Girl's name
Ela
Say it EL-uh
Polish origin 2 syllables
Where Ela is loved, common and rare
Loved in Slovenia. Common across four German cities and one more place. Rare in Austria, Switzerland, the Netherlands and seven more places.
1 in 4,690 girls born in England and Wales in 2025
Slovenia 10thCologne 59thBerlin 87th
LovedCommonRare
Every place
In 16 of the 40 official lists, among them Slovenia (10th), Cologne (59th) and Berlin (87th).
Show all 16 placesShow less
| Place | Rank | Girls | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| Slovenia | 10th 2025 | 116 | about 1 in 57 |
| Cologne city | 59th 2023 | 21 | about 1 in 293 |
| Berlin city | 87th 2023 | 36 | about 1 in 403 |
| Munich city | 97th 2025 | 14 | about 1 in 299 |
| Austria | 114th 2025 | 58 | 1 in 616 |
| Switzerland | 117th 2025 | 60 | 1 in 567 |
| The Netherlands | 246th 2025 | 61 | about 1 in 1,000 |
| France | 371st 2025 | 155 | 1 in 1,850 |
| Norway | 424th 2025 | 6 | 1 in 3,633 |
| Sweden | 478th 2025 | 13 | about 1 in 3,090 |
| Poland | 498th 2025 | 4 | 1 in 29,947 |
| England and Wales | 684th 2025 | 54 | 1 in 4,690 |
| Italy | 1219th 2024 | 7 | 1 in 25,596 |
| Ontario province | 1283rd 2024 | 8 | about 1 in 6,808 |
| Turkey | 18th 2025 | 2,883 | rank only |
| Bonn city | 99th 2025 | 6 | about 1 in 502 |
Rare, below the listed names: Scotland, Northern Ireland, Ireland, Quebec, British Columbia, New South Wales, Victoria, Queensland, South Australia, New Zealand, Leipzig, Rostock, Spain, Catalonia, Hungary and Israel.
Not in a short top list, so no figure: Nova Scotia (top 21), Denmark (top 50), Finland (top 50), Iceland (top 10), Estonia (top 25), Moscow (top 61), Argentina (top 20) and Croatia (top 50).
Germany publishes no national statistics on first names. German figures here are city lists (Berlin, Munich, Cologne, Bonn, Leipzig, Rostock), never the country.
Sources: Statistični urad Republike Slovenije (SURS), SiStat (Slovenia); Stadt Köln, Standesamt (offenedaten-koeln.de) (Cologne); BerlinOnline GmbH; Landesamt für Bürger- und Ordnungsangelegenheiten (LABO) / Standesämter (Berlin); Landeshauptstadt München, Statistisches Amt (opendata.muenchen.de) (Munich); Statistik Austria (OGDEXT_VORNAMEN_1) (Austria); Bundesamt für Statistik (BFS) / Office fédéral de la statistique (OFS) (Switzerland); Sociale Verzekeringsbank (SVB) (the Netherlands); INSEE, Fichier des prénoms (édition 2025) (France); Statistics Norway (SSB) (Norway); Skatteverket (Swedish Tax Agency) (Sweden); Ministerstwo Cyfryzacji, rejestr PESEL (dane.gov.pl) (Poland); Office for National Statistics (England and Wales); ISTAT, Contanomi (Italy); Ontario Office of the Registrar General (Ontario Data Catalogue) (Ontario); TÜİK (Türkiye İstatistik Kurumu), Nüfus İstatistikleri Portalı (Turkey); Bundesstadt Bonn, Standesamt (opendata.bonn.de) (Bonn). How we count, and every source
About the name
Ela is best known as a Polish name, a clipped and affectionate form of Elzbieta, the Polish equivalent of Elizabeth. In Slovak it can also be a short form of Eleonora. Beyond those roots no meaning is attested for Ela itself, so it takes its character from the longer names behind it.
Read the restShow less
Said EL-uh, it has two short syllables with the stress on the first. Ella is a close relative in English, and Elka and Halszka are other forms connected with it.
Ela is especially popular in Slovenia, where it is a top-10 name, and it is also widely used in Turkey and Austria. In the English-speaking world it is rare, found mainly in England and Wales and in Ontario. In France it has only recently reached its highest point, although across its range it is falling in slightly more places than it is rising.
