Ellen is a female given name, a diminutive of Elizabeth, Eleanor, Elena, and Helen. Ellen was the 609th most popular name in the U.S. and the 17th in Sweden in 2004.

People named Ellen include:

• Ellen Adarna (born 1988), Filipino actress
• Ellen Alaküla (1927–2011), Estonian actress
• Ellen Palmer Allerton (1835–1893), American poet
• Ellen Allien (born 1969), German electronic musician and music producer
• Ellen Anckarsvärd (1833–1898), Swedish feminist
• Ellen Andersen (1898–1989), Danish museum curator
• Ellen Anderson (born 1959), American politician
• Ellen Auerbach (1906–2004), German-born American photographer
• Ellen Baake (born 1961), German mathematical biologist
• Ellen S. Baker (born 1953), American physician and astronaut
• Ellen Barkin (born 1954), American actress
• Ellen Bass (born 1947), American poet and author
• Ellen A. Dayton Blair (1837–1926), social reformer and art teacher
• Ellen Bontje (born 1958), Dutch equestrian
• Ellen Burka (1921–2016), Dutch and Canadian figure skater and coach
• Ellen Burrell (1850–1938), American mathematics professor
• Ellen Bushell (1884-1948), Irish textile artist and political activist
• Ellen Burstyn (born 1932), American actress
• Ellen Maria Carpenter (1830–1908), American painter
• Ellen Carter (1762–1815), English artist
• Ellen Cleghorne (born 1965), American comedian and actress
• Ellen Cobb (born 1940), retired British judoka
• Ellen Corby (1911–1999), American actress
• Ellen Craft (1826–1891), American fugitive slave and abolitionist
• Ellen Craswell (1932–2008), American politician
• Ellen Crocker (1872–1962), British suffragette
• Ellen ten Damme (born 1967), Dutch actress and musician
• Ellen DeGeneres (born 1958), American comedian, actress, and talk-show host
• Ellen van Dijk (born 1987), Dutch road and track cyclist
• Ellen Dissanayake (born c. 1935), American anthropologist and author
• Ellen Albertini Dow (1913–2015), American actress and drama coach
• Ellen Elzerman (born 1971), Dutch swimmer
• Ellen Russell Emerson (1837–1907), American author, ethnologist
• Ellen Estes (born 1978), American water polo player
• Ellen Foley (born 1951), American singer and actress
• Ellen Fries (1855–1900), Swedish feminist and writer, first woman to be awarded a PhD in Sweden
• Ellen Gallagher (born 1965), American artist
• Ellen Geer (born 1941), American actress, acting teacher and theatre director
• Ellen Gilchrist (born 1935), American novelist, short story writer, and poet
• Ellen Glasgow (1873–1975), American novelist
• Ellen Greene (born 1951), American singer and actress
• Ellen Day Hale (1855–1940), American impressionist painter and printmake
• Ellen 't Hoen (born 1960), Dutch lawyer and Médecins sans Frontières director
• Ellen Hollman (born 1983), American actress
• Ellen Hogerwerf (born 1989), Dutch rower
• Ellen Hoog (born 1986), Dutch field hockey player
• Ellen Horn (born 1951), Norwegian actress, theater director, and politician
• Ellen Jansen (born 1992), Dutch footballer
• Ellen Jens (1940–2023), Dutch television director and producer
• Ellen Johnson (born 1955), American civil rights activist
• Ellen Kaarma (1928–1973), Estonian actress
• Ellen Key (1849–1926), Swedish feminist writer and suffragette
• Ellen Kooi (born 1962), Dutch artist and photographer,
• Ellen Kuipers (born 1971), Dutch field hockey player
• Ellen J. Kullman (born 1956), American business executive, CEO of DuPont
• Ellen Kuzwayo (1914–2006), South African women's rights activist and politician
• Ellen van Langen (born 1966), Dutch middle-distance runner
• Ellen Liiger (1918–1987), Estonian actress
• Ellen Lumpkin, American neuroscientist
• Ellen MacArthur (born 1976), British yachtswoman
