Ellen
Ellen was given to 230 girls in 2025, #1,062 among girls’ names; 276,029 Americans have been recorded with it since 1880 (Social Security Administration, published May 2026).
An estimated 148,000 Americans named Ellen and born in the U.S. are alive in 2026 (54% of everyone recorded); the median is 67 years old and half are between 52 and 75.
Girls and boys together; gaps are years SSA did not record (fewer than 5 births).
Births of Ellen by year: SSA national baby-name file, 1880-2025, published May 8, 2026. SSA’s notes on the data.
What does Ellen mean?
Wiktionary, English section
Ellen is “a female given name from Ancient Greek.”
Medieval English variant of Helen, from Ancient Greek Ἑλένη (Helénē); also used as a variant of Eleanor or a feminine counterpart to Elliot.
/ˈɛl.ən/
Meaning: Wiktionary, English section, as of Sep 25, 2026 (CC BY‑SA 4.0).
How popular is Ellen?
#1,062 among girls’ names, 2025
Ellen fell from #701 in 2015 to #1,062 in 2025 among girls’ names; its share of girls born fell from 0.23 to 0.14 per 1,000.
5,956 babies in 1951, the peak
Ellen peaked in 1951, when 5,956 babies were given it (5,945 girls, #68 among girls’ names). The 230 births of 2025 are 4% of that peak.
| Year | Births | Rank | Per 1,000 girls |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 230 | #1,062 | 0.14 |
| 2024 | 246 | #1,026 | 0.15 |
| 2023 | 239 | #1,052 | 0.15 |
| 2022 | 255 | #1,018 | 0.16 |
| 2021 | 289 | #921 | 0.18 |
| 2020 | 336 | #809 | 0.21 |
| 2019 | 347 | #797 | 0.21 |
| 2018 | 356 | #765 | 0.21 |
| 2017 | 385 | #735 | 0.22 |
| 2016 | 450 | #653 | 0.25 |
Every recorded year (146)
| Year | Births | Rank | Per 1,000 girls |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | 406 | #701 | 0.23 |
| 2014 | 435 | #657 | 0.24 |
| 2013 | 403 | #700 | 0.23 |
| 2012 | 374 | #743 | 0.21 |
| 2011 | 401 | #696 | 0.23 |
| 2010 | 430 | #674 | 0.24 |
| 2009 | 416 | #699 | 0.23 |
| 2008 | 459 | #669 | 0.24 |
| 2007 | 514 | #583 | 0.27 |
| 2006 | 545 | #544 | 0.29 |
| 2005 | 517 | #555 | 0.28 |
| 2004 | 595 | #495 | 0.32 |
| 2003 | 668 | #449 | 0.37 |
| 2002 | 590 | #476 | 0.33 |
| 2001 | 609 | #455 | 0.34 |
| 2000 | 632 | #449 | 0.35 |
| 1999 | 675 | #413 | 0.38 |
| 1998 | 622 | #426 | 0.35 |
| 1997 | 812 | #345 | 0.47 |
| 1996 | 1,156 | #244 | 0.66 |
| 1995 | 1,311 | #214 | 0.75 |
| 1994 | 1,322 | #217 | 0.74 |
| 1993 | 1,305 | #216 | 0.72 |
| 1992 | 1,335 | #217 | 0.72 |
| 1991 | 1,430 | #209 | 0.76 |
| 1990 | 1,378 | #210 | 0.73 |
| 1989 | 1,316 | #202 | 0.71 |
| 1988 | 1,187 | #219 | 0.67 |
| 1987 | 1,079 | #240 | 0.62 |
| 1986 | 969 | #265 | 0.56 |
| 1985 | 854 | #290 | 0.50 |
| 1984 | 930 | #263 | 0.55 |
| 1983 | 953 | #246 | 0.57 |
| 1982 | 1,007 | #250 | 0.59 |
| 1981 | 958 | #257 | 0.57 |
| 1980 | 988 | #260 | 0.60 |
| 1979 | 943 | #256 | 0.59 |
| 1978 | 1,012 | #241 | 0.66 |
| 1977 | 1,018 | #244 | 0.66 |
