The Baby Name Wizard

Reader Contributions

Contribute to, or edit, this collection of community wisdom on the name Ellis!

Comments and insights on the name Ellis: | Edit

'Ellis' is the Westernized version of the Hebrew name 'Elias' or 'Elijah'. It is sometimes attributed to the Hellenic name 'Helios'. The name 'Ellis' is also a dental Anglicization of the Amharic/Tigrinyan surname 'Ellos'; popular to the people of Eritrea and Ethiopia. In either Hebrew or the Afro-Semitic form, it translates as 'for life' or 'for God'. In Greek, it (Helios) would mean 'the light of God' (sun).

Personal experiences with the name Ellis: | Edit

We choose Ellis for our son based mainly on the fact that it was the name of his great and great-great grandfathers, and that another grandfather came to America through Ellis Island as a child. We also liked that it doesn't have a great many associations, but the few it does have are literary and creative (the masculine pen name of Emily Bronte, the writer Ellis Close, the musician Ellis Marsalis), and that it transcends racial and cultural boundries.

Nicknames for Ellis: | Edit

El, Elias, Elijah, Elis, Elliss, Ellos, Helios

Meanings and history of the name Ellis: | Edit

'Ellis' is the Westernized version of the Hebrew name 'Elias' or 'Elijah'. It is sometimes attributed to the Hellenic name 'Helios'. The name 'Ellis' is also a dental Anglicization of the Amharic/Tigrinyan surname 'Ellos'; popular to the people of Eritrea and Ethiopia. In either Hebrew or the Afro-Semitic form, it translates as 'for life' or 'for God'. In Greek, it (Helios) would mean 'the light of God' (sun).

Famous real-life people named Ellis: | Edit

Ellis Marsalis
Ellis Close
Ellis Miner, physicist and planetary scientist who worked on missions to 8 planets and has written several books

Ellis in song, story & screen: | Edit

British writer and poet Emily Bronte chose Ellis Bell as her pen name when she wrote her only novel, "Wuthering Heights", published in 1847.
Ellis Carver, police officer on The Wire (usually went by Carver)
Name of one of the four main characters in the video game Left 4 Dead 2.