Ellen
A feminine name derived from the Greek word for 'sun ray'.
Name Census estimates that about 134,575 living Americans carry the first name Ellen. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Ellen today is around 61 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Ellen births was 1951 (5,956 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Ellen. 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 Ellen with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Although Ellen is used almost entirely for girls, the SSA data does show 745 boys registered with the name since 1880.
- • Compared to the 1950s, recent registration numbers for Ellen have dropped to less than 5% of what they once were.
People living today
135K
~ 1 in 2,547 Americans
Peak year
1951
5,956 babies that year
Average age
61
years old
1993 SSA rank
#1,028
Tracked since 1880
Census
Ellen in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 173,110 people with the first name Ellen, which placed it at #322 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
#322
National first-name rank
People counted
173K
173,110 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
57.3
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
88.4% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Ellen
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Ellen is White at 88.4%. The next largest groups are Black (4.0%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (3.7%). 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 Ellen 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 Ellen at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White88.4% · 152,952
- Black or African American4.0% · 7,008
- Asian and Pacific Islander3.7% · 6,476
- Hispanic or Latino1.8% · 3,192
- Two or more races1.6% · 2,782
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.4% · 700
Gender
Gender distribution for Ellen
Out of the 275,793 babies given the name Ellen since 1880, 99.7% were registered as female. The name sits firmly on the female side of the spectrum, with only a handful of male registrations across the entire dataset.
Ellen as a male name
- Ranked #7,935 in 1993
- 6 male births in 1993
- Peak: 1941 (22 births)
Ellen as a female name
- Ranked #1,028 in 2024
- 244 female births in 2024
- Peak: 1951 (5,945 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Ellen appears almost entirely female. Of the 173,112 people counted with this name, 99.8% were female and only a very small share were male.
Popularity
Ellen: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Ellen from the 1880s through to the 2020s, spanning 15 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1950s, with 55,505 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1950s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Ellen 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 Ellen during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Ellens live
The SSA's state-level files cover 51 states and territories. New York, Pennsylvania, Illinois recorded the most babies named Ellen, while Nevada, Alaska, Wyoming recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 4,935 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Ellen
The name Ellen is derived from the Greek word "Helene" which means "bright one" or "shining light". It originated in ancient Greece and was a popular name among the Greeks and Romans. The name was also associated with the Greek goddess of beauty and love, Aphrodite.
Ellen is a variation of the more common name Helen, which was popularized in the Middle Ages due to its association with St. Helen, the mother of Emperor Constantine the Great. St. Helen was a devout Christian who is believed to have discovered the True Cross in Jerusalem in the 4th century AD.
One of the earliest recorded examples of the name Ellen can be found in the Old English epic poem "Beowulf", which dates back to around the 8th century AD. In the poem, there is a character named Aelfwine, which is an Old English name that could be considered a precursor to Ellen.
Throughout history, there have been several notable women named Ellen. Ellen Wilkinson (1891-1947) was a British Labour politician and one of the first women to be elected to the House of Commons. Ellen Terry (1847-1928) was a renowned English stage actress who was considered one of the greatest actresses of the late 19th century.
Ellen Troutman Zahourek (1826-1905) was a Norwegian-American musician and composer who is credited with helping to establish the Norwegian-American community in the United States. Ellen Key (1849-1926) was a Swedish writer and feminist who advocated for women's rights and education reform.
Ellen MacArthur (born 1976) is a British sailor who broke the world record for the fastest solo circumnavigation of the globe in 2005. She is also known for her efforts in promoting sustainable practices and circular economy principles.
Notable bearers
Famous people named Ellen
People
Ellen + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Ellen 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
Ellen: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Ellen?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 134,575 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Ellen 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 2,547 US residents.
Is Ellen a common name?
We classify Ellen as "Common". It ranks above 99.6% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 275,793 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Ellen most popular?
The single biggest year for Ellen was 1951, when 5,956 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Ellen is about 61 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Ellen in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 173,110 people with the name Ellen, or 57.32 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #322 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 Ellen 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 Ellen?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Ellen appears almost entirely female. Of the 173,112 people counted with this name, 99.8% were female and only a very small share were male. 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 Ellen?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Ellen is White at 88.4%. The next largest groups are Black (4.0%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (3.7%). 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 Ellen most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Ellen in the 2020 Census, accounting for 88.4% (152,952 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 Ellen in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Ellen a female name?
Yes, 99.7% of people registered as Ellen 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 Ellen still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Ellen 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 Ellen 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 many people are named Ellen?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.