What's happened to the name Ellen?

I am currently mystified by the girl’s name [name]Ellen[/name]. It seems that, given all the cultural name fashions, it should be way higher on the popularity list than it is (#674 in 2010). In many ways, it seems to blend the best of both popularity trends: it has both the “ell” sound so popular with names like [name]Ella[/name] and [name]Eleanor[/name], and also has the “-en” ending, which of course is seen in just about every trendy name under the sun these days. So I am very curious as to why [name]Ellen[/name] is so silent these days. Any thoughts?

For me, it is the Public “[name]Ellen[/name]” that makes it unusable.
She is very vibrant but so known it links the name to her too heavily.

emiliaj

I love the name [name]Ellen[/name], and I would definitely consider using it. It’s not as tied to one person in the UK as it is in the States, I don’t think.

I’m a twenty-something-year-old [name]Ellen[/name], and I really like my name. I agree that it’s been weird to see [name]Ellen[/name] going down in rankings while all the other [name]El[/name]- names have gone up. That said, I don’t particularly mind not sharing with heaps of two- and three-year-olds.

The only famous [name]Ellen[/name] I can think of is [name]Ellen[/name] Degeneres… I guess people see her as a bad association or something. I honestly love the name [name]Ellen[/name] as a middle name.

[name]Ellen[/name] was my grandmothers middle name, [name]Margaret[/name] [name]Ellen[/name], and I plan to use [name]Ellen[/name] or [name]Elene[/name] as a way of honouring her.

As for the [name]Ellen[/name] Degeneres association, I think a girl could only be so lucky to share a name with someone so hilarious, vibrant and spunky! I love her!

I actually know two Ellens personally. [name]One[/name] is in the eighth grade and the other is third grade (ish) age. My parents initially wanted to name me [name]Mary[/name] [name]Ellen[/name]… I think its really strange, too, that [name]Ellie[/name], [name]Eleanor[/name], and [name]Ella[/name] are all perfectly acceptable, but you say [name]Ellen[/name] and you get “Is that a family name?” I love [name]Ellen[/name] and would personally use it (not just because its a family name, but because I like it.)
I actually like that all the other names are going up while [name]Ellen[/name] goes down, because when I use it, it will be unpopular but fitting in and easy to recognize!