Clayton Kershaw's longtime romance with his wife, Ellen Kershaw (née Melson), is as sweet as it gets.
The couple, who hail from the same Texas town, met in elementary school and began dating as teenagers. Ellen and Clayton married in 2010 and went on to have four children. Their first, Cali Ann Kershaw, was born in 2015, followed by Charley Clayton Kershaw in 2016. Ellen gave birth to Cooper Ellis Kershaw and Chance James Kershaw in 2020 and 2021, respectively.
In June 2025, Clayton confirmed they're currently expecting their fifth child, a girl.
In a November 2022 Instagram post celebrating Ellen's birthday, Clayton praised his wife's ability to "handle the chaos with ease" and said that she makes "life fun."
"We love you and hope you have the best day being celebrated," the pitcher added. "Getting older with you isn’t so bad!"
Ellen has been supportive of her husband's career since he was drafted into the MLB in 2006, right after they graduated high school, according to the website of their shared charity organization, Kershaw's Challenge. Clayton made his debut as a pitcher for the Los Angeles Dodgers in May 2008.
So, who is Clayton Kershaw's wife? Here's everything to know about Ellen Kershaw and her relationship with the Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher.
Ellen is from Texas
Like her husband, Ellen is also a native of Dallas, according to Kershaw's Challenge's website.
In an April 2023 interview with , Clayton described Ellen's childhood home as the gathering place for all of their friends and said her parents, Leslie and Jim Melson, would always invite people to stay for supper.
“When I’d go over there for dinner, there’d be 15 people," the 11-time All-Star player said. "I don’t even know if they knew who they were. That was so admirable.”
They met in elementary school
Clayton and Ellen's love story started when they were kids, telling D Magazine that they became friends in elementary school. The 2024 World Series Champion officially asked Ellen to be his girlfriend in between classes while they were freshmen at Highland Park High School.
After graduating from high school, Ellen attended Texas A&M University in College Station, Texas. Though Clayton had also committed to the university, he decided not to attend after receiving a $2.3 million offer from the Dodgers in 2006.
She told Risen that they had to work on their relationship while she was in college and he was playing in the minor leagues.
"I think we both realized it was definitely worth making an effort and towards the end of my college career, we both realized our lives were so much better when we were together than when we were apart," she said, adding, "We could accomplish so much more."
Clayton echoed the sentiment, telling the outlet that the distance made him realize she was the one.
"I would say we got closer when she went to college and I started playing professionally," he said. "We both kind of figured out stuff on our own. I think that really helped our relationship now."
Clayton and Ellen married in 2010
The couple tied the knot on Dec. 4, 2010, at Highland Park Presbyterian Church in Dallas, per D Magazine. According to Reporter-News, there was reportedly a "Welcome to Dodgertown" sign displayed during the reception, and Clayton danced while wearing Dodger-blue sneakers.
Two years after their wedding, Clayton wrote about the life he hoped to create with Ellen in their 2012 book, Arise: Live Out Your Faith and Dreams on Whatever Field You Find Yourself.
“Despite our different backgrounds, we agree on several things that we want to incorporate into our new family,” the 2014 National League MVP wrote. “Sunday night dinners are always important, and our home will feature a revolving door of people coming and going."
He continued, "Dogs are to be treated like humans, and card games are to be taken very seriously. We’ll play pranks and watch The Office before going to sleep. The last activity of the day will be praying together.”
Ellen joked to D Magazine that while they have no dogs because their kids are allergic and they don't partake in too many card games as they're too competitive, Clayton's imaginary future came "pretty darn close" to their present reality.
They have four kids and are expecting their fifth
Ellen and Clayton welcomed their daughter, Cali Ann, on Jan. 23, 2015. Nearly two years later, the Dodgers announced on Facebook that the Kershaws had expanded their family once again with the birth of Charley on Nov. 18, 2016.
Cooper arrived on Jan. 12, 2020, and again, nearly two years later, Clayton shared on Instagram that Ellen had given birth to their fourth child, Chance, on Dec. 2, 2021.
In June 2025, Clayton announced Ellen was pregnant again, saying it was a special Father's Day as the couple just had their gender reveal for baby no. 5. "We got another girl coming which we got bookend girls to go with our three boys," he said.
Despite Clayton's career in Los Angeles, the couple have planted roots in their hometown of Dallas. They bought a home there in the early 2010s and split their time between Texas and L.A. during baseball season.
The couple told D Magazine that they have a family rule to see each other every seven days, no matter how grueling Clayton's schedule is. In an August 2017 interview with the , Ellen described her role as a baseball wife as being the family's accountant, traveling secretary and real estate agent.
“I feel like I had kind of gotten into the groove of that," she said, "and then you start adding kids to it and it’s a whole other ballgame.”
They started a charity together
In 2011, Clayton and Ellen co-founded Kershaw's Challenge, a nonprofit that serves vulnerable and at-risk youth in Los Angeles, Dallas, Zambia and the Dominican Republic. The organization has raised more than $20 million for charities supporting children in need over the past decade.
“I always say, when you get a gift like being able to throw a baseball, I didn’t do anything to deserve that," Clayton told D Magazine. "It was just a gift given to me. So, how do you use that? I think that’s why God gave me Ellen, and I think that’s why she had that vision of Africa. I think it was all intertwined.”
