Ellwood
From a combination of Old English elements meaning "elf" and "wood".
Name Census estimates that about 386 living Americans carry the first name Ellwood. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Ellwood today is around 75 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Ellwood births was 1918 (82 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Ellwood. 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
- • The typical person named Ellwood is about 75 years old today, placing it firmly among the names of earlier generations. Most living Ellwoods were born before 1961.
People living today
386
~ 1 in 887,965 Americans
Peak year
1918
82 babies that year
Average age
75
years old
2021 SSA rank
#10,020
Tracked since 1882
Census
Ellwood in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 441 people with the first name Ellwood, which placed it at #22,535 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
#22,535
National first-name rank
People counted
441
441 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
77.3% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Ellwood
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Ellwood is White at 77.3%. The next largest groups are Black (15.9%) and Two or More Races (4.1%). 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 Ellwood 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 Ellwood at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White77.3% · 341
- Black or African American15.9% · 70
- Two or more races4.1% · 18
- Hispanic or Latino1.1% · 5
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.1% · 5
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.5% · 2
Popularity
Ellwood: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Ellwood from the 1880s through to the 2020s, spanning 13 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1920s, with 612 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1920s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Ellwood 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 Ellwood during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Ellwoods live
The SSA's state-level files cover 11 states and territories. Pennsylvania, Maryland, New York recorded the most babies named Ellwood, while New Jersey, Missouri, Wisconsin recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 65 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Ellwood
The name Ellwood has its origins in the Old English language. It is a compound name formed from the words "elm" and "wood," which together translate to "elm wood." The elm tree held significance in ancient Germanic cultures, and the name likely emerged during the Anglo-Saxon period in what is now England.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Ellwood can be found in the Domesday Book, a survey of landowners commissioned by William the Conqueror in 1086. This suggests that the name was already in use among the Anglo-Saxons prior to the Norman conquest of England.
In the Middle Ages, the name Ellwood appeared in various historical records, though its popularity was relatively limited. One notable figure from this period was Ellwood Vigors, a Welsh knight who fought alongside Edward the Black Prince during the Hundred Years' War in the 14th century.
As the use of surnames became more prevalent in the late medieval period, Ellwood began to transition from a given name to a surname. However, it continued to be used as a first name, particularly among certain religious groups.
One of the most famous individuals named Ellwood was Ellwood Meetkirke, a prominent Quaker minister born in 1655. Meetkirke played a significant role in the early Quaker movement and was imprisoned several times for his religious beliefs.
In the 18th century, Ellwood Bathurst (1684-1775) was a notable English politician and landowner who served as Member of Parliament for several constituencies. He was also a prominent patron of the arts and a friend of Alexander Pope.
Another notable figure named Ellwood was Ellwood Russell (1825-1897), an American lawyer and politician from Massachusetts. Russell served as a member of the United States House of Representatives and was actively involved in the abolitionist movement.
In the 20th century, Ellwood P. Cubberley (1868-1941) was an influential American educator and academic. He served as the Dean of the School of Education at Stanford University and played a significant role in shaping educational theory and practice in the United States.
While the name Ellwood has never been among the most popular given names, it has maintained a consistent presence throughout history, particularly in English-speaking countries. Its unique combination of Old English roots and natural imagery has contributed to its enduring appeal.
People
Ellwood + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Ellwood 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
Ellwood: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Ellwood?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 386 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Ellwood 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 887,965 US residents.
Is Ellwood a common name?
We classify Ellwood as "Very Rare". It ranks above 82% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,979 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Ellwood most popular?
The single biggest year for Ellwood was 1918, when 82 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Ellwood is about 75 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Ellwood in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 441 people with the name Ellwood, or 0.15 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #22,535 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 Ellwood 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 Ellwood?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Ellwood leans strongly male. 431 people counted with this name were male (98.4%), compared with 7 female bearers (1.6%). 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 Ellwood?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Ellwood is White at 77.3%. The next largest groups are Black (15.9%) and Two or More Races (4.1%). 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 Ellwood most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Ellwood in the 2020 Census, accounting for 77.3% (341 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 Ellwood in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Ellwood a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Ellwood 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 Ellwood still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Ellwood 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 Ellwood 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 share the name Ellwood?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.