| 1976 | 941 | #251 | 0.64 |
| 1975 | 1,021 | #238 | 0.70 |
| 1974 | 1,088 | #234 | 0.74 |
| 1973 | 1,073 | #241 | 0.74 |
| 1972 | 1,176 | #235 | 0.77 |
| 1971 | 1,392 | #218 | 0.84 |
| 1970 | 1,758 | #188 | 1.0 |
| 1969 | 1,895 | #169 | 1.1 |
| 1968 | 2,102 | #156 | 1.3 |
| 1967 | 2,524 | #138 | 1.5 |
| 1966 | 2,806 | #130 | 1.7 |
| 1965 | 3,251 | #117 | 1.8 |
| 1964 | 3,532 | #119 | 1.9 |
| 1963 | 3,943 | #112 | 2.0 |
| 1962 | 4,113 | #109 | 2.1 |
| 1961 | 4,844 | #97 | 2.4 |
| 1960 | 5,136 | #94 | 2.5 |
| 1959 | 5,396 | #91 | 2.7 |
| 1958 | 5,156 | #93 | 2.6 |
| 1957 | 5,589 | #85 | 2.7 |
| 1956 | 5,432 | #84 | 2.7 |
| 1955 | 5,471 | #81 | 2.8 |
| 1954 | 5,457 | #77 | 2.8 |
| 1953 | 5,537 | #76 | 2.9 |
| 1952 | 5,842 | #70 | 3.2 |
| 1951 | 5,945 | #68 | 3.3 |
| 1950 | 5,567 | #66 | 3.2 |
| 1949 | 5,504 | #64 | 3.2 |
| 1948 | 5,289 | #67 | 3.1 |
| 1947 | 5,856 | #61 | 3.3 |
| 1946 | 5,237 | #58 | 3.3 |
| 1945 | 4,189 | #61 | 3.2 |
| 1944 | 3,998 | #63 | 3.0 |
| 1943 | 4,152 | #67 | 3.0 |
| 1942 | 4,197 | #64 | 3.1 |
| 1941 | 3,664 | #67 | 3.0 |
| 1940 | 3,318 | #74 | 2.9 |
| 1939 | 3,005 | #80 | 2.7 |
| 1938 | 2,805 | #89 | 2.5 |
| 1937 | 2,499 | #102 | 2.3 |
| 1936 | 2,398 | #99 | 2.3 |
| 1935 | 2,434 | #95 | 2.3 |
| 1934 | 2,455 | #95 | 2.4 |
| 1933 | 2,201 | #104 | 2.2 |
| 1932 | 2,370 | #104 | 2.2 |
| 1931 | 2,450 | #99 | 2.3 |
| 1930 | 2,522 | #100 | 2.2 |
| 1929 | 2,567 | #97 | 2.3 |
| 1928 | 2,682 | #98 | 2.3 |
| 1927 | 2,867 | #93 | 2.4 |
| 1926 | 2,768 | #100 | 2.3 |
| 1925 | 2,794 | #101 | 2.3 |
| 1924 | 2,949 | #99 | 2.4 |
| 1923 | 2,671 | #103 | 2.2 |
| 1922 | 2,953 | #95 | 2.5 |
| 1921 | 3,064 | #95 | 2.5 |
| 1920 | 3,076 | #92 | 2.6 |
| 1919 | 2,929 | #92 | 2.6 |
| 1918 | 3,030 | #92 | 2.6 |
| 1917 | 2,855 | #90 | 2.6 |
| 1916 | 2,838 | #87 | 2.7 |
| 1915 | 2,581 | #88 | 2.6 |
| 1914 | 2,039 | #86 | 2.7 |
| 1913 | 1,579 | #88 | 2.5 |
| 1912 | 1,449 | #86 | 2.6 |
| 1911 | 1,162 | #84 | 2.8 |
| 1910 | 1,038 | #88 | 2.6 |
| 1909 | 960 | #86 | 2.8 |
| 1908 | 848 | #92 | 2.5 |
| 1907 | 855 | #89 | 2.7 |
| 1906 | 898 | #80 | 3.0 |
| 1905 | 845 | #81 | 2.9 |
| 1904 | 774 | #84 | 2.8 |
| 1903 | 773 | #85 | 3.0 |
| 1902 | 753 | #84 | 2.9 |
| 1901 | 711 | #82 | 3.0 |
| 1900 | 922 | #82 | 3.1 |
| 1899 | 708 | #81 | 3.0 |
| 1898 | 786 | #81 | 3.0 |
| 1897 | 733 | #77 | 3.1 |
| 1896 | 811 | #73 | 3.4 |
| 1895 | 746 | #75 | 3.2 |
| 1894 | 759 | #72 | 3.4 |
| 1893 | 798 | #69 | 3.7 |
| 1892 | 760 | #69 | 3.6 |
| 1891 | 675 | #69 | 3.6 |
| 1890 | 659 | #70 | 3.5 |
| 1889 | 653 | #68 | 3.7 |
| 1888 | 691 | #68 | 3.9 |
| 1887 | 579 | #66 | 4.0 |
| 1886 | 551 | #70 | 3.8 |
| 1885 | 555 | #64 | 4.2 |
| 1884 | 597 | #59 | 4.6 |
| 1883 | 500 | #62 | 4.5 |
| 1882 | 452 | #64 | 4.2 |
| 1881 | 413 | #65 | 4.5 |
| 1880 | 411 | #61 | 4.5 |
Ranks and shares: girls’ names in each year’s SSA file; share of all girls SSA recorded that year.
