth. In fact, Ellie's biggest downside is that it's used as a nickname for so many names, and given so frequently on its own, that you are sure to hear it far more than you might guess. Ellie is the standard spelling, but Elly and Elli are occasionally seen as variations.
Ellie also has surprising international range, ranking highly not only in English-speaking countries but throughout Scandinavia and in Belgium and Switzerland.
Ellie has been making many media appearances. Most recently, she's the young heroine played by Bella Ramsey in The Last of Us, based on a popular video game. Ellie has also been seen in the animated film Up, on The West Wing, and even as a woolly mammoth in the film Ice Age: The Meltdown.
Pronounced EL-ee.
As of October 2026, Ellie ranked #24 in US births in 2025 SSA, peaked at #21 in 2024, Nameberry popularity #142.
Editor's take: The name Ellie is a girl's name of English origin meaning "bright shining one".
Popularity & trends
Data table
| Year | US rank | Births | Per million |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | #55 | 4,487 | 2,511.8 |
| 2015 | #48 | 4,873 | 2,729.8 |
| 2016 | #43 | 5,072 | 2,862.3 |
| 2017 | #44 | 5,019 | 2,907.1 |
| 2018 | #36 | 5,221 | 3,069.2 |
| 2019 | #35 | 5,430 | 3,235.3 |
| 2020 | #29 | 5,601 | 3,464.8 |
| 2021 | #30 | 5,864 | 3,573.7 |
| 2022 | #33 | 5,784 | 3,526.5 |
| 2023 | #27 | 5,968 | 3,719.3 |
| 2024 | #21 | 6,306 | 3,892.1 |
| 2025 | #24 | 6,176 | 3,842.5 |
World rankings
Similar names
These 20 names were selected by our users looking for other names like Ellie.
- Ella
- Zoe
- Mia
- Elle
- Eva
- Chloe
- Sophie
- Zoey
- Aubrey
- Maya
- Grace
- Sofia
- Hannah
- Lilly
- Paige
- Savannah
- Annabelle
- Gracie
- Isabelle
- Lila
Ellie on lists
Famous Ellies
- Eleanor Louise "Ellie" Greenwich
American songwriter
- Elena Jane "Ellie" Goulding
English singer
- Elizabeth Claire "Ellie" Kemper
American actress
- Eleanor Suzanne "Ellie" Daniel
American Olympic swimmer
- Ellie Darcey
Alden, English actress
- Ellie Haddington
Scottish actress
- Ellie Krieger
American celebrity chef and cookbook author
- Eleanor May "Ellie" Simmonds
British Paralympic swimmer
- Ellie Victoria Cole
Australian Paralympic swimmer
- Ellie Lambeti
Greek actress
- Ellie Delvaux
Belgian singer and song writer
- Ellie Katherine Brush
Australian soccer and football player
- Ellie (Griffiths) Mecham
American vlogger as part of "Ellie and Jared"
- Ellie Jane Ross
daughter of actress Sheila Hancock and Alec Ross
- Ellie Scarborough
daughter of TV anchor Chuck Scarborough
- Ellie Bridget Bates (b. 2007)
16th child (9th daughter) of the reality TV's "Bringing Up Bates" family
- Ellie Porter (b. 2008)
daughter of singer Lisa Kelly and dancer Scott Porter
- Eleanor "Ellie" Kennedy (b. 2015)
daughter of politician Joseph P. Kennedy III
Ellie in pop culture
- Ellie Fredricksen
Carl's wife in Pixar's "Up"
- Eleanor "Ellie" Nash
character on TV's "Degrassi: The Next Generation"
- Eleanor Jane "Ellie" Mills
character on British soap "Hollyoaks"
- Ellie Linton
main character in book/movie "Tomorrow, When the War Began"
- Ellie
main character in video game "The Last of Us"
- Ellie Creed
girl in Stephen King's "Pet Sematary"
- Eleanor "Miss Ellie" Ewing
matriarch on TV's "Dallas"
- Ellen "Ellie" Andrews
character in movie "It Happened One Night"
- Eleanor "Ellie" Bishop
character on TV's "NCIS"
- Eleanor Faye "Ellie" Bartowski Woodcomb
character on TV's "Chuck"
- Ellie Miller
character on British TV series "Broadchurch"
- Ellie Langford
character in Dead Space
- Ellie Walker
character on The Andy Griffith Show
- Ellie Harp
character on TV's One Tree Hill
- Ellie Trout
character on American soap "General Hospital"
- Ellie Stone mystery series
by James Ziskin
- "Ellie Parker
" 2005 movie and main character
- Ellie Jackson
main character in 1984 movie "Ellie"
- Ellie Stinson
daughter of Barney on TV's "How I Met Your Mother"
- Ellie
mammoth in the Ice Age movies
- Ellie Bartlet
daughter on TV's "The West Wing"
- Ellie Arroway
main character in book/movie "Contact"
- Ellie Rebecca Brass
character on TV's "CSI"
- Dr. Ellie Sattler
character in the Jurassic Park series
- Ellie Torres
main character on TV's "Cougar Town"
- Ellie
character in "The Roar" by Emma Clayton
- Ellie
character in video game "Borderlands 2"
- Ellie Dennis
character on TV's "Recovery Road"
- Ellie Peters
character on TV's "Stuck in the Middle"
- Ellie Harrison
character on TV's "Sean Saves the World"
- Ellie Blake
character in the 2018 Disney Channel Original Movie/musical "Freaky Friday"