Ellen - Meaning of Ellen

What does Ellen mean?

Pronounce
Ellen

[ 2 syll. el-len, ell-en ] The baby girl name Ellen is pronounced as EHLLahN †. Ellen is used chiefly in the Dutch, English, and Scandinavian languages. Its origin is Old Provençal and Old Greek. From Old Greek roots, its meaning is bright one, shining one - in this context, Ellen can be used in the English and Scandinavian languages. It is derived from the word 'helios' meaning sun. The name was used as an English form of Helen in the 16th century, formed by dropping the initial 'H-', similar to other names such as Hester and Esther. It is today often taken as an independent name.

In addition, Ellen is a diminutive of the name Eleanor (English) in the Dutch and English languages.

Ellen is also a variant of the name Helen (English) in the English and Scandinavian languages.

The name Ellen is widely used; it has 32 variants. Variants of Ellen include Elan, Elea, Elen, Elene, Elenee, Elenie, Elenita, Eleny, Elin, Elina, Elinda, Eline, Ellan, Elleen, Ellena, Ellene, Ellin, Ellina, Ellon, Ellyn, Ellynn, Ellynne, Elon, Elyn, Elynn, and Joellen. Other English variants include the short form Elle, and the diminutives Ella (also used in Scandinavian), Ellie, Nell, Nellie, and Nelly.

See also the related forms, Elia, Eliana, Ellenor, Maryellen, and Sue Ellen.

See also the related categories, sun, english, greek, independent, bright, dutch, and scandinavian.

Ellen is a classic favorite. At present it is still a somewhat popular baby girl name, but not to the degree it was previously. At the height of its usage in 1946, 0.325% of baby girls were given the name Ellen. It had a ranking of #58 then. The baby name has seen a steep fall in popularity since then, and is today of modest use. In 2018, its usage was only 0.019% and its ranking #770. Within the family of girl names directly linked to Ellen, Ella was the most widely used. In 2018, it was more regularly used than Ellen by 23 times.

Baby names that sound like Ellen include Eilwen, Eilwyn, Elain, Elaine, Elan, Elayne, Eleane, Eleen, Elen, Elin, Eline, Elleen, Ellene, Ellyn, Ellynn, Ellynne, Elma, Elon, Eloyne, and Elwin.

† Pronunciation for Ellen: EH as in "ebb (EH.B)" ; L as in "lay (L.EY)" ; AH as in "mud (M.AH.D)" ; N as in "knee (N.IY)"

Details of famous persons named Ellen:
Actress Ellen Burstyn, born Edna Rae Gillooly 7 December 1932, Detroit, Michigan.
Actress Ellen Degeneres, born 26 January 1958, Jefferson Parish, Louisiana.
Composer Ellen Taaffe Zwilich, born 30 April 1939, Miami, Florida.
Country Singer Kitty Wells, born Ellen Muriel Deason 30 August 1919, Nashville, Tennessee.
Politician Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, born 29 October 1938, Monrovia, Liberia.
Religious Figure Ellen G. White, born Ellen Harmon 26 November 1827 - 16 July 1915, Gorham, Maine.