Nicknames for Ella
30 ideas for Ella — the short forms people actually use, plus cute, funny and gamer versions. Copy any of them in one click.
- Ellie the affectionate standard
- El the tightest clip
- Ells the friend version
- Elle the French spelling, sleek
- Ella-Bella the rhyme every Ella gets
- Ellsie the affectionate extension of Ells
- Elly the y spelling
- Ellz the texting spelling
- Ela the Polish and Turkish spelling
- Ella-Rose the standard compound
- Ella-Mae the Southern double name
- Ella-Grace the other common pairing
- Ellinor the Scandinavian name Ella often shortens
- Elka the Polish affectionate form
- Elluska the Hungarian affectionate form
- Ellita the Spanish-flavoured diminutive
- Ellie-Bear the usual affectionate pattern
- Ellie-Bug family pet name
- L the letter El is already spelled as
- Ella Fitzgerald the compliment disguised as a joke
- Umbrella the schoolyard rhyme, unavoidable
- Cinder-Ella the other unavoidable one
- Ellabelle the compound run together
- Ellie-Lou the rhyming family extension
- Nella the Italian clip of the same sound
- Ell Ella, cut where people naturally stop saying it.
- Ello Ella with the ending people add when they like you.
- Electric Ella Shares the "E" sound with Ella.
- Ellen A short form people genuinely use for Ella.
- Ellu Ella with the ending people add when they like you.
About the name Ella.
Ella Fitzgerald did more for this name than any etymology could. She recorded under it for six decades, and for much of the twentieth century she was the first association most English speakers had, at a time when almost nobody was naming a baby Ella. The name itself is older and messier: a Norman import built on the Germanic element ali, meaning other or foreign, carried to England after 1066. It also runs a parallel life as the tail end of Isabella, Gabriella and Daniella, which is where a fair share of modern Ellas come from. The revival began in the late 1990s and moved quickly through the following decade.
Two syllables, two vowels, and nothing sharp anywhere in it. The result is easy on the ear and easy on a toddler, which explains a good deal of the recent popularity. Ellie is the obvious extension and now outranks it in several countries. El is the flat, unfussy version that friends and siblings use.
Most popular around 2010. Based on US birth records.
- Origin
- Germanic
- Meaning
- other, foreign
- Syllables
- El·la
- Used as
- a girls’ name
Famous people called Ella.
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Ella Fitzgerald
jazz singer, First Lady of Song
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Ella Baker
American civil rights organiser
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Ella Purnell
English film and television actress
Questions about the name Ella
Is Ella short for Isabella or Eleanor? +
It can be, but it does not have to be. Ella existed as an independent Norman name centuries before Isabella was common in English, and most girls given it today have exactly those four letters registered. It also serves as a shortening for Gabriella, Daniella and Eleanor.
What does Ella mean? +
The Germanic element behind it, ali, means other or foreign, the same root that gives Alison and Alice their first syllable. A separate Hebrew name spelled identically means terebinth tree, and the two are unrelated despite looking exactly the same on paper.
What do people call an Ella? +
Ellie is the most common extension, though it has become a name in its own right. El and Ells are the clipped versions. Ella-Bella is the standard rhyming tease and stays affectionate. Some families use Elle, borrowed from the French word for she.
Does Ella work as a username? +
Four letters and a common word shape make it nearly impossible to claim online without additions. Most Ellas end up with a surname, a number or a second word appended. The upside is that it reads cleanly at any size and never gets misspelled.