About Elle
Elle is a short form of Eleanor and other names beginning with El, and it can also refer to the French pronoun elle, meaning “she.” Its one-syllable sound is compact, while its cultural associations range from the fictional lawyer Elle Woods to actress Elle Fanning.
Origin and related names
As a familiar form, Elle can accompany more than one longer name. Eleanor is one established source, but Eleanor's own deeper origin is disputed. That branch does not provide a secure universal meaning such as “light” for Elle.
The French-word association offers a separate reason for choosing the spelling. French elle means “she,” giving the name a direct word connection as well as its use within the larger El name family.
Elle is pronounced EL, one syllable, like the name of the letter L. Ella and Ellie are nearby familiar forms, with an extra final vowel or syllable. Elizabeth belongs among the longer names whose familiar forms overlap with this group.
Elle Woods
Elle Woods is the central character in Legally Blonde, the 2001 film starring Reese Witherspoon. The story follows a fashionable sorority leader who goes to Harvard Law School after a failed romance.
Her initial wish to win back her boyfriend develops into a discovery of her own legal ability. The comedy turns on the gap between other people's assumptions about her appearance and what she can accomplish.
The character gave Elle a particularly visible American film association. The name was already in use before the movie, and Australian model Elle Macpherson had helped make it familiar to international audiences. The film added another distinct public image rather than introducing an entirely new name.
Elle Fanning
American actress Elle Fanning was born Mary Elle Fanning in 1998. Her films include Somewhere, directed by Sofia Coppola, Super 8, directed by J. J. Abrams, and The Beguiled, another Coppola film.
She played Princess Aurora in Maleficent in 2014 and its 2019 sequel. On television she portrayed Catherine the Great in The Great, which ran from 2020 to 2023.
Fanning received Golden Globe nominations for The Great in 2021, 2022, and 2024. The awards were nominations rather than wins, reflecting the show's visibility across several seasons.
Her use of Elle as a professional first name makes it familiar independently of Elle Woods. The two screen connections involve different kinds of characters: a modern American law student and a comic portrayal of an eighteenth-century ruler.
American popularity
Elle was recorded for 181 American girls in 2000, the year before Legally Blonde appeared, and for 750 in 2010. Its largest recorded count came in 2019, with 890 births and a rank of No. 355.
In 2025, 668 girls received Elle, ranked No. 461. The exact-spelling series shows sustained use well beyond the initial period of the film's release.
Sources & methodologyReferences, data & attribution
Existing Wiktionary material is attributed under CC BY-SA 4.0 where applicable. Popularity figures use the local Social Security Administration exact-spelling series; name-sex-year counts below five are omitted.
- Wiktionary: Elle (English)
- Wiktionary: Elle (Estonian)
- Wiktionary: Elle (Finnish)
- Wiktionary: Elle (Northern Sami)
- Wiktionary: Eleanor
- SSA national name data
- Wikidata: Elle Fanning
- Wikidata: Elle Macpherson
- Wikidata: Elle King
- Wikidata: Elle Logan
- Wikidata: Elle Evans
- Wikidata: Elle Smith
- Wikidata: Elle Kull
- AFI Legally Blonde
- AFI cast record
- Golden Globes Elle Fanning
- Wiktionary: elle, French
Wiktionary material is available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
How popular is Elle?
In 2025, Elle ranked #461 among girls in the United States, with 668 recorded uses. The U.S. birth records first list this spelling for girls in 1977; its largest annual count was 890 in 2019. Rankings count each spelling separately. They describe national use, so local familiarity can differ. The popularity chart shows whether the name has remained common, returned after a quieter period, or risen recently.