Meaning, origin, pronunciation
- Pronounced
- EL-uh, 2 syllables
- Origin
- Polish
- Other spellings
- Elzbieta
- Ella
- Elka
- Halszka
- Eula
Etymology
In Polish, a clipping and diminutive of Elzbieta; in Slovak, also a diminutive of Eleonora.
From the Wiktionary entry, CC BY-SA 4.0, shortened.
Over time
Over five years: rising in 1 of 13 regions, falling in 3.
Show the yearsShow less
Rank in each place since 1996; higher on the chart is more popular.
Ten years of ranks
Her rank each year, English-speaking regions first. A blank means no published rank for her that year.
| Region | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| England and Wales | 454 | 486 | 478 | 480 | 478 | 594 | 655 | 545 | 670 | 684 |
| Ireland | 868 | 734 | 716 | 834 | 905 | 625 | ||||
| Ontario | 1330 | 914 | 1007 | 883 | 836 | 1037 | 834 | 1283 | ||
| Quebec | 913 | 787 | ||||||||
| France | 546 | 387 | 492 | 441 | 432 | 395 | 399 | 429 | 396 | 371 |
| The Netherlands | 224 | 192 | 190 | 202 | 243 | 210 | 212 | 296 | 246 | |
| Austria | 102 | 95 | 109 | 90 | 96 | 97 | 95 | 98 | 104 | 114 |
| Switzerland | 114 | 91 | 102 | 118 | 81 | 118 | 121 | 105 | 111 | 117 |
| Berlin | 77 | 74 | 79 | 85 | 84 | 74 | 83 | 87 | ||
| Munich | 74 | 81 | 104 | 74 | 80 | 87 | 96 | 151 | 127 | 97 |
| Cologne | 96 | 45 | 54 | 71 | 56 | 44 | 78 | 59 | ||
| Bonn | 512 | 176 | 103 | 102 | 96 | 124 | 87 | 77 | 98 | 99 |
| Leipzig | 375 | 257 | 186 | 389 | 357 | |||||
| Norway | 424 | |||||||||
| Sweden | 394 | 331 | 520 | 315 | 469 | 365 | 383 | 459 | 478 | |
| Catalonia | 404 | 445 | 541 | 610 | ||||||
| Italy | 1236 | 2258 | 1219 | |||||||
| Poland | 426 | 335 | 402 | 601 | 422 | 478 | 457 | 475 | 498 | |
| Slovenia | 13 | 16 | 14 | 6 | 7 | 14 | 8 | 7 | 9 | 10 |
| Turkey | 22 | 21 | 17 | 17 | 18 | 23 | 27 | 18 |
England and Wales, 1996 to 2025
| Year | Rank | Girls | per 100,000 girls |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 684 | 54 | 21.3 |
| 2024 | 670 | 57 | 22.1 |
| 2023 | 545 | 71 | 27.7 |
| 2022 | 655 | 57 | 21.6 |
| 2021 | 594 | 65 | 23.7 |
| 2020 | 478 | 84 | 31.3 |
| 2019 | 480 | 86 | 30.7 |
| 2018 | 478 | 90 | 31.2 |
| 2017 | 486 | 90 | 30.1 |
| 2016 | 454 | 96 | 31.3 |
| 2015 | 414 | 107 | 34.7 |
| 2014 | 399 | 109 | 35.5 |
| 2013 | 479 | 88 | 28.5 |
| 2012 | 434 | 106 | 32.9 |
| 2011 | 372 | 126 | 39.2 |
| 2010 | 406 | 109 | 34.0 |
| 2009 | 447 | 93 | 29.7 |
| 2008 | 411 | 104 | 32.9 |
| 2007 | 395 | 105 | 34.3 |
| 2006 | 564 | 62 | 20.7 |
| 2005 | 553 | 60 | 20.8 |
| 2004 | 473 | 73 | 25.5 |
| 2003 | 595 | 49 | 17.6 |
| 2002 | 785 | 32 | 12.0 |
| 2001 | 871 | 26 | 9.7 |
| 2000 | 897 | 24 | 8.8 |
| 1999 | 1060 | 19 | 6.7 |
| 1998 | 995 | 21 | 7.3 |
| 1997 | 1543 | 11 | 3.8 |
| 1996 | 1031 | 19 | 6.4 |
Sources: Office for National Statistics (1996-2025), OGL v3.
