Ella (name)

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]

Ella
Pronunciation/ˈɛlə/ EL-ə
GenderFemale
Origin
Word/nameGreek, Norman, Hebrew
Meaning'beautiful, fairy Maiden, Goddess
Other names
Related namesElah, Eleanor, Elizabeth, Elle, Ellen, Ellie, Alla, Ellika, Ellit, Illy, Elat, Illa, Elia, Aelia

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 word Ella (אלה) has two meanings:

1) A tree indigenous to the middle east from 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."

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] , as well as in Israel.[5]

People with the given name

Fictional Characters

See also

Notes
  1. Ἕλλα, William J. Slater, Lexicon to Pindar, on Perseus
  2. Ἑλλάς, Henry George Liddell, Robert Scott, A Greek-English Lexicon, on Perseus
  3. Behind the Name: Name Search
  4. Behind the Name: Popularity for Ella
  5. (Israel Hayom): Popular names by cities
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.