Ellen is the medieval English form of Helen, which is usually explained from the Greek helene, "torch", or selene, "moon". It was a top 100 name in America from the 1930s to the 1960s, and talk-show host Ellen DeGeneres kept it in everyday use. Ellen ranked number 449 in 2000, remained in the 600s and 700s through the 2010s and slipped to number 1062 in 2025.