Ellia
A feminine variation of Elijah, meaning "The Lord is my God".
Name Census estimates that about 1,671 living Americans carry the first name Ellia. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Ellia today is around 12 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Ellia births was 2017 (123 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Ellia. 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 Ellia with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Ellia is a relatively new arrival in the SSA data. The average bearer is just 12 years old, meaning it gained most of its traction in the last two decades.
People living today
1.7K
~ 1 in 205,119 Americans
Peak year
2017
123 babies that year
Average age
12
years old
2024 SSA rank
#2,028
Tracked since 1921
Census
Ellia in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 1,358 people with the first name Ellia, which placed it at #9,982 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
#9,982
National first-name rank
People counted
1.4K
1,358 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.4
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
57.7% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Ellia
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Ellia is White at 57.7%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (21.8%) and Two or More Races (7.8%). 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 Ellia 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 Ellia at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White57.7% · 784
- Hispanic or Latino21.8% · 296
- Two or more races7.8% · 106
- Asian and Pacific Islander7.2% · 98
- Black or African American5.1% · 69
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.4% · 5
Popularity
Ellia: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Ellia from the 1920s through to the 2020s, spanning 7 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 818 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Ellia remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Ellia 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 Ellia during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Ellias live
The SSA's state-level files cover 15 states and territories. California, Texas, New York recorded the most babies named Ellia, while New Jersey, Minnesota, Colorado recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 44 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Ellia
The name Ellia is believed to have its origins in ancient Greek culture, deriving from the word "helios," which means "sun." This connection to the sun suggests that the name may have been associated with light, warmth, and life-giving energy in its earliest use.
During the classical period of ancient Greece, the name Ellia was sometimes used as a shortened form of longer names like Eliana or Elianna. However, it also existed as a distinct name in its own right, though its precise etymology and meaning are not entirely clear.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Ellia can be found in the writings of the ancient Greek historian Herodotus, who lived in the 5th century BCE. In his work "The Histories," Herodotus mentions an Ellia who was a priestess of the goddess Hera at the temple of Argos.
In the 3rd century BCE, there was a notable Greek philosopher named Ellia who hailed from the city of Rhodes. She was a follower of the Stoic school of philosophy and is said to have written several treatises on ethics and logic, though none of her works have survived to modern times.
During the Byzantine era, which spanned from the 4th to the 15th century CE, the name Ellia gained popularity among Greek-speaking Christians. One notable figure from this period was Saint Ellia of Amorium, a nun who lived in the 9th century and was known for her piety and charitable works.
In the 12th century, there was a renowned Byzantine scholar and philosopher named Ellia Monobasic, who wrote extensively on logic, metaphysics, and the nature of the soul. Her works were highly influential in the intellectual circles of her time.
Another notable figure named Ellia was a 16th-century Greek poet and playwright from the island of Crete. Ellia Kornaros was celebrated for her lyrical verse and her contributions to the revival of Greek literature during the Renaissance period.
While the name Ellia has its roots in ancient Greek culture, it has been adopted and adapted by various other cultures and languages over the centuries. However, its earliest and most enduring associations remain tied to its Greek origins and its connection to the sun and light.
People
Ellia + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Ellia 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
Ellia: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Ellia?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 1,671 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Ellia 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 205,119 US residents.
Is Ellia a common name?
We classify Ellia as "Rare". It ranks above 92.9% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,699 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Ellia most popular?
The single biggest year for Ellia was 2017, when 123 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Ellia is about 12 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Ellia in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 1,358 people with the name Ellia, or 0.45 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #9,982 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 Ellia 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 Ellia?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Ellia leans strongly female. 1,317 people counted with this name were female (96.8%), compared with 43 male bearers (3.2%). 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 Ellia?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Ellia is White at 57.7%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (21.8%) and Two or More Races (7.8%). 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 Ellia most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Ellia in the 2020 Census, accounting for 57.7% (784 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 Ellia in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Ellia a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Ellia 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 Ellia still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Ellia 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 Ellia 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 Ellia?
Find out how many Americans are named Ellia on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — a quick modern estimate with the living-bearer count front and centre.