It is of Greek origin, and the meaning of Ellen is sun ray. Originally a variant of Helen, but now more closely associated with Eleanor. First used as an independent name in the 16th century. Nell is a pet form. English actress Ellen Terry; American actresses Ellyn Burstyn, Ellen Barkin, Ellen DeGeneres.
The days are longer in the summer because our section of the Earth is tilted towards the sun during the summer. Because the tilt of the Earth puts us faces the sun during summer, thus giving us more light. This effect is more and more noticeable the closer to the poles that you go.
At what rate does the length of the days change after the winter solstice? So December 21, the winter solstice, is the shortest day of the year for the Northern Hemisphere. That makes the winter solstice a day that encourages optimism because after it, the days only get longer. But how many seconds or minutes do they increase each day? I am sure this depends on what latitude the length is measured from. My guess is that the days increase more slowly at first because of the earth's elliptical orbit, but I am not sure.