Ellet
A variant spelling of a French surname turned feminine given name.
Name Census estimates that about 5 living Americans carry the first name Ellet. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Ellet today is around 11 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Ellet births was 2015 (5 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Ellet. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
Key insights
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Ellet. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
5
~ 1 in 68,550,868 Americans
Peak year
2015
5 babies that year
Average age
11
years old
2015 SSA rank
#12,613
Tracked since 2015
Popularity
Ellet: popularity over time
Babies born per year
Decades
Ellet by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Ellet during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
| Decade | Male | Female | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2010s | 5 | 0 | 5 |
Origin
Meaning and history of Ellet
The name Ellet is of English origin, derived from the Old English word "ell," meaning a measurement of length approximately equal to the distance from the elbow to the tip of the middle finger. It was initially used as a surname for someone who lived or worked near an ell-shaped feature or landmark.
In the 13th century, the name Ellet appeared as a diminutive form of the name Eleanor, which itself derives from the Occitan phrase "alia Ænor," meaning "other Aenor." This phrase referred to an unknown woman named Aenor, possibly a Germanic name meaning "honor."
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Ellet as a given name was in the 14th century, when Ellet Calverly, an English noblewoman, was mentioned in the records of the Calverley family of Yorkshire.
In the 16th century, Ellet Holcroft, an English playwright and actor, was born in 1578. He is notable for his work "The Silent Woman," which was performed at the Blackfriars Theatre in London.
In the 18th century, Ellet Breed, an American soldier and politician, was born in 1725 in Massachusetts. He served in the French and Indian War and later became a member of the Massachusetts General Court.
The 19th century saw the rise of Ellet Joseph Watkins, an American painter and sculptor born in 1828 in Missouri. He is known for his portraits of notable figures, including President Abraham Lincoln.
Another notable figure from the 19th century was Ellet Cabot, an American writer and naturalist born in 1811 in Massachusetts. She is best known for her books on natural history and her advocacy for the preservation of the Adirondack Mountains.
People
Ellet + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Ellet as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with E
Other first names starting with E with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Ellet: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Ellet?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 5 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Ellet going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 68,550,868 US residents.
Is Ellet a common name?
We classify Ellet as "Very Rare". It ranks above 18.2% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 5 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Ellet most popular?
The single biggest year for Ellet was 2015, when 5 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Ellet is about 11 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
What does the SSA popularity chart show?
The chart tracks births, not the number of people alive with the name today. Each point shows how many babies were given the name Ellet in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Ellet a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Ellet in the SSA data are male. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Is Ellet still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Ellet in 2024, and the page above shows its latest-year rank where available. A name can be well past its peak and still remain in steady use, especially if it built up a large population over earlier decades.
Why can a name have a lot of living bearers even if it is not trendy now?
Because living-bearer counts and current baby-name popularity measure different things. A name like Ellet can build up a very large population over many decades, even if fewer parents are choosing it now than they did at its peak.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only covers names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files do not have a published Census demographic snapshot. In those cases, the page still shows the SSA trend, gender history, and state data.
How many people have the name Ellet?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.