Popularity of the name Ella, 1880–2025
Ella was at its most popular in 1880, when 1,156 girls were given the name: about 1 in 79 girls born in the U.S. that year, ranking #13. In 2025, 5,831 girls were named Ella, ranking #29. In all, Social Security counts 351,313 girls named Ella since 1880. Social Security’s records also list 901 boys named Ella. Its peak falls in the earliest years of the records, and counts from before about 1937 are incomplete, because many people born then never applied for a Social Security card.
- Peak year
- 1880
- Rank in 1880
- #13
- Babies in 1880
- 1,156
- Rank in 2025
- #29
- Total since 1880
- 351,313
Where it stands now
Over the last ten years it has slipped from #18 in 2015 to #29 in 2025, with 7,918 girls named Ella in 2015 and 5,831 in 2025.
Decade by decade
Ella ranked highest in the 2010s, at #14, with 85,922 girls given the name that decade. It ranked #17 in the 1880s and #19 in the 2020s so far.
Every 20 years in the records: 1,156 in 1880 (#13), 1,911 in 1900 (#42), 3,232 in 1920 (#88), 1,671 in 1940 (#146), 746 in 1960 (#352), 174 in 1980 (#881), 1,232 in 2000 (#264) and 7,372 in 2020 (#15).
Highs and lows
The most girls given the name in a single year was 9,884, in 2010. That is not its peak year: Social Security’s records hold more girls for 2010 than for 1880, so the name’s share of births was smaller. Its best rank in any year was #12, first reached in 2011.
Every year
The table lists every year from 1880 to 2025 in which Social Security recorded at least 5 girls named Ella, with the name’s rank that year.
| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 1880 | 1,156 | #13 |
| 1881 | 1,148 | #13 |
| 1882 | 1,206 | #15 |
| 1883 | 1,251 | #16 |
| 1884 | 1,374 | #19 |
| 1885 | 1,395 | #19 |
| 1886 | 1,464 | #19 |
| 1887 | 1,521 | #16 |
| 1888 | 1,774 | #18 |
| 1889 | 1,647 | #22 |
| 1890 | 1,758 | #23 |
| 1891 | 1,685 | #23 |
| 1892 | 1,808 | #27 |
| 1893 | 1,760 | #28 |
| 1894 | 1,761 | #31 |
| 1895 | 1,692 | #35 |
| 1896 | 1,683 | #36 |
| 1897 | 1,708 | #36 |
| 1898 | 1,715 | #39 |
| 1899 | 1,502 | #42 |
| 1900 | 1,911 | #42 |
| 1901 | 1,435 | #42 |
| 1902 | 1,525 | #45 |
| 1903 | 1,419 | #50 |
| 1904 | 1,432 | #48 |
| 1905 | 1,438 | #52 |
| 1906 | 1,343 | #54 |
| 1907 | 1,450 | #54 |
| 1908 | 1,428 | #56 |
| 1909 | 1,382 | #60 |
| 1910 | 1,587 | #62 |
| 1911 | 1,604 | #63 |
| 1912 | 1,921 | #69 |
| 1913 | 2,071 | #70 |
| 1914 | 2,308 | #72 |
| 1915 | 2,954 | #75 |
| 1916 | 2,965 | #81 |
| 1917 | 3,054 | #83 |
| 1918 | 3,291 | #84 |
| 1919 | 3,158 | #87 |
| 1920 | 3,232 | #88 |
| 1921 | 3,237 | #89 |
| 1922 | 3,150 | #90 |
| 1923 | 2,995 | #93 |
| 1924 | 3,061 | #94 |
| 1925 | 3,006 | #93 |
| 1926 | 2,852 | #98 |
| 1927 | 2,843 | #98 |
| 1928 | 2,670 | #100 |
| 1929 | 2,475 | #102 |
| 1930 | 2,404 | #107 |
| 1931 | 2,162 | #110 |
| 1932 | 2,256 | #108 |
| 1933 | 2,027 | #113 |
| 1934 | 2,071 | #113 |
| 1935 | 1,901 | #122 |
| 1936 | 1,836 | #126 |
| 1937 | 1,748 | #134 |
| 1938 | 1,728 | #140 |
| 1939 | 1,829 | #132 |
| 1940 | 1,671 | #146 |
| 1941 | 1,697 | #141 |
