Ella is a personal name most often used as a feminine given name, but also as a surname, especially in Australia. In Greek mythology, Ella () was the daughter of Athamas and Nephele.Ἕλλα, William J. Slater, Lexicon to Pindar, on Perseus The name may be a cognate with Hellas (), the Greek name for Greece, which is said to have originally been the name of the region around Dodona.Ἑλλάς, Henry George Liddell, Robert Scott, A Greek–English Lexicon, on Perseus
Another source indicates that Ella is a Norman version of the Germanic short name , which was short for a variety of German names with the element , meaning 'other'".Behind the Name: Name Search It is also a common short name for names starting with El-, most commonly Eleanor.
The Hebrew word Ella () has two meanings:
A tree indigenous to the Middle East, of the pistachio family (Pistacia terebinthus). As written in Isaiah 6–13: "And though a tenth remains in the land, it will again be laid waste. But as the terebinth and oak leave stumps when they are cut down, so the holy seed will be the stump in the land." Ella means 'goddess' in modern Hebrew.
In English-speaking countries, Ella was popular during the Victorian era and again became popular in the late 20th and early 21st centuries. Elsewhere, the name is popular in County Kerry, Ireland,Behind the Name: Popularity for Ella and Israel.(Israel Hayom): Popular names by cities
People with the given name Female Ella (Malaysian singer) (born 1966), Malaysian musician, singer, actress, model, and entrepreneur Princess Ella (1864–1918), German princess; wife of Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich of Russia Ella A. Bigelow (1849–1917), American author, historian, and clubwoman Ella A. Boole (1858–1952), American temperance movement leader and social reformer Ella Adayevskaya (1846–1926), Russian-German composer, pianist, and ethnomusicologist Ella Adoo-Kissi-Debrah (?–2013), British daughter of grassroots campaigner Rosamund Kissi-Debrah Ella Airlie (1882–1959), Australian librettist, dramatist, songwriter, and performer Ella Allan (born 2010), American actress Ella Al-Shamahi (born 1983), English explorer, paleoanthropologist, evolutionary biologist, writer, stand-up comic, science communicator, and television presenter Ella Amitay Sadovsky (born 1964), Israeli artist and physical chemist Ella Anderson (born 2005), American actress and singer Ella Anker (1870–1958), Norwegian magazine journalist, newspaper correspondent, playwright, feminist, and pamphleteer Ella Aquino (1902–1988), Lummi-Yakama-Puyallup civil rights activist and community organizer Ella Atherton (1905–1995), Scottish-born actress, fashion model, horse breeder, and Socialite Ella Atkins, American aerospace engineer Ella Auerbach (1900–1999), German-born American lawyer and social worker Ella Augusta (born 2006), Danish singer Ella B. Ensor Wilson (1838–1913), American social reformer and writer Ella B. Kendrick (1849–1928), American temperance activist Ella Baché, French pharmacist who founded the skin care brand of the same name Ella Baff, American artistic director Ella Baker (1903–1986), African American civil rights- and human rights activist Ella Balinska (born 1996), English actress Ella Ballentine (born 2001), Canadian actress Ella Barnwell (born 2001), Welsh track- and road cyclist Ella Baron, English cartoonist Ella Beatty (born 2000), American actress Ella Beere (born 1998), Australian Olympic canoeist Ella Bennett (2002–2007), American murder victim Ella Bergmann-Michel (1896–1971), German abstract artist, photographer, and documentary filmmaker Ella Billing (1869–1921), Swedish women's rights activist and suffragist Ella Blaylock Atherton (1860–1933), English-born American physician Ella Bleu Travolta (born 2000), American daughter of actor John Travolta Ella Blumenthal (born 1921), Polish-Jewish Holocaust survivor Ella Bohdanova (born 1996), Ukrainian acrobatic gymnast Ella Bohlin (born 1979), Swedish politician Ella Bond Johnston (1860–1951), American art administrator and educator Ella Boyce Kirk (c. 1861–1930), American school superintendent Ella Bradna (1879–1957), Bohemian-born American equestrian circus performer Ella Bramwell (born 1999), South Australian representative sweep-oar rower Ella Brantley (1864–1948), American clubwoman and civic leader Ella Brennan (1925–2018), American restaurateur Ella Briggs (1880–1977), Austrian designer and architect Ella Bright (born 2006), American-born British actress and singer Ella Brockway Avann (1853–1899), American educator and writer Ella Brown, several people Ella Bruccoleri (born 1990), English actress Ella Buchanan (1867–1951), American sculptor Ella Bucio (born 1997), Mexican traceur Ella Bully-Cummings (born 1958), American police officer Ella Campbell (1910–2003), New Zealand botanist, bryologist, and university lecturer Ella Campbell Scarlett (1864–1937), English physician Ella Cara Deloria (1889–1971), Native American educator, anthropologist, ethnographer, linguist, and novelist Ella Carmichael (1870–1928), Scottish editor and scholar Ella Casella (1858–1946), British artist, sculptor, and medalist Ella Castelhun (1868–1961), American architect Ella Catliff (born 1991), English model and blogger Ella Cayabyab, Filipina contestant on reality game show Pinoy Big Brother: Connect Ella Chafee (1945–2019), American Paralympic wheelchair basketball player and fencer Ella Chandler (born 2000), English cricketer Ella Cheever Thayer (1849–1925), American playwright and novelist Ella Chen (born 1981), Taiwanese singer, actress, and television host; member of girl group S.H.E Ella Christie (1861–1949), Scottish pioneering traveler, explorer, landowner, gardener, and author Ella Church Strobell (1862–1920), American cytologist and zoologist Ella Claridge (born 2002), English-born American cricketer Ella Clark (born 1992), British professional basketball- and netball player Ella Condie Lamb (1862–1936), American painter and stained glass artist Ella Connolly (born 2000), Australian sprinter Ella Cook (?