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Ela

Girl name · 40 babies recorded · 1974–2025

Ela: 40 babies born in Scotland since 1974, given to girls, peaking at 5 births in 2010.

Ela is a name with rich, overlapping roots. It most commonly appears as a short form of Eleanor, drawing on the Greek Helenē, meaning "torch" or "sun ray," and can also be a variant of the Hebrew Elah, meaning “oak tree,” or a Turkish name meaning “hazel” or “moon halo.” A notable bearer is Ela Gandhi, a South African peace activist and granddaughter of Mahatma Gandhi. The name also shares its phonetic root with the Scottish island of Eilean, meaning “island” in Gaelic. A lovely variant is the elegant Elara, a name of a moon of Jupiter, offering a slightly more celestial twist.