• Ellen Manderfield (1916–1999), American industrial designer
• Ellen van Maris (born 1957), Dutch bodybuilder
• Ellen McIlwaine (1945–2021), American musician
• Ellen McLain (born 1952), American voice actress
• Ellen Meijers (born c.1971), Dutch video game music composer
• Ellen Muth (born 1981), American actress
• Ellen Torelle Nagler (1870–1965), American biologist, author, lecturer
• Ellen Niit (1928–2016), Estonian children's writer, poet and translator
• Ellen Nikolaysen (born 1951), Norwegian actress
• Ellen Nisbeth (born 1987), Swedish violist
• Ellen Ochoa (born 1958), American engineer and astronaut
• Ellen O'Doherty (1894–1983), Australian religious, superior general of Sisters of Charity
• Ellen Osiier (1890–1962), Danish Olympic fencing foil champion
• Ellen Page, former name of Elliot Page (born 1987), Canadian actor
• Ellen Pao (born 1970), American lawyer, former CEO of Reddit
• Ellen Perez (1868–1954), Australian tennis player
• Ellen Petri (born 1982), Belgian beauty pageant
• Ellen Pompeo (born 1969), American actress
• Ellen Preis (Ellen Müller-Preis) (1912–2007), German-born Austrian Olympic champion foil fencer
• Ellen Alida Rose (1843–1???), American agriculturist, suffragist
• Ellen Swallow Richards (1842–1911), American industrial and environmental chemist
• Ellen Roche (born 1979), Brazilian actress and model
• Ellen Roosevelt (1868–1954), American tennis player
• Ellen Sergeant Rude (1838-1916), American writer and poet
• Ellen Sauerbrey (born 1937), American politician
• Ellen Browning Scripps (1836–1932), American journalist and philanthropist
• Ellen Johnson Sirleaf (born 1938), President of Liberia
• Ellen Tauscher (1951–2019), American politician, Under Secretary of State
• Ellen Terry (1847–1928), English stage actress
• Ellen Travolta (born 1940), American actress
• Ellen von Unwerth (born 1954), German photographer and director,
• Ellen Van Loy (born 1980), Belgian cyclo-cross cyclist
• Ellen Venker (born 1983), Dutch softball player
• Ellen Vogel (1922–2015), Dutch actress
• Ellen Voorhees, American computer scientist
• Ellen van der Weijden-Bast (born 1971), Dutch water polo player
• Ellen G. White (1827–1915), American co-founder of the Seventh-day Adventist Church and author
• Ellen Willmott (1858–1934), English horticulturalist
• Ellen Axson Wilson (1860–1914), American first lady
• Ellen Whitmore (1828–1861), American educator and missionary
• Ellen Wilson (born 1976), American judoka
• Ellen Woglom (born 1987), American actress
• Ellen van Wolde (born 1954), Dutch biblical scholar
• Ellen Wong (born 1985), Canadian actress
• Ellen Taaffe Zwilich (born 1939), American classical music composer
• Ellen Urbani (born 1969), American author

Fictional characters

• Ellen, a character in the 2000 American fantasy-comedy TV movie Life-Size
• Ellen, a character in the American TV sitcom Will & Grace
• Ellen Berent, a character in the 1988 American made-for-television drama film Too Good to Be True
• Ellen Blake, a character played by Loni Anderson in the 1984 TV movie My Mother's Secret Life
• Ellen Foxworthy, a fictional character in the webcomic Schlock Mercenary
• Mrs. Ellen Hartley, a character in the American 1947 Drama movie Seven Were Saved
• Ellen Lamb, character in the 1985 science fiction movie D.A.R.Y.L.
• Ellen Kurokawa, a character in the Japanese anime series Suite PreCure (also called Eren)
• Ellen Morgan, the main character in the TV series Ellen
• Ellen Powell, a character in the American sitcom television series Charles in Charge
• Ellen Randall, a character in the Canadian-produced sitcom Learning the Ropes
• Ellen Rockland, a character in the 1988 American science-fiction horror movie Pulse
• Ellen Ripley, a character in the Alien film series