EH-lun
Ellen
About Ellen
An medieval English form of Helen, the sensitive but clear-eyed Ellen has swung in and out of style for centuries, often alternating with the parent name. Ellen was the more common in medieval England, until after the Renaissance, when Helen overtook her. In Edith Wharton's The Age of Innocence, set at the end of the nineteenth century, one character wonders why another has not changed her "ugly" given name to something prettier, like Elaine—a statement few would make today.
Ellen has been the name of two First Ladies—Arthur and Wilson—and is Scarlett O'Hara's mother in Gone with the Wind. These days, it's most strongly associated in the US with comedian and talk show host Ellen DeGeneres.
Pronounced EH-lun.
As of October 2026, Ellen ranked #1062 in US births in 2025 SSA, peaked at #58 in 1946, Nameberry popularity #684.
Editor's take: The name Ellen is a girl's name of English origin meaning "torch; shining light".
Popularity & trends
Data table
| Year | US rank | Births | Per million |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | #656 | 435 | 243.5 |
| 2015 | #701 | 406 | 227.4 |
| 2016 | #653 | 450 | 253.9 |
| 2017 | #735 | 385 | 223 |
| 2018 | #765 | 356 | 209.3 |
| 2019 | #797 | 347 | 206.7 |
| 2020 | #809 | 336 | 207.9 |
| 2021 | #920 | 289 | 176.1 |
| 2022 | #1,016 | 255 | 155.5 |
| 2023 | #1,051 | 239 | 148.9 |
| 2024 | #1,028 | 244 | 150.6 |
| 2025 | #1,062 | 230 | 143.1 |
World rankings
Similar names
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Famous Ellens
- (Alice) Ellen Terry
English actress
- Ellen Wong
Canadian actress
- Ellen Lee DeGeneres
American comedian and TV host
- Ellen Burstyn (born Edna Rae Gillooly)
American actress
- Ellen Kuras
American cinematographer
- Ellen Cicely Wilkinson
English politician
- Ellen Marie Barrett
first openly lesbian priest
- Ellen Kathleen Pompeo
American actress
- Ellen Rona Barkin
American actress
- Ellen Anna Muth
American actress
- Ellen Karolina Sofia Key
Swedish feminist author
- Eleonora Maria "Ellen" van Dijk
Dutch cyclist
- Ellen Gould White
American founder of Seventh,Day Aventism
- Ellen Cleghorne
American comedienne
- Ellen Foley
American singer
- Ellen Greene
American singer
- Ellen Gallagher
American artist
- Ellen Louise Hopkins
American novelist
- Ellen Jaffee
American politician
- Ellen Jamison Kullman
American CEO
- Ellen Hamilton Latzen
American actress
- Ellen Barry
American Pulitzer,winning journalist
- Ellen McLain
American singer and voice actress
- Ellen Johnson Sirleaf
president of Liberia
- Ellen Meriam Go Adarna
Filipina actress
- Ellen Rose Albertini Dow
American actress
- Ellen Ochoa
American astronaut
- Ellen Toni White
English football player
- Ellen Barrett
fitness expert
- (Ellen) Tyne Daly
American actress
Ellen in pop culture
- Ellen Rosen
main character in "Number the Stars" by Lois Lowry
- Ellen Josephine Hickle
character on TV's "The Adventures of Pete & Pete"
- Ellen Robillard O'Hara
character in book/film "Gone with the Wind"
- Ellen Griswold
character in the National Lampoon movies
- Ellen Mackenzie Fraser
mother of James “Jamie” Alexander Malcolm Mackenzie Fraser in the TV series “Outlander”
- Ellen "Ellie" Degler (nee Sattler)
character in "Jurassic Park" series
- "Ellen Foster
" 1987 novel by Kaye Gibbons and its main character
- Ellen Louise Ripley
main character in the 'Alien' franchise.
- Ellen Harvelle
character on TV's "Supernatural "
- Ellen
a main character in Ken Follett's "The Pillars of Earth"
- Ellen Love
character on TV's "Mr. Selfridge"
- Ellen Raven
character in Jenny Nimmo's "The Children of the Red King" series
- Ellen
character in "Angus, Thongs and the Full Frontal Snogging" by Louise Rennison
- Ellen Kaye
character in the film "Assassin's Creed"
- Ellen Carr
main character in Eva Ibbotson's novel "A Song for Summer"
- Ellen "Eli"
main character of film "To the Bone"
- Ellen
unseen character in the Garfield comic strip by Jim Davis, Jon Arbuckle would often ask Ellen out for a date, over the phone, she was seen in
- Ellen Landry
Human Female Starfleet Officer, on the hit TV series, Star Trek: Discovery, Landry was played by actress Rekha Sharma
- Ellen Hill
recurring character on TV's "Madam Secretary"
- "Burd Ellen and Young Tamlane"
A ballad in the 19th century collection "The Child Ballads"
- "Ellen Irwin, or the Braes of Kirtle"
A ballad in William Wordsworth's collection of poems, "Lyrical Ballads"
Variations & nicknames
- ElenaSpanish and Italian
- ElinScandinavian
More nicknames
- Ellie