–2025), American parishioner; victim in the 2025 Brown University shooting Ella Cooke (c. 1887–1917), New Zealand nurse Ella Cora Hind (1861–1942), Canadian journalist, agricultural expert, and women's rights activist Ella Corfield (1894–1986), British pharmacist Ella Cruz (born 1996), Filipina actress, product endorser, host, commercial- and promotional model, and dancer Ella D. Barrier (c. 1852–1945), American educator and clubwoman Ella D. Crawford (1852–1932), American temperance movement community organizer Ella Daish, British environmental activist Ella Dawn Jenkins, real name of EllaHarp (born 1988/1989), American harpist and singer Ella de Jesus (born 1993), Filipina professional volleyball player Ella Dederick (born 1996), American professional soccer player Ella Dee Kessel Caperton (1943–2000), American politician Ella del Rosario, Spanish-Filipina American singer, actress, and celebrity Ella Demmink Koeze (1905–1986), American member of the Constitutional group Con-Con Eleven Ella Diehl (born 1978), Russian Olympic badminton player Ella Dietz (1847–1920), American actress and author Ella Ding, Australian beautician; contestant on Married at First Sight (Australian TV series) season 9 Ella Donnison (born 1975), English former cricketer Ella Donovan, English Communist activist Ella Du Cane (1874–1943), English painter and illustrator Ella Dzelzainis, British historian and academic Ella E. Clark (1896–1984), American educator, writer, and professor emerita of English Ella E. McBride (1862–1965), American fine-art photographer, mountain climber, and centenarian Ella Eastin (born 1997), American retired swimmer Ella Eaton Kellogg (1853–1920), American philanthropist, dietitian, academic, suffragist, essayist, magazine editor, and human rights activist Ella Edmondson (born 1986), English singer-songwriter Ella Ehlers (1904–1985), German Kindergarten teacher, activist, and politician Ella Eklund (1894–1953), Swedish Olympic diver Ella Elgar (1869–1945), New Zealand Socialite, entrepreneur, and art collector Ella Elvira Gibson (1821–1901), American Union Army military chaplain, abolitionist, poet, human rights activist, feminist writer, and lecturer Ella Emhoff (born 1999), American model, artist, fashion designer, and LGBTQ rights activist Ella Endlich (born 1984), German singer and dancer Ella Ensink (1897–1968), German film editor Ella Envy (born 2000), American professional wrestler Ella Eronen (1900–1987), Finnish actress and poetic reciter Ella Ewing (1872–1913), American circus performer with gigantism Ella Eyre (born 1994), English singer and songwriter Ella F. Boyd (c. 1855–after 1910, American educator and geologist Ella Fajardo (born 2003), Filipina college basketball player Ella Farman (1837–1907), American children's literature writer and editor Ella Feingold, American session guitarist, orchestrator, composer, and music producer Ella Ferris Pell (1846–1922), American painter, sculptor, and illustrator Ella Fillmore Lillie (1884–1972), American visual artist Ella Fitzgerald (1917–1996), American jazz singer, songwriter, composer, and bandleader Ella Flagg Young (1845–1918), American educator, trade unionist, human rights activist, writer, and suffragette Ella Florence Fonden (1880–1982), American philanthropist Ella Fontanals-Cisneros, Cuban-born American philanthropist and art collector Ella Frances Braman (1850–?), American lawyer and businesswoman Ella Freeman Sharpe (1875–1947), British psychoanalyst Ella Friend (born 2003), Australian AFLW player Ella Fry (1916–1997), Western Australian artist and musician Ella Fuller Maitland (1857–1939), British novelist and poet Ella G. Sonkin (1903–1984), American folklorist, folk dance organizer, and educator Ella Gaines Yates (1927–2006), American librarian Ella Gálová (born 2004), French-Slovak professional squash player Ella Geisman, alternate name of June Allyson (1917–2006), American stage-, film-, and television actress Ella George, Australian politician Ella German (born 1937), American friend of assassin Lee Harvey Oswald Ella Germein, South Australian member of pop band Germein Ella Gibbons (born 1994), Scottish netball player Ella Gibson (born 2000), British archer Ella Gifft (c. 1882–1964), African-American educator, businesswoman, and suffragist Ella Giles Ruddy (1851–1917), American author and editor Ella Giselle, American television personality, actress, and transgender rights activist Ella Gjømle Berg (born 1979), Norwegian cross-country skier Ella Gmeiner (1874–1954), German opera mezzo soprano singer Ella Goldsmith (born 1997/1998), Australian rugby union referee, and former rugby union footballer Ella Gombaszögi (1894–1951), Hungarian actress Ella Graham Agnew (1871–1958), American educator and social worker Ella Grasso (1919–1981), American politician Ella Graubart (1896–1982), American lawyer Ella Greenslade (born 1997), New Zealand Olympic rower Ella Greenwood (born 2001), English filmmaker, actress, writer, and mental health activist Ella Gross (born 2008), American singer, model, and actress; member of South Korean girl group Meovv Ella Gudrun Ingeborg Holleufer (1906–1954), Danish spouse of Prime Minister Hans Hedtoft Ella Guevara (born 1998), Filipina former actress Ella Gunson (born 1989), New Zealand field hockey player Ella Guru (born 1966), American-born English painter and musician Ella Haddad (born 1978), Australian politician Ella Häkkinen, Finnish kart racer; daughter of former racing driver Mika Häkkinen Ella Halikas, American model, social media personality, and body positivity activist Ella Hall (1897–1981), American actress Ella Halman (1906–1995), English opera singer and actress Ella Halvarsson (born 1999), Swedish biathlete