Elliston
A masculine name derived from a surname meaning "town of Ella".
Name Census estimates that about 66 living Americans carry the first name Elliston. It appears on both sides of the gender split, with 51.5% of registrations being female. The average person named Elliston today is around 8 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Elliston births was 2017 (19 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Elliston. 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 Elliston. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
66
~ 1 in 5,193,248 Americans
Peak year
2017
19 babies that year
Average age
8
years old
2021 SSA rank
#7,761
Tracked since 2014
Gender
Gender distribution for Elliston
Elliston is one of the more evenly split names in the SSA data. Of the 66 total registrations, 32 (48.5%) were male and 34 (51.5%) were female.
Elliston as a male name
- Ranked #7,761 in 2021
- 10 male births in 2021
- Peak: 2017 (10 births)
Elliston as a female name
- Ranked #13,915 in 2023
- 6 female births in 2023
- Peak: 2017 (9 births)
Popularity
Elliston: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Elliston from the 2010s through to the 2020s, spanning 2 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 45 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Elliston remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Elliston 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 Elliston during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Origin
Meaning and history of Elliston
The name Elliston is believed to have originated from the Old English word "ellis," which means "elm tree." It is a combination of the words "ellis" and "tun," meaning "town" or "settlement." Therefore, Elliston can be interpreted as "the settlement near the elm trees." This name has its roots in the Anglo-Saxon period, dating back to the 5th to 11th centuries in England.
Elliston was a common surname in medieval England, particularly in the regions of Lincolnshire and Yorkshire. It is possible that the name was initially adopted as a surname by individuals who lived near or owned land surrounded by elm trees. Over time, some families may have started using Elliston as a given name, following the tradition of deriving first names from places or family surnames.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Elliston can be found in the Domesday Book, a manuscript record of the Great Survey of England completed in 1086 under the orders of William the Conqueror. The book mentions an individual named Elliston who held land in Lincolnshire at the time.
In the 16th century, Elliston Perrott (1520-1594) was a notable English politician and Member of Parliament for Shaftesbury. He served as the High Sheriff of Dorset and played a role in the Tudor period.
During the 17th century, Elliston Swann (1620-1687) was an English colonial settler in Virginia, United States. He was a prominent landowner and established the Swann's Point plantation along the Potomac River.
In the 18th century, Elliston Trueblood (1768-1842) was an American Quaker minister and abolitionist from North Carolina. He actively campaigned against slavery and played a significant role in the anti-slavery movement.
Moving into the 19th century, Elliston Perot (1829-1891) was an American businessman and philanthropist from Pennsylvania. He founded the Perot Family Foundation and made substantial contributions to various educational and charitable institutions.
While not an exhaustive list, these examples showcase the historical usage of the name Elliston across different time periods and regions, highlighting its English origins and its association with notable individuals throughout history.
People
Elliston + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Elliston 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
Elliston: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Elliston?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 66 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Elliston 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 5,193,248 US residents.
Is Elliston a common name?
We classify Elliston as "Very Rare". It ranks above 58.4% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 66 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Elliston most popular?
The single biggest year for Elliston was 2017, when 19 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Elliston is about 8 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 Elliston in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Elliston a female name?
Yes, 51.5% of people registered as Elliston 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 Elliston still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Elliston 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 Elliston 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 Elliston as a first name?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.