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Ela

#1,562 in 2025Girls' name

Multiple documented origins; meaning depends on tradition

Ela has been given to 2,846 babies in the U.S. since 1887. In 2025 it ranked #1,562 of 17,293 girls’ names in use. Its peak year was 2018, with 150 recorded.

Babies named Ela, 2025

1 in 24,600

Ela over time, 1880–2025

Girls
05010015018801900192019401960198020002020

Based on births in the U.S. Babies given the name each year. Hover the chart — or focus it and use the arrow keys — for any year. Gaps mean the name was given fewer than 5 times that year; these counts are unpublished.

Ela: meaning, origin, and history

Multiple documented origins; meaning depends on tradition

Deeper origin not confirmed in the cited records

What Ela means

Ela has more than one naming route in the cited origin entries: distinct naming traditions.

The naming story behind Ela

One of the source’s documented entries for Ela records a meaning of hazel (colour).

A separate documented entry treats Ela as a form of Elah. That is a personal-name relationship, which differs from translating the letters of the modern spelling into one universal English word. The linked origin entry identifies the context of this relationship.

Origin, language, and formation

Ela is used in English, Polish, Slovak and Turkish.

Related names and everyday forms

Related names include Elżbieta and Eleonóra.

Pronunciation and spelling

In Polish, Ela is pronounced /ˈɛ.la/.

American usage and historical context

In the United States, 2,846 girls were recorded with the name Ela between 1887 and 2025. Its highest annual count was 150 in 2018; its best national rank was #942 in 1903.

Over 5 years its rank rose, from #1,706 in 2020 to #1,562 in 2025. Over 10 years its rank rose, from #2,000 in 2015 to #1,562 in 2025.

Sources & methodologyReferences, data & attribution

Meaning, origin, and language notes draw on the references below.

American popularity figures use published Social Security Administration records for this exact spelling. Counts below five for a name, sex, and year are omitted.

Wiktionary material is available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

How common is Ela?

Everything below is computed from the 2025 data — the most recent year available.

Among all babies, 2025
1 in 24,600
135 of 3,315,165 births
Among girls only
1 in 11,900
<0.01% of girls
Rank, 2025
#1,562
of 17,293 girls’ names in use
Coin-flip room size
17,023 kids
Even odds of a second one

Where Ela sits on the popularity scale

Rarest published (5 a year)#1 — Olivia (13,544)

Chance at least one other child shares the name

If the other children were drawn at random from the 2025 national name distribution. Real classrooms cluster by region and community, so treat these as a floor, not a ceiling.

Class of 20Under 1%
Class of 30Under 1%
Grade of 100Under 1%
School of 5002%

Put another way: gather 17,023 children born in 2025 and it's an even bet that one of them is another Ela. In a class of 30 the chance is Under 1%.

When Elas were born

Half of everyone ever recorded as Ela was born before 2013 — so the typical Ela is around 12 today.

Median birth year
2013
About 12 years old
Biggest decade
2010s
40.5% of all use
Born in the last 25 years
82.9%
A modern name
Recorded since 1950
2,512
People you could plausibly meet
Choose a decade

2010s — 40.5% of all recorded uses (1,152).

Is Ela rising or falling?

Rank movement and count movement can disagree — the number of distinct names in use keeps growing, so a name holding a steady count still slides down the list. Both are shown.

Rank vs 1 year ago
+161
Places climbed
Rank vs 5 years ago
+144
Places climbed
Rank vs 10 years ago
+438
Places climbed
Births vs 10 years ago
1.36×
More babies than then
Share of its own peak
90.0%
Peak was 2018 (150)
Years since peak
7
Years
Year-to-year steadiness
Steady
11.7% average annual change
Best rank ever
#942
1903

Where Ela is used

Across 2016–2025, Ela was most concentrated in New Jersey — about 1 in 5,000 girls, against 1 in 11,044 across all states with data. It was least common in Georgia (1 in 100,000).

120 per 100,000

Most concentrated

  1. 1New Jersey1 in 5,000
  2. 2Florida1 in 6,250
  3. 3New York1 in 6,667
  4. 4California1 in 10,000
  5. 5Massachusetts1 in 11,111
  6. 6Illinois1 in 12,500
  7. 7Texas1 in 14,286
  8. 8Connecticut1 in 25,000

Shading is the share of that state's recorded girls given this name, not the raw count — otherwise the map would just show which states are biggest. Unshaded states have no published records for this period. U.S. birth records suppress state-year counts below 5; state counts therefore don't add up to the national total. Every state links to its full rankings.

Ela around the world

Where Ela ranks in official birth records elsewhere in the world. Rankings only — the number of births isn’t comparable between places, so it isn’t shown.

  • England & Wales
    1996–2025
    #684
    in 2025
  • Scotland
    2005–2024
    #638
    in 2024
  • Northern Ireland
    2013–2013
    #440
    in 2013
  • Ireland
    2010–2023
    #625
    in 2023
  • France
    1986–2025
    #378
    in 2025
  • Norway
    2025–2025
    #424
    in 2025
  • Canada
    2003–2024
    #1,231
    in 2024
  • South Australia
    1944–2011
    #840
    in 2011

Popularity data from Office for National Statistics, National Records of Scotland, Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency, Central Statistics Office, Institut national de la statistique et des études économiques, Statistics Norway, Statistics Canada and Consumer and Business Services (South Australia). ONS, NRS, NISRA data under Open Government Licence v3.0. CSO, SSB, CBS SA data under CC BY 4.0. INSEE data under Licence Ouverte / Etalab 2.0. StatCan data under Statistics Canada Open Licence.

Notable people named Ela

People whose public names include Ela, backed by Wikidata given-name records and ordered by linked Wikimedia pages. The name may be a middle name.

People data from Wikidata (CC0). Fame is measured, not judged — the order reflects how widely each person is documented, not the U.S. birth records popularity this page is otherwise about.

Ela in other languages

Cross-language forms and variants of Ela. Linked forms have their own page here.

EllaElżbieta

Variant forms from Wikidata (CC0). Most are used mainly outside the United States; U.S. birth records statistics cover US usage only.

Ela by the numbers

The raw record for each sex the name is used for.

As a girl's name

Rank in 2025
#1,562
Trend vs 5 yrs ago
Up 144
Best rank ever
#942
1903
Peak year
2018
150 that year
First recorded
1887
Last recorded
2025
All-time count
2,846
Count in 2025
135

Names similar to Ela

Matched on shared beginnings and endings, similar length, and comparable popularity.

ElaniElaraElanElayneElanorElanaElahSelaJaelaElaynaVelaMelaElayaAnelaLeelaBelaLaelaElafAelaNeelaIselaZelaKaelaNela

Names with a curve like Ela

Not spelling — timing. These names rose, peaked and faded in the same years as Ela, so they read as being from the same moment even when they look nothing alike.

AnylaBrinleeClairaJanylaAlessaRaeleighPrishaKlaraCooperIrieAdaliaRayleigh

Sibling names for Ela

Names from the same era and popularity tier — the two things that make a sibling set feel deliberate — skipping lookalike spellings and shared initials.

Explore around Ela

Top names of 2018, Ela's peak yearThe 2010s in fullOther names that peaked in 1903Girls' names starting with E