Ella (name)

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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 said to have been originally the name of the region round Dodona.^[2]

Another source indicates the name 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, Ellie, or Eloise. The Hebrew Ella אלה has two meanings. 1) A tree indigenous to the middle east, Pistacia Terebinth, from the pistaccio family. 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." 2) Ella means "goddess" in modern Hebrew.

Ella became used again during the Victorian era in English-speaking countries and has been revived in the last decade, becoming a popular given name for baby girls born in Australia, Canada, Ireland, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, the United States and other English-speaking countries.^[4] One well-known bearer of the name was singer Ella Fitzgerald. Grand Duchess Elizabeth Feodorovna of Russia, a Russian grand duchess and saint of the Russian Orthodox Church, was commonly known as Ella.

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