Ella (name)

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 (Greek: Ἕλλα) was the daughter of Athamas and Nephele.^[1] The name may be a cognate with Hellas (Greek: Ἑλλάς), the Greek name for Greece, which is said to have originally been the name of the region around Dodona.^[2]

Another source indicates that Ella is a Norman version of the Germanic short name Alia, which was short for a variety of German names with the element ali-, meaning "other".^[3] It is also a common short name for names starting with El-, such as Eleanor, Elizabeth, Elle, Ellen, Elaine, Ellie, or Eloise.

The Hebrew word Ella (אלה) 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,^[4] and Israel.^[5]