Ella is a short and flowy name with multiple known meanings, depending on which origin you consider. Some sources say the name comes from an old German word alia, meaning
"all," or alja meaning "other," while others point to modern Hebrew, where Ella means "goddess," and also "terebinth tree." And Ella is a Spanish personal pronoun meaning "she" and "her." Ella is most commonly pronounced "el-luh."
Though sometimes used as a pet form of Ellen or a nickname for Eleanor, Elizabeth, Isabella, or even Gabriella, Ella has stood alone as a given name since the Dark Ages. At that point in time, Ella was actually a male name, borne by three different Anglo-Saxon kings, including King Aella of Northumbria.
In Greek mythology, Aella is the name of an Amazon daughter of Ares and Harmonia. So who was the first female Ella on record? Archival birth registries show one lone baby girl named Ella born in Nurnberg, Germany in 1497.
While Ella hasn
't hit the top ten baby names for girls – yet – this name could win a prize for consistency. It has been in the top 20 baby girl names on the Social Security Administration's list for the past 13 years, peaking at spot 15. Ella
's ranking is similar on BabyCenter, where it's in the top 20 girls
' names. (BabyCenter's ranking is based on data from hundreds of thousands of parents who share their baby
's name with us.)
Aside from a drop in the seventies, eighties, and early nineties, Ella has been popular in the United States for the past hundred-plus years. Ella's popularity grew by 50 percent from year to year between 2001 and 2004, when the movie Ella Enchanted was released.
Ella is similar to other popular girl names ending in a, such as Emma, Sofia, Olivia, Ava, and Bella. Variations of Ella include Elah and Ela. Ella is also quite flexible and can be used in compound names like Ella-Mae, Ella- Marie, Ella-Rose, Ella-Grace, Ella-Rae, Ella-Louise, Ella-Jade, and Ella-Jane.
This short and sweet name easily translates between cultures, and has been embraced in numerous countries, including Germany, Belgium, Great Britain, Australia, and Switzerland. And though it
's short, Ella lends itself to many endearing nicknames, including:
Ella's flexibility and melodic, vowel-heavy sound make it a winner for parents looking for a name that
's simple and elegant.