Masterpiece Generator Name Generator
How popular is the name Ellen?
Births per year, rank history and how many Ellens are alive today.
Ellen (female), once a common girls' name, is now rarely given to new babies in England and Wales: just 33 in 2025, ranked 1028th. This spelling of the name peaked in 1904, when around 5,100 babies were given the name, the 19th most popular that year. Ellen fell out of the published rankings after 1934 and returned in 1994, a classic revival pattern. Numbers have been falling in recent years. At least 110,000 babies have been named Ellen in England and Wales since 1904. Figures before 1996 are estimates. Ellen is one spelling of a name also recorded as Elen; the combined figures below cover every spelling.
Across all spellings of the name, the Ellen you are most likely to meet is around 30 years old. Half of all Ellens born in England and Wales are between 31 and 68, and there are at least 39,000 of them alive today. If you walk into a room of 100 females, there's roughly a 12% chance that at least one of them will be called Ellen.
How many babies are named Ellen each year?
Includes all spellings: Ellen, Elen. Figures before 1996 are estimates.
Where does the Ellen spelling rank?
Where does the Elen spelling rank?
Where this data comes from
Figures from 1996 onwards are the Office for National Statistics' annual baby-name registrations for England and Wales, which record every name given to three or more babies in a year. Figures before 1996 are estimates: the ONS published only top-100 rankings at ten-year intervals back to 1904, so counts for those years are modelled from the rankings, calibrated against Douglas Galbi's long-run research into English name frequencies, and shown with an uncertainty band. Estimates of living bearers combine these birth figures with national life tables and ONS mid-year population estimates.
One limit worth naming: these figures count names as registered at birth. Anyone who changes their name later in life - including trans people, and anyone who adopts a different name by deed poll or simply by use - is not reflected here. Birth registrations record where a name began, not the name a person lives with.
Common questions
When was the name Ellen most popular?
Ellen peaked in 1904, when around 5,100 babies in England and Wales were given the name across all spellings.
How many people are called Ellen?
At least 39,000 people named Ellen in any spelling born in England and Wales are alive today.
How old is the typical Ellen?
Most living Ellens are between 31 and 68; the most common age is about 30.
Is Ellen becoming more or less popular?
Declining: numbers have been falling in recent years.