Ellaina
A feminine name of Greek origin meaning "shining light".
Name Census estimates that about 617 living Americans carry the first name Ellaina. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Ellaina today is around 15 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Ellaina births was 2011 (38 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Ellaina. 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.
People living today
617
~ 1 in 555,518 Americans
Peak year
2011
38 babies that year
Average age
15
years old
2024 SSA rank
#7,675
Tracked since 1991
Popularity
Ellaina: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Ellaina from the 1990s through to the 2020s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 296 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Ellaina remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Ellaina 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 Ellaina during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Ellainas live
Origin
Meaning and history of Ellaina
The name Ellaina is a feminine given name of Greek origin, derived from the Greek word "Helene," which means "bright" or "shining one." It is a variant spelling of the more common name "Helena," which has been in use since ancient times.
The earliest known reference to the name Helena can be found in Greek mythology. In the Iliad, Helen of Troy, also known as Helen of Sparta, was a beautiful woman whose abduction by Paris, a Trojan prince, sparked the Trojan War. Her name became synonymous with beauty and was widely used in ancient Greece.
One of the earliest recorded individuals with the name Ellaina was Saint Ellaina, a 4th-century Christian martyr who was executed during the persecution of Christians under the Roman Emperor Diocletian. She is venerated as a saint in the Eastern Orthodox Church and the Roman Catholic Church.
During the Middle Ages, the name Ellaina gained popularity across Europe, particularly in regions with strong Greek cultural influences. It was used by several notable figures, including Ellaina Angelos, a Byzantine noblewoman and the daughter of the Byzantine Emperor Alexios III Angelos, who lived in the late 12th and early 13th centuries.
In the Renaissance period, the name Ellaina was associated with the arts and literature. One notable bearer of the name was Ellaina Andreini, an Italian actress, and poet who lived from 1562 to 1604. She was renowned for her performances in commedia dell'arte plays and her poetry.
Another notable historical figure with the name Ellaina was Ellaina Luckau, a German Protestant writer and theologian who lived from 1618 to 1678. She was known for her religious writings and her efforts to promote education for women.
As the name Ellaina spread across Europe, it also found its way to other parts of the world. In the 19th century, Ellaina Fenwick was an American abolitionist and women's rights activist who fought against slavery and advocated for women's suffrage.
People
Ellaina + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Ellaina 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
Ellaina: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Ellaina?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 617 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Ellaina 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 555,518 US residents.
Is Ellaina a common name?
We classify Ellaina as "Very Rare". It ranks above 86.5% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 624 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Ellaina most popular?
The single biggest year for Ellaina was 2011, when 38 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Ellaina is about 15 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Ellaina a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Ellaina 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.
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.