Is Ellen a boy’s or a girl’s name?
Ellen has been given almost only to girls: 745 boys in 146 years of records.
Girls and boys named Ellen: the SSA national file counts each sex separately.
How many people are named Ellen, and how old are they?
148,000 alive in 2026, estimated
That is 54% of the 276,029 Americans ever recorded as Ellen. The median Ellen alive today is 67 years old; half are between 52 and 75.
The 2020 Census counted 173,112 people named Ellen (172,846 women and girls, 266 men and boys). SSA’s births carried forward to Census day, April 1, 2020, predict 165,956 born in the U.S. The Census count is 4% above that prediction.
Alive today, by age
Alive today, by generation
| Generation | Born | Alive |
|---|---|---|
| Silent Generation | 1928-1945 | 17,900 |
| Baby Boomers | 1946-1964 | 76,100 |
| Generation X | 1965-1980 | 23,000 |
| Millennials | 1981-1996 | 18,000 |
| Generation Z | 1997-2012 | 8,760 |
| Generation Alpha | 2013-2025 | 4,350 |
An estimate, not a count. SSA’s files count people born in the United States who received a Social Security number, so anyone born abroad is not in them; before 1937 most people got a number as adults, and their survival is counted from that age.
Living estimate: SSA births carried forward with the survival rates in SSA’s cohort life tables (2024 Trustees Report) for each birth year and sex. How the estimate is made. Count: Census Bureau, first names in the 2020 Census (released April 14, 2026; names reported 100 or more times, with the Bureau’s disclosure-avoidance adjustment).
Where are babies named Ellen born?
The states with the most babies named Ellen are New York, Pennsylvania and Illinois, with 27% of its births recorded by state since 1910.
| State | Since 1910 | Rank, girls | vs. national |
|---|---|---|---|
| New York | 36,371 | #1,257 | 1.6× |
| Pennsylvania | 17,665 | #775 | 1.0× |
| Illinois | 13,936 | #1,150 | 1.0× |
| Massachusetts | 13,283 | #918 | 1.7× |
| California | 13,117 | #1,159 | 0.7× |
| Ohio | 12,339 | #904 | 0.9× |
| New Jersey | 10,391 | not ranked | 1.4× |
| Michigan | 9,969 | #806 | 0.9× |
| Texas | 8,117 | #1,422 | 0.5× |
| Wisconsin | 7,020 | not ranked | 1.2× |
Where Ellen is more common than its national share predicts
Relative to its national share, Ellen is most over-represented in Massachusetts: since 1910 it was given 1.7 times as often there as its national share each year would predict.
States: SSA state file, 1910-2025, published May 8, 2026; births count girls and boys together, and the rank is among girls’ names in the state in 2025. The file leaves out any state and year with fewer than 5 babies of the name, so small states are undercounted; each ratio compares the state’s births of Ellen with the births its national share predicts year by year, for states with at least 100 births of the name.
Names spelled alike
Of these 8 names spelled alike, given to 477,504 babies since 1880, Ellen is the most given (58% of them). In 2025 it was given to 230 of their 762 babies (30%), the second most given that year.
Spelled alike: names in the SSA national file with the same pattern of letters and sounds and at most two letters apart, and Wiktionary’s listed forms; births since 1880 and in 2025, and each name’s peak year, from the SSA national file, published May 8, 2026. Some are separate names, not spellings of one.
Names that rose and fell in the same decades as Ellen
Names whose births rose and fell across the same decades, measured on each decade’s share of births.
Similar histories: each decade’s share of births, from the SSA national file, 1880-2025, published May 8, 2026. SSA’s notes on the data.
More about Ellen and names like it
- Compare Ellen and EileenBirths, ranks, peak and the living estimate side by side.
- The most given names of the 1950sEllen peaked in 1951.
- New York’s most given namesThe state where SSA recorded the most babies named Ellen since 1910.
- Ancient Greek namesWiktionary’s origin for Ellen: every such name, by how often it is given.
- The top names of 1951The year the most babies were named Ellen.
- The names of the Baby BoomersMost people named Ellen alive today were born 1946-1964.
- Names starting with EMost given first.