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Ellen

Ellen: name meaning, origin & popularity

Meaning
“torch; bright shining one”
Origin
Greek
Say it
EL-en · 2 syllables
Used for
Girls

English form of Helen, from Greek Helene. It has long been used in the English-speaking world alongside Helen and Ellen variants in other European languages.

English namesGreek namesNames meaning lightClassic namesInternational names

How popular is Ellen?

202473.0 per million US babies
1880192019602000
Drag the line or the slider to read any year. Values are per million US births recorded by Social Security. Records before about 1937 undercount births, so early peaks can look taller than they were.

Babies named Ellen in 2024244

2024 rank#1,026 girls

Peak year1884

Total US babies since 1880275,793

Ellen is steady now but far below its 1884 peak.

Names like Ellen

Variants, related forms and names with the same roots.

  • Laineybright shining one · English
  • Helentorch; shining light · Greek
  • Elainebright, shining light · French
  • Alenabright, shining light · Slavic
  • Elinabright, shining one · Greek
  • Elenitorch; shining light · Greek
  • Hellentorch; shining light · Greek
  • Helenetorch; shining light · Greek

Ellen questions

What does the name Ellen mean?

Ellen means "torch; bright shining one". It comes from Greek. English form of Helen, from Greek Helene. It has long been used in the English-speaking world alongside Helen and Ellen variants in other European languages.

Is Ellen a boy or girl name?

Ellen is mainly a girl's name in US records (100% of uses since 1880).

How popular is Ellen?

244 US babies were named Ellen in 2024. Its peak year was 1884.

How do you pronounce Ellen?

Ellen is usually pronounced EL-en.

Birth counts: US Social Security Administration national data, 1880–2024 (names given to 5+ babies of a sex in a year). How we write meanings.