Ellon is a town in Aberdeenshire, Scotland, approximately 16 miles north of Aberdeen, lying on the River Ythan, which has one of the few undeveloped river estuaries on the eastern coast of Scotland. It is in the ancient region of Formartine. Its name is believed to derive from the Gaelic term Eilean, an island, on account of the presence of an island in the River Ythan, which offered a convenient fording point. In 1707 it was made a burgh of barony for the Earl of Buchan.