Ellison
Meaning "son of Ellis", an English surname derived from a medieval personal name.
Name Census estimates that about 7,533 living Americans carry the first name Ellison. It appears on both sides of the gender split, with 65.6% of registrations being female. The average person named Ellison today is around 17 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Ellison births was 2021 (424 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Ellison. 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.
For a British comparison, Name Census UK has a UK baby-name profile for Ellison with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Ellison started out as a boys' name but over the decades crossed over and is now given to girls far more often.
- • Ellison is a relatively new arrival in the SSA data. The average bearer is just 17 years old, meaning it gained most of its traction in the last two decades.
People living today
7.5K
~ 1 in 45,500 Americans
Peak year
2021
424 babies that year
Average age
17
years old
2024 SSA rank
#1,067
Tracked since 1881
Census
Ellison in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 5,701 people with the first name Ellison, which placed it at #3,591 in the published first-name tables. This is a snapshot of people who already had the name at the time of the Census.
The SSA sections elsewhere on this page answer a different question: how often parents gave the name to babies over time. The "people living today" figure on this page is different again: it is a current estimate built from SSA birth records and age-based survival rates, so the two numbers are not expected to match exactly.
2020 Census rank
#3,591
National first-name rank
People counted
5.7K
5,701 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
1.9
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
75.4% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Ellison
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Ellison is White at 75.4%. The next largest groups are Black (7.9%) and Hispanic (5.8%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Ellison described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given name, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown so the breakdown is easy to read across every published category. Because the 2020 Census first-name file also includes raw headcounts for each group, Name Census can show those alongside the percentages in the legend and hover tooltip.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the name Ellison at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White75.4% · 4,301
- Black or African American7.9% · 453
- Hispanic or Latino5.8% · 330
- Two or more races5.7% · 327
- Asian and Pacific Islander4.1% · 232
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.0% · 58
Gender
Gender distribution for Ellison
Ellison is one of the more evenly split names in the SSA data. Of the 8,330 total registrations, 2,865 (34.4%) were male and 5,465 (65.6%) were female.
Ellison as a male name
- Ranked #2,058 in 2024
- 73 male births in 2024
- Peak: 2017 (101 births)
Ellison as a female name
- Ranked #1,067 in 2024
- 232 female births in 2024
- Peak: 2021 (329 births)
2020 Census snapshot
The 2020 Census sex table shows Ellison on both sides of the split. Of the 5,704 people counted with this name, 1,634 were male (28.6%) and 4,070 were female (71.4%).
Popularity
Ellison: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Ellison from the 1880s through to the 2020s, spanning 14 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 3,412 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Ellison remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Ellison 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 Ellison during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Ellisons live
The SSA's state-level files cover 37 states and territories. Texas, South Carolina, California recorded the most babies named Ellison, while New Jersey, Nebraska, Mississippi recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 121 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Ellison
The given name Ellison is of English origin, derived from the surname Ellison, which in turn is a patronymic name meaning "son of Ellis". Ellis itself is a medieval English form of the ancient Greek name Elijah, meaning "My God is Yahweh". The name gained popularity in medieval England during the Middle Ages, particularly among Christian families who wished to honor the biblical prophet Elijah.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Ellison can be found in the Domesday Book of 1086, where it appears as a surname. It is believed that the name was first used as a given name in the 13th century, although its usage remained relatively rare until the 16th century.
In terms of historical references, the name does not appear to have any significant mentions in ancient texts or religious scriptures. However, there are several notable individuals throughout history who bore the name Ellison.
One of the earliest recorded individuals with the name Ellison was Thomas Ellison (c. 1490 - c. 1560), an English Roman Catholic priest and martyr who was executed during the English Reformation for refusing to renounce his faith.
Another notable figure was Ellison Brown (1783 - 1856), an American politician and lawyer who served as a United States Senator from Ohio from 1823 to 1825.
In the literary world, Ellison Onizuka (1946 - 1986) was an American astronaut and the first Asian American and the first Hawaiian to reach space. Tragically, he lost his life in the Space Shuttle Challenger disaster.
Ralph Ellison (1914 - 1994) was an acclaimed African American novelist and literary critic, best known for his seminal work "Invisible Man", which won the National Book Award in 1953.
Finally, Harlan Ellison (1934 - 2018) was a prolific and award-winning American writer, primarily known for his works in the science fiction and fantasy genres, including the groundbreaking anthology "Dangerous Visions".
These are just a few examples of notable individuals throughout history who have borne the name Ellison, showcasing its enduring presence across various fields and cultures.
Notable bearers
Famous people named Ellison
People
Ellison + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Ellison 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
Ellison: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Ellison?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 7,533 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Ellison 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 45,500 US residents.
Is Ellison a common name?
We classify Ellison as "Rare". It ranks above 97.3% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 8,330 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Ellison most popular?
The single biggest year for Ellison was 2021, when 424 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Ellison is about 17 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Ellison in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 5,701 people with the name Ellison, or 1.89 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #3,591 in the national Census ranking for first names.
Why is the Census count different from the living estimate?
Because they measure different things. The Census figure is a count of people who had the name Ellison in 2020. The living estimate aims to answer a current question instead: how many people with the name are alive today, based on SSA birth records and age-based survival rates. Since one number is a 2020 snapshot and the other is a present-day estimate, they are not expected to be identical.
What does the Census say about the gender split for Ellison?
The 2020 Census sex table shows Ellison on both sides of the split. Of the 5,704 people counted with this name, 1,634 were male (28.6%) and 4,070 were female (71.4%). The Census view is a snapshot of people living with the name in 2020, while the SSA section above tracks births across time.
What does the Census say about the background of people named Ellison?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Ellison is White at 75.4%. The next largest groups are Black (7.9%) and Hispanic (5.8%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself. The percentages in the chart above come from self-reported race and Hispanic-origin responses in the 2020 Census.
Which group reports the name Ellison most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Ellison in the 2020 Census, accounting for 75.4% (4,301 people in the published table).
Why can the Census sex total and race total differ slightly?
The Census Bureau published separate 2020 tables for sex and for race/Hispanic origin, and the released figures can differ slightly because of privacy protection in the public files. That is why this page treats the gender section and the race/origin section as two related snapshots instead of forcing them into one identical total.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only includes names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files have no Census demographic snapshot. When that happens, the SSA trend, gender history, and state sections still appear, but the 2020 Census demographic sections are omitted.
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 Ellison in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Ellison a female name?
Yes, 65.6% of people registered as Ellison in the SSA data are female. 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 Ellison still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Ellison 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 Ellison 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.
How many people are called Ellison?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.