Find out how popular the last name Ellis is in the United States and learn more about the meaning, history, and race and ethnic origin of people in America who are named Ellis.

Ellis, like all of the last names we have data for, is identified by the U.S. Census Bureau as a surname which has more than 100 occurrences in the United States in the Decennial Census survey. The most recent statistics we have for the Ellis surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Ellis in America

Ellis is the 131st most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Ellis surname appeared 188,968 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 64 people would have the surname Ellis.

We can also compare 2010 data for Ellis to data from the previous census in 2000. The table below contains all of the statistics for both years in a side-by-side comparison.

The history of the last name Ellis

The surname Ellis has its origins in the ancient Welsh language. It is derived from the personal name Elisse, which is itself a pet form of the name Elisedd. This name can be traced back to the 5th century and is believed to have meant "benevolent" or "kind-hearted".

Ellis is a patronymic surname, meaning it was originally formed by adding a prefix or suffix to the personal name to indicate "son of". In the case of Ellis, the suffix "is" was added to Elisse, creating the surname meaning "son of Elisse". This naming convention was common in Wales and other parts of Britain during the Middle Ages.

The earliest recorded instance of the surname Ellis dates back to the late 12th century in the Welsh county of Glamorgan. In the Pipe Rolls of 1199, there is a reference to a man named Rees Ellis, who held lands in the village of Llantrisant.

As the Ellis family spread throughout Wales and England over the centuries, various spellings of the name emerged, including Ellys, Elles, and Elys. The name was also associated with certain place names, such as Ellesmere in Shropshire, which was originally recorded as Elles Mere in the Domesday Book of 1086.

Notable individuals bearing the surname Ellis include:

1. Thomas Ellis (c. 1390-1466), a Welsh politician and Speaker of the House of Commons during the reign of Henry VI.
2. Humphrey Ellis (c. 1659-1741), a Welsh clergyman and author who wrote extensively on the history and antiquities of Wales.
3. Wynn Ellis (1790-1875), a Welsh poet and writer who was a prominent figure in the Welsh literary renaissance of the 19th century.
4. George Ellis (1753-1815), an English writer and editor who co-founded the influential literary journal The Anti-Jacobin.
5. Sarah Stickney Ellis (1799-1872), an English author and advocate for women's education and social reform.

Over time, the Ellis surname spread throughout the English-speaking world, carried by Welsh and English emigrants to various parts of Britain and its colonies. While its origins can be traced back to medieval Wales, the name Ellis has become a familiar and widespread surname across many countries and cultures.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Ellis

We also have some data on the ancestry of people with the surname Ellis.

The below race categories are the modified race categories used in the Census Bureau's population estimates program. All people were categorized into six mutually exclusive racial and Hispanic origin groups:

1. White only
2. Black only
3. American Indian and Alaskan Native only
4. Asian and Pacific Islander only
5. Hispanic
6. Two or More Races

For the most recent 2010 census data, the race/ethnic origin breakdown for Ellis was:

Note: Any fields showing (S) means the data was suppressed for privacy so that the data does not in any way identify any specific individuals.

Since we have data from the previous census in 2000, we can also compare the values to see how the popularity of Ellis has changed in the 10 years between the two census surveys.

Data source

The last name data and ethnic breakdown of last names is sourced directly from the Decennial Census survey, conducted every 10 years by the United States Census Bureau.

The history and meaning of the name Ellis was researched and written by our team of onomatology and genealogy experts.

If you have a correction or suggestion to improve the history of Ellis, please contact us.

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