Ellena
A feminine variant of the popular name Ellen, of Greek origin meaning "sun ray".
Name Census estimates that about 1,934 living Americans carry the first name Ellena. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Ellena today is around 26 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Ellena births was 2013 (75 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Ellena. 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 Ellena with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
1.9K
~ 1 in 177,226 Americans
Peak year
2013
75 babies that year
Average age
26
years old
2024 SSA rank
#2,821
Tracked since 1888
Census
Ellena in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 1,782 people with the first name Ellena, which placed it at #8,189 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
#8,189
National first-name rank
People counted
1.8K
1,782 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.6
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
46.0% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Ellena
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Ellena is White at 46.0%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (30.5%) and Black (11.8%). 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 Ellena 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 Ellena at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White46.0% · 820
- Hispanic or Latino30.5% · 544
- Black or African American11.8% · 211
- Asian and Pacific Islander7.1% · 126
- Two or more races4.0% · 72
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.5% · 9
Popularity
Ellena: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Ellena from the 1880s through to the 2020s, spanning 15 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 583 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Ellena remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Ellena 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 Ellena during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Ellenas live
The SSA's state-level files cover 9 states and territories. California, Texas, Florida recorded the most babies named Ellena, while Tennessee, New York, Georgia recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 49 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Ellena
The name Ellena is a feminine given name with roots in Greek and Latin origins. It is believed to have derived from the Greek name Helena, which means "bright" or "shining light". The name Helena itself is derived from the Greek word "helene", meaning "torch".
In ancient Greek mythology, Helena was the daughter of Zeus and Leda, and her abduction by Paris sparked the Trojan War. The name was also popular among early Christians, as it was borne by Saint Helena, the mother of Roman Emperor Constantine the Great.
The variant spelling Ellena emerged in the Middle Ages, particularly in Italy and other parts of Europe. It was likely influenced by the Latin word "lumen", meaning "light", further reinforcing the name's connection to radiance and illumination.
One of the earliest recorded uses of the name Ellena can be found in the 13th century, with Ellena di Toscana, an Italian noblewoman and countess of Arborea. Another notable bearer of the name was Ellena Lucrezia Cornaro Piscopia (1646-1684), an Italian philosopher and one of the first women to receive a doctoral degree.
In the 16th century, Ellena Quirina Giorgi (1580-1662) was an Italian painter and engraver from Venice, known for her religious works and portraits. Later, in the 19th century, Ellena Pavlovna Blavatskaya (1831-1891) was a Russian philosopher and co-founder of the Theosophical Society.
Another famous Ellena was Ellena Raphael (1865-1942), an American educator and social reformer who worked tirelessly to improve educational opportunities for marginalized communities in New York City.
Throughout history, the name Ellena has been a symbol of light, radiance, and enlightenment, reflecting its linguistic roots and the remarkable individuals who have borne this name.
People
Ellena + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Ellena 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
Ellena: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Ellena?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 1,934 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Ellena 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 177,226 US residents.
Is Ellena a common name?
We classify Ellena as "Rare". It ranks above 93.6% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 2,486 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Ellena most popular?
The single biggest year for Ellena was 2013, when 75 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Ellena is about 26 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Ellena in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 1,782 people with the name Ellena, or 0.59 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #8,189 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 Ellena 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 Ellena?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Ellena appears almost entirely female. Of the 1,786 people counted with this name, 99.7% 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 Ellena?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Ellena is White at 46.0%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (30.5%) and Black (11.8%). 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 Ellena most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Ellena in the 2020 Census, accounting for 46.0% (820 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 Ellena in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Ellena a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Ellena 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 Ellena still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Ellena 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 Ellena 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 have the name Ellena?
For a quick modern take, check how many people have the name Ellena on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org.