Names That Start with E

E names show how one letter can carry several sounds. Ethan, Evan and Ella begin with a short e, Eli and Easton with a long one, and Evelyn has its own soft ev opening. That variety makes E a flexible choice, since you can match the sound to the rhythm of your last name.

A strong biblical thread runs through this page. Elijah is one of the great prophets of the Hebrew Bible, and Elias is the Greek form of the same name, so the two are close cousins. Eli is a priest in the Hebrew Bible and also works as a short form of Elijah. Ezra and Ezekiel each give their names to books of the Bible, and Ethan comes from a Hebrew word for firm or enduring.

The girls' names here lean on the El sound. Elizabeth, Eleanor, Ella and Ellie all share it, and Ellie works both as a name on its own and as a nickname for the longer ones. Emma has Germanic roots meaning whole or universal, Emily goes back to an old Roman family name, and Evelyn was used for men before it became a girls' name. Easton, an English place name, adds a modern surname style to the mix.