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

Elm, 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 Elm surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Elm in America

Elm is the 24554th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Elm surname appeared 1,018 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 0 people would have the surname Elm.

We can also compare 2010 data for Elm 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 Elm

The surname Elm is of Anglo-Saxon origin and is derived from the Old English word "elm," which refers to the elm tree. It is believed to have originated as a toponymic surname, meaning it was initially used to identify people who lived near or were associated with a prominent elm tree or grove of elm trees.

Elm as a surname first appeared in England during the Middle Ages, with some of the earliest recorded instances dating back to the 13th century. One notable early reference is found in the Hundred Rolls of Oxfordshire from 1273, where a certain Richard de la Elme is mentioned.

During the 14th century, the surname began to appear in various spellings such as Elme, Elmes, and Elmys. These variations likely emerged due to regional dialects and the inconsistencies in spelling and record-keeping at the time.

In the Domesday Book, a historical record from 1086, several place names containing the word "elm" are mentioned, including Elmestede (now Elmstead) in Essex and Elmebruge (now Elmbridge) in Surrey. These place names may have influenced the development of the Elm surname in those areas.

One of the earliest recorded individuals with the surname Elm was John Elme, who was born around 1450 in Gloucestershire, England. Another notable figure was Sir Thomas Elmes (1490-1554), a member of the English gentry and a Member of Parliament for Lincolnshire.

In the 16th century, the surname gained prominence with individuals like William Elme (1508-1594), an English churchman and academic who served as the Master of Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge.

During the 17th century, the Elm surname was carried to the American colonies by English settlers. One of the earliest recorded instances in America was John Elme, who arrived in Virginia in 1635.

Other notable individuals with the Elm surname include Benjamin Elmy (1696-1752), an English clergyman and author, and Sir Westrow Hulse Elm (1785-1855), a British naval officer who served during the Napoleonic Wars.

As for place names and older spellings, the village of Elmesthorpe in Leicestershire was formerly known as Elmestorp, and the town of Elmbridge in Surrey was once recorded as Elmebrugge in the 13th century.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Elm

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

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 Elm 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 Elm 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 Elm was researched and written by our team of onomatology and genealogy experts.

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

Reference this page

We spend a lot of resources downloading, cleaning, merging, and formatting the data that is shown on the site.

If you found the data or information on this page useful in your research, please use the tool below to properly cite or reference Name Census as the source. We appreciate your support!