| 1942 | 1,659 | #152 |
| 1943 | 1,664 | #155 |
| 1944 | 1,573 | #158 |
| 1945 | 1,473 | #158 |
| 1946 | 1,499 | #177 |
| 1947 | 1,635 | #177 |
| 1948 | 1,554 | #177 |
| 1949 | 1,552 | #177 |
| 1950 | 1,379 | #198 |
| 1951 | 1,364 | #206 |
| 1952 | 1,245 | #220 |
| 1953 | 1,161 | #235 |
| 1954 | 1,099 | #244 |
| 1955 | 1,125 | #244 |
| 1956 | 989 | #276 |
| 1957 | 968 | #290 |
| 1958 | 841 | #320 |
| 1959 | 867 | #314 |
| 1960 | 746 | #352 |
| 1961 | 714 | #358 |
| 1962 | 630 | #374 |
| 1963 | 597 | #393 |
| 1964 | 564 | #411 |
| 1965 | 479 | #429 |
| 1966 | 430 | #453 |
| 1967 | 382 | #486 |
| 1968 | 314 | #543 |
| 1969 | 320 | #551 |
| 1970 | 323 | #564 |
| 1971 | 257 | #640 |
| 1972 | 205 | #705 |
| 1973 | 224 | #664 |
| 1974 | 212 | #693 |
| 1975 | 182 | #774 |
| 1976 | 183 | #780 |
| 1977 | 163 | #880 |
| 1978 | 174 | #849 |
| 1979 | 173 | #881 |
| 1980 | 174 | #881 |
| 1981 | 181 | #858 |
| 1982 | 176 | #876 |
| 1983 | 156 | #947 |
| 1984 | 138 | #1,028 |
| 1985 | 147 | #1,023 |
| 1986 | 128 | #1,129 |
| 1987 | 128 | #1,150 |
| 1988 | 183 | #923 |
| 1989 | 165 | #1,037 |
| 1990 | 237 | #827 |
| 1991 | 216 | #899 |
| 1992 | 229 | #862 |
| 1993 | 266 | #775 |
| 1994 | 314 | #675 |
| 1995 | 310 | #686 |
| 1996 | 383 | #595 |
| 1997 | 501 | #492 |
| 1998 | 659 | #409 |
| 1999 | 782 | #373 |
| 2000 | 1,232 | #264 |
| 2001 | 1,722 | #190 |
| 2002 | 3,567 | #89 |
| 2003 | 5,909 | #44 |
| 2004 | 8,252 | #29 |
| 2005 | 9,072 | #23 |
| 2006 | 9,213 | #21 |
| 2007 | 9,554 | #21 |
| 2008 | 9,364 | #19 |
| 2009 | 9,659 | #15 |
| 2010 | 9,884 | #13 |
| 2011 | 9,597 | #12 |
| 2012 | 9,210 | #12 |
| 2013 | 8,461 | #15 |
| 2014 | 8,570 | #17 |
| 2015 | 7,918 | #18 |
| 2016 | 7,940 | #17 |
| 2017 | 8,084 | #16 |
| 2018 | 8,127 | #15 |
| 2019 | 8,131 | #13 |
| 2020 | 7,372 | #15 |
| 2021 | 7,041 | #16 |
| 2022 | 6,291 | #25 |
| 2023 | 5,670 | #32 |
| 2024 | 5,715 | #30 |
| 2025 | 5,831 | #29 |
How these numbers are counted
Social Security publishes, for every year since 1880, how many babies of each sex were given each name, counting any name given to at least 5. A name’s rank is its place that year among names for the same sex, by number of babies. Names with the same count share a rank here, while Social Security’s own lists break ties alphabetically, so a rank can differ from theirs by a place or two. A name’s share is the number of babies given it divided by all babies of that sex in the data that year, and its peak is the year that share was highest. Shares rather than counts set the peak, because far more babies were born in some years than others: counting babies alone would pull nearly every name’s peak toward the 1946–1964 baby boom.
Source: the U.S. Social Security Administration’s national baby name data, from Social Security card applications for babies born in the U.S. A name is left out of a year when fewer than 5 babies of one sex got it, and counts before about 1937 are incomplete, because many people born then never applied for a card. See how Baby Boom builds its data. Figures may contain errors.