Respondents: 32 (This poll is closed)
It’s popular, yes, but she’s lovely and has a lot of meaning for you, so I say go ahead and use it. If popularity bothers you though (it would me too), perhaps looking into name of which [name_f]Ella[/name_f] could be nickname for, in order to give her her very own more unique identity to fall back on (rather than being one of many [name_f]Ella[/name_f]'s)? Or, perhaps you could use [name_f]Ella[/name_f] as a middle name, where it would be beautifully unexpected?
[name_f]My[/name_f] rule has always been if you love the name use it regardless of popularity!! (especially if it means so much!)
It is a gorgeous name. I haven’t met any to be honest. I have an [name_f]Ellie[/name_f], but that is the closet I have come to meeting one.
Though I personally would never use it because of it’s popularity, it’s such a gorgeous name with a lot of meaning to you! I would say use it!!
But, if you’re too worried about popularity being an issue, go for a less popular full name with [name_f]Ella[/name_f] only as a nickname. Or even [name_f]Ella[/name_f] as a middle name that she goes by.
[name_f]Ella[/name_f] is a gorgeous name! Because of all of the meaning it holds for you, and because you love it, I think you’ll regret it if you don’t use it.
It is very popular. [name_f]Ellie[/name_f] is also really popular as a nickname, at least in my state. However, it is a beautiful name and it has special meaning to you. It depends on how much popularity bugs you. Personally I stay away from the most popular (like the top 10 mostly) but not as much as some Berries who avoid anything in the top 200 or even in the top 1000. I think you should use the name though, trying to be unique in a name is overrated.
I love [name_f]Ella[/name_f]. It really doesn’t matter how popular a name is in general. What matters is how popular it is in your circles and the circles your child will be in. [name_m]Even[/name_m] then, if I love a name, popularity would not stop me from using it.
[name_f]Ella[/name_f] is gorgeous! I fell in love with it after seeing [name_f]Olivia[/name_f]'s niece on Fringe–I’ve loved it ever since! Of the [name_f]Emma[/name_f]-[name_f]Ella[/name_f]-[name_f]Eva[/name_f]-[name_f]Etta[/name_f]-[name_f]Elsa[/name_f]-etc. family, she’s surely my favorite. If [name_f]Isabelle[/name_f] wasn’t my top choice for a girl, [name_f]Ella[/name_f] would be on my top 10, no contest. 
It has so much meaning to you, and honestly, popularity isn’t what it used to be. It only averages out that the most popular name for each gender–[name_f]Sophia[/name_f] and [name_m]Jacob[/name_m]–still only, on average, will have one [name_f]Sophia[/name_f] or one [name_m]Jacob[/name_m] per grade, which isn’t bad at all. [name_m]Will[/name_m] they meet other Sophias or Jacobs or Sophies or Jakes? Undeniably, but I don’t think it’s as bad as it was in our generation by a long shot. I only sort of know one [name_f]Ella[/name_f], and have heard it called out in a restaurant once besides, which doesn’t seem all that bad to me, seeing that I have come across twenty-six (I do not kid! I counted, and in about a two-year frame, there was literally twenty-six of them!) Elijahs/Alijahs. 
Not bad at all, in light of that, haha. I’ve even met more Franciscos/Francescas, Autumns, Jacobs, Genevieves, and Coras than Ellas. It’s a beautiful name. I would totally go for it, if I were you! If you’re worried about popularity, you could use a less-used [name_f]El[/name_f]- name and use [name_f]Ella[/name_f] as a nn (like [name_f]Eliora[/name_f], [name_f]Elora[/name_f], [name_f]Eleanor[/name_f], [name_f]Eloise[/name_f], [name_f]Eleni[/name_f], [name_f]Eliza[/name_f], [name_f]Elena[/name_f], [name_f]Eliana[/name_f], [name_f]Arabella[/name_f], [name_f]Gabriella[/name_f], [name_f]Annabel[/name_f], [name_f]Ariella[/name_f]…).
If I went for a longer form, I’d use [name_f]Eleanor[/name_f]. I like [name_f]Eleanor[/name_f] nn [name_f]Ella[/name_f] nearly so much as I love just [name_f]Ella[/name_f]. Either way, she’s beautiful! I hope you get to use her! (And if the popularity does scare you off, you could still use [name_f]Ella[/name_f] as a mn. It is a family name, after all, and family names are used as middles all the time!)
Thank you all!! [name_f]My[/name_f] birth hospital actually posts the top 10 names every month (they average around 6000 births a year) and [name_f]Ella[/name_f] hasn’t been in the top 10 as far back as I went.
Honestly I guess there are no guarantees your kid won’t have the same name as another child in their class anyway. [name_f]My[/name_f] first name is [name_u]Meredith[/name_u] (which has never been super popular) and I had another one in my class in 6th grade.
Oh as far as the middle name, we have already committed to using family surname whether we have a boy or girl or I would consider that route!!
[name_f]Ella[/name_f] is one of the top names on my list! Popularity doesn’t bother me at all, but I only know one little girl named [name_f]Ella[/name_f] anyway. I would say go for it, especially since it has so much meaning for you.
I find it really, really bland, sorry…I wouldn’t mind the popularity if it didn’t seem so uninspired.
But that is just my opinion - personally if I really loved a name and it held great meaning, then I would still use it no matter how popular it was.