Ellah
A feminine name of Arabic origin meaning "the highest" or "the loftiest".
Name Census estimates that about 995 living Americans carry the first name Ellah. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Ellah today is around 13 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Ellah births was 2010 (73 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Ellah. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
For a British comparison, Name Census UK has a UK baby-name profile for Ellah with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
995
~ 1 in 344,477 Americans
Peak year
2010
73 babies that year
Average age
13
years old
2024 SSA rank
#4,298
Tracked since 2000
Census
Ellah in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 775 people with the first name Ellah, which placed it at #14,981 in the published first-name tables. This is a snapshot of people who already had the name at the time of the Census.
The SSA sections elsewhere on this page answer a different question: how often parents gave the name to babies over time. The "people living today" figure on this page is different again: it is a current estimate built from SSA birth records and age-based survival rates, so the two numbers are not expected to match exactly.
2020 Census rank
#14,981
National first-name rank
People counted
775
775 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.3
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
61.5% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Ellah
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Ellah is White at 61.5%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (19.0%) and Two or More Races (8.0%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Ellah described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given name, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown so the breakdown is easy to read across every published category. Because the 2020 Census first-name file also includes raw headcounts for each group, Name Census can show those alongside the percentages in the legend and hover tooltip.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the name Ellah at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White61.5% · 477
- Hispanic or Latino19.0% · 147
- Two or more races8.0% · 62
- Black or African American5.7% · 44
- Asian and Pacific Islander4.8% · 37
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.0% · 8
Popularity
Ellah: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Ellah from the 2000s through to the 2020s, spanning 3 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 503 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Ellah remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Ellah by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Ellah during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Ellahs live
The SSA's state-level files cover 8 states and territories. California, Texas, Florida recorded the most babies named Ellah, while Pennsylvania, Ohio, Illinois recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 26 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Ellah
The name Ellah is believed to have its origins in ancient Hebrew culture, with roots dating back to biblical times. It is thought to be a variation of the Hebrew name Ella, which means "oak tree" or "consecrated to God." The double "l" spelling is likely a later adaptation or regional variation.
One theory suggests that Ellah may have been derived from the Hebrew word "elah," which translates to "god" or "deity." In this context, the name could have been used to honor a divine entity or convey a sense of reverence. However, the exact etymology remains a topic of debate among scholars.
While there are no definitive historical references to the name Ellah in ancient texts or religious scriptures, it is possible that early variations of the name were in use among certain Hebrew communities during biblical times. The earliest recorded instances of the name are relatively scarce, with limited documentation from the Middle Ages and Renaissance periods.
One notable figure associated with the name Ellah is Saint Ellah, a 7th-century Christian martyr who was allegedly executed for her faith during the reign of the Sassanid king Khosrau II. Her story is recounted in various hagiographies and martyrologies, although the historical details surrounding her life and death remain uncertain.
Another historical figure named Ellah was Ellah the Captive, a 12th-century English noblewoman who was captured during the Third Crusade and held as a prisoner in the Muslim-controlled city of Damascus. Her story is chronicled in the writings of various medieval chroniclers and served as inspiration for literary works and ballads.
In the 15th century, Ellah of Anjou was a French noblewoman and courtier who served as a lady-in-waiting to Queen Marie of Anjou, consort of King Charles VII of France. She is mentioned in various court records and chronicles from that era.
During the Renaissance period, Ellah Gonzaga was an Italian noblewoman and patron of the arts, known for her support of artists and writers in the city of Mantua. She was a prominent figure in the cultural and intellectual circles of her time.
In the 18th century, Ellah Fitzwilliam was a British philanthropist and social reformer who worked tirelessly to improve the living conditions of the poor and establish educational opportunities for underprivileged children. Her efforts were documented in contemporary accounts and biographies.
People
Ellah + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Ellah as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with E
Other first names starting with E with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Ellah: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Ellah?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 995 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Ellah going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 344,477 US residents.
Is Ellah a common name?
We classify Ellah as "Very Rare". It ranks above 90.1% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,004 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Ellah most popular?
The single biggest year for Ellah was 2010, when 73 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Ellah is about 13 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Ellah in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 775 people with the name Ellah, or 0.26 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #14,981 in the national Census ranking for first names.
Why is the Census count different from the living estimate?
Because they measure different things. The Census figure is a count of people who had the name Ellah in 2020. The living estimate aims to answer a current question instead: how many people with the name are alive today, based on SSA birth records and age-based survival rates. Since one number is a 2020 snapshot and the other is a present-day estimate, they are not expected to be identical.
What does the Census say about the gender split for Ellah?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Ellah leans strongly female. 770 people counted with this name were female (98.3%), compared with 13 male bearers (1.7%). The Census view is a snapshot of people living with the name in 2020, while the SSA section above tracks births across time.
What does the Census say about the background of people named Ellah?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Ellah is White at 61.5%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (19.0%) and Two or More Races (8.0%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself. The percentages in the chart above come from self-reported race and Hispanic-origin responses in the 2020 Census.
Which group reports the name Ellah most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Ellah in the 2020 Census, accounting for 61.5% (477 people in the published table).
Why can the Census sex total and race total differ slightly?
The Census Bureau published separate 2020 tables for sex and for race/Hispanic origin, and the released figures can differ slightly because of privacy protection in the public files. That is why this page treats the gender section and the race/origin section as two related snapshots instead of forcing them into one identical total.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only includes names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files have no Census demographic snapshot. When that happens, the SSA trend, gender history, and state sections still appear, but the 2020 Census demographic sections are omitted.
What does the SSA popularity chart show?
The chart tracks births, not the number of people alive with the name today. Each point shows how many babies were given the name Ellah in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Ellah a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Ellah in the SSA data are female. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Is Ellah still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Ellah in 2024, and the page above shows its latest-year rank where available. A name can be well past its peak and still remain in steady use, especially if it built up a large population over earlier decades.
Why can a name have a lot of living bearers even if it is not trendy now?
Because living-bearer counts and current baby-name popularity measure different things. A name like Ellah can build up a very large population over many decades, even if fewer parents are choosing it now than they did at its peak.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.
How common is the name Ellah?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.