France since 1925
Half of the babies named Ela in France since 1925 were born in or after 2015. First recorded in 1986. Her peak year there: 2025, at 54.0 per 100,000 girls.
Babies named Ela per 100,000 girls born in France, by five-year period.
Sources: INSEE, Fichier des prénoms (édition 2025) (1900-2025), Licence Ouverte / Etalab 2.0.
Sister names for Ela
1 in 3,578 in Scotland
Rose and fell with Ela. Same first letter as Ela.
Similar forms, not dealt separately: Elin.
1 in 743 in England and Wales
Rose and fell with Ela.
1 in 859 in England and Wales
Rose and fell with Ela.
1 in 3,166 in England and Wales
Rose and fell with Ela.
1 in 1,408 in Ireland
Rose and fell with Ela.
1 in 1,218 in England and Wales
Rose and fell with Ela.
1 in 1,064 in England and Wales
Rose and fell with Ela.
1 in 5,282 in Ireland
Rose and fell with Ela. Same first letter as Ela.
1 in 3,018 in Ireland
Rose and fell with Ela.
1 in 743 in England and Wales
Rose and fell with Ela.
Middle names for Ela
1 in 57 in Northern Ireland
Ela Grace
2-1 beats · initials EG
Changes the beat after Ela: 2 syllables, then 1 syllable.
1 in 71 in Scotland
Ela Olivia
2-4 beats · initials EO · Ela slides into Olivia: vowel meets vowel.
Changes the beat after Ela: 2 syllables, then 4 syllables. Ela slides into Olivia: vowel meets vowel.
1 in 99 in Scotland
Ela Sophia
2-3 beats · initials ES
Changes the beat after Ela: 2 syllables, then 3 syllables.
1 in 311 in Ireland
Ela Maria
2-3 beats · initials EM
Changes the beat after Ela: 2 syllables, then 3 syllables.
1 in 214 in Northern Ireland
Ela Rose
2-1 beats · initials ER
Changes the beat after Ela: 2 syllables, then 1 syllable.
1 in 491 in Ireland
Ela Julia
2-3 beats · initials EJ
Changes the beat after Ela: 2 syllables, then 3 syllables.
1 in 1,286 in England and Wales
Ela Miriam
2-3 beats · initials EM
Changes the beat after Ela: 2 syllables, then 3 syllables.
1 in 78 in Northern Ireland
Ela Emily
2-3 beats · initials EE · Ela slides into Emily: vowel meets vowel.
Changes the beat after Ela: 2 syllables, then 3 syllables. Ela slides into Emily: vowel meets vowel.
Same style as Ela
Names whose popularity rose and fell with hers across regions and decades.
1 in 9,381 in England and Wales
92% alike: moves with Ela across countries and decades.
1 in 4,473 in Scotland
90% alike: moves with Ela across countries and decades.
1 in 1,789 in Scotland
88% alike: moves with Ela across countries and decades.
1 in 5,282 in Ireland
87% alike: moves with Ela across countries and decades.
1 in 3,578 in Scotland
86% alike: moves with Ela across countries and decades.
1 in 1,064 in England and Wales
86% alike: moves with Ela across countries and decades.
1 in 6,494 in England and Wales
86% alike: moves with Ela across countries and decades.
1 in 7,449 in England and Wales
86% alike: moves with Ela across countries and decades.
Famous people named Ela
Ela Bhatt and Ela Gandhi.
Show all 2Show less
-
Founder of the Self-Employed Women's Association of India (SEWA) 1933 to 2022
-
South African politician born 1940
People: Wikidata (CC0), linked to Wikipedia in this page's language when an article exists.
Questions about Ela
4 questions, on how popular she is, how to say it, whether she is rising and sister names.
Show all 4 questionsShow less
How popular is Ela?
Her best rank is No. 10 in Slovenia in 2025, about 1 in 57 girls. She is in the published lists of 16 of our 40 regions.
How do you pronounce Ela?
EL-uh, with 2 syllables.
Is Ela getting more popular?
Over five years: rising in 1 of 13 regions, falling in 3.
Which sister names go with Ela?
The deck's top five sisters for Ela: Elina, Kiara, Inaya, Amalia and Pia. Each is scored on style, era, popularity and origin, with sound clashes flagged.