How common is the name Ella?

185,535 people in the United States have the first name Ella, about 1 in 1,628. It ranks #299 of 53,615 first names in the 2020 Census.

first name

ELLA

#299

of 53,615 first names recorded in the 2020 Census

People
185,535
About
1 in 1,628
This common or more
48.9%
Who bears it

Of the 185,535 people named Ella, 75.6% reported their origin as White, 8.5% as Black and 6.9% as Hispanic or Latino. Virtually all are female (99.8%). These count how people described themselves on the 2020 Census, not where the name comes from.

Ella peaked in 2010, when 9,898 babies got the name.

Births per year, SSA records 1880–2025
18802025
Peak year
2010
Births that year
9,898
In 2025*
5,831 ▼41%
Recorded as
almost entirely female

At least 352,214 babies have been given the name since 1880. Years SSA withheld, because fewer than 5 were born, are skipped rather than drawn as zero. * 2025 is the newest year published and it undercounts: a card application is filed some time after a birth.

Ella by decade

Among all names given to American babies, its best decade was the 1880s, when it ranked #33. The largest share of babies named Ella, 27.9%, were born between 1997 and 2012, as Generation Z.

1880s#3313,967
1890s#4517,118
1900s#6914,841
1910s#12125,002
1920s#16229,684
1930s#22420,121
1940s#31016,080
1950s#46011,066
1960s#7535,195
1970s#1,2802,096
1980s#1,6721,576
1990s#1,1193,897
2000s#9967,644
2010s#5585,993
2020s#6737,934
Before 19019.4%
Greatest Generation 1901–2717.7%
Silent Generation 1928–4510%
Baby boom 1946–645.8%
Generation X 1965–801.2%
Millennials 1981–961%
Generation Z 1997–1227.9%
2013 and later27%

Rank counts both sexes together, among every name SSA recorded that decade; the number under it is births. The 2020s run only to 2025. Generation years follow Pew Research Center, which has not named a generation after 2012.

Where Ella is most common

Compared with all babies born in each state since 1910, Ella has been most common in Mississippi (2×), South Carolina (1.9×), and Alabama (1.7×), and least common in District of Columbia (0.59×).

302,402 births recorded by state, 1910–2025. 2× means twice as common as nationally. States with fewer than 30 such births are left blank, and SSA withholds any year with fewer than 5 in a state, so small states read low.

Either side of Ella

#297 Sherry · 187,596#298 Harold · 186,450#300 Rita · 184,218#301 Marcus · 184,054

Spelled almost the same

8 first names in the 2020 Census spelled within a letter or two of Ella, most common first.

#1,685 Elia · 18,430#1,830 Elle · 15,938#3,967 Elly · 4,914#5,310 Elli · 3,262#5,914 Ela · 2,795#9,970 Ellia · 1,360#14,883 Ellah · 783#16,344 Elya · 692

Also a last name

As a last name, Ella ranks #53,758 of 156,621, with 415 people. See Ella as a last name

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