Elle is a moderately popular girls' name in England & Wales, ranking #177 in 2005 with 286 recorded births. The name reached its all-time peak in 2002 with 502 births ranking #93. Since 1996, the popularity has increased by 14.4%. In 2005, approximately 1 in every 1,008 girls born was named Elle. FALLING Recent data shows the name is currently falling.
Elle is usually treated as a short form of Eleanor and other names beginning with El. It also carries a stylish French association because elle is the French word for she.
The name grew in visibility through modern popular culture and fashion-world recognition. Even so, its clearest name-history route is still as a shorter form from the wider Eleanor family.