Old German ali, "other", also a short form of Eleanor and Ellen — all; other. Ella Fitzgerald made it an American classic.
Ella ranks 29th among American girls in 2025, with 5,831 born that year. Its best year was 2010, when 9,898 babies were given the name, ranking 13th. The typical living American called Ella is about 16 years old today. It is relatively most common in Vermont, where it accounts for 0.69% of births.
Source: US Social Security Administration, national and state name files, 2025 release, and the Office for National Statistics for England and Wales. Etymology researched and written by our editors. Living-population and median-age figures are our own estimates, described in the methodology.