girl's name
Elle
EL
- Origin French
- Gender Girl
- Syllables 1
- Letters 4
- Popularity Top 1000 (US)
- Births on record 28,032
the United States
#462
2025 births
Elle is a girl's name identical to the French word for she, and also used as a short form of Eleanor and Ellen. It ranks 194th in Ireland but does not chart in France at all, which is a striking absence for a name that is an everyday French pronoun.
- Elle is a name of French origin.
- Peaked in 2019, when 890 babies were given the name.
- Its usage has held steady over the past decade.
- Today about 1 in 4,963 babies in the United States is given this name.
- First appears in US birth records in 1977.
- 1 syllable, with the stress on syllable 1.
Elle over time
Births per decade in the United States, 1970s to 2020s. The striped bar is the 2020s, still in progress — it covers 2020 to 2025, not a full ten years.
Show the numbers
| Decade | Births |
|---|---|
| 1970s | 13 |
| 1980s | 193 |
| 1990s | 1,251 |
| 2000s | 5,164 |
| 2010s | 8,105 |
| 2020s (to 2025) | 4,521 |
What Elle means
Elle means she. Read as a short form of Eleanor or Ellen instead, it carries whatever meaning those names carry, which in Eleanor's case is itself unresolved.
Where Elle comes from
Elle has two routes that arrive at the same four letters. As a word-name it is the French third-person feminine pronoun, elle, and its use in English-speaking countries owes most to the fashion magazine founded in Paris in 1945, which carried the word into general recognition as a name-shaped object. As a short form it stands for Eleanor, Ellen or Isabelle, clipped from either end. Eleanor's own origin is disputed, with proposals ranging from a Provençal form of Helen to an Old French compound, so tracing Elle back through it does not produce a firm meaning either. The pronoun reading is the cleaner of the two.
Elle in use
Elle ranks 194th in Ireland on 23 births, 270th in Scotland, 284th in Northern Ireland, 462nd in the United States on 668 and 641st in England and Wales. It does not chart in France, which is notable given that the name is an ordinary French pronoun — French naming rarely takes bare grammatical words, where English-speaking naming is happy to. It peaked in the United States in 2019, when 890 babies were registered, and is stable across 28,032 lifetime births.
How popular is Elle?
In 2025, Elle was given to 668 babies in the United States, ranking #462 that year. It is a well-established, commonly used name.
Where Elle is used
US figures omit any name given to fewer than five babies in a year, so the rarest names are absent from the source rather than absent from use. Data & sources.
Names that peaked alongside Elle
These names rose and fell in the same era, which is why they tend to sound like they belong together.
Parents who like Elle also like
Names whose popularity has risen and fallen in step with Elle over the last century — the same taste, a different name.
Elle in other languages
The same name as it is spelled elsewhere — not shortenings, and not different names that merely sound alike. Each one has its own record here.
Sibling names for Elle
Names from the same era that won't rhyme or share an initial with Elle — the two things that make a sibling set grate.
Common questions about Elle
What does the name Elle mean?
She — it is the French feminine pronoun.
Is Elle short for Eleanor?
It can be, and also for Ellen or Isabelle, but it is widely used as a full name.
Is Elle used in France?
Not as a name. It does not chart in France at all, despite being an everyday French word.
Is Elle the same as Ella?
No. Ella is a separate name of Germanic origin, though the two are often grouped together.
How popular is the name Elle?
In 2025, Elle was given to 668 babies in the United States, ranking #462 that year. It is a well-established, commonly used name.
Is Elle a girl's or a boy's name?
Elle is given almost entirely to girls in birth records.
How many syllables are in Elle?
Elle has 1 syllable.
When was Elle most popular?
Elle peaked in 2019, when 890 babies were given the name. Its usage has held steady over the past decade.
Is Elle a good name?
That is not something records can settle, but they can tell you what you would be choosing. Elle currently ranks #194 in the United States. Its usage has held steady over the past decade. Everything else — how it sounds with your surname, who it reminds you of — is yours.