Elness last name popularity, history, and meaning

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

Meaning of Elness

An English surname possibly derived from a place name containing the elements "el" and "ness".

Elness, 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 Elness surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Elness in America

Elness is the 109758th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Elness surname appeared 161 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 Elness.

We can also compare 2010 data for Elness 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.

20102000Change (%)
Rank109758117538-6.85%
Count16113716.11%
Proportion per 100k0.050.050.00%

The history of the last name Elness

The surname ELNESS is of English origin, derived from the Old English words "el" meaning "ell" or "measure," and "ness" meaning "promontory" or "headland." It likely originated in the coastal regions of England during the Middle Ages.

One of the earliest recorded instances of the ELNESS surname can be found in the Domesday Book of 1086, where it is listed as "Elnesse" in reference to a landowner in the county of Sussex. This suggests that the name may have originated as a place name or a descriptive term for someone living near a promontory or headland of a specific length or measurement.

During the 13th century, variations of the spelling included "Elnesse," "Ellnesse," and "Ellenesse," as evidenced in various medieval records and tax rolls. It is believed that the modern spelling of "ELNESS" became more prevalent in the 16th and 17th centuries.

Notable individuals bearing the ELNESS surname throughout history include:

  1. John ELNESS (c. 1520-1587), a merchant and landowner in the city of Bristol, England.
  2. Elizabeth ELNESS (c. 1640-1702), a prominent Quaker preacher and author from Yorkshire, England.
  3. William ELNESS (1765-1841), a British naval officer who served during the Napoleonic Wars.
  4. Margaret ELNESS (1825-1892), a Scottish educator and advocate for women's education in the 19th century.
  5. Henry ELNESS (1870-1948), an English explorer and naturalist known for his expeditions to South America and the Amazon rainforest.

The ELNESS surname is also associated with several place names in England, such as Elness Point in Devon and Elness Bay in Cornwall, both of which are located near prominent headlands or promontories along the coastline. These place names further reinforce the geographical and descriptive origins of the surname.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Elness

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

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 Elness was:

Race/EthnicityPercentageTotal Occurrences
Non-Hispanic White Only94.41%152
Non-Hispanic Black Only0.00%0
Non-Hispanic Asian and Pacific Islander Only(S)%(S)
Non-Hispanic American Indian and Alaskan Native0.00%0
Non-Hispanic of Two or More Races(S)%(S)
Hispanic Origin(S)%(S)

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 Elness has changed in the 10 years between the two census surveys.

20102000Change (%)
White94.41%91.97%2.62%
Black0.00%0.00%0.00%
Asian and Pacific Islander(S)%(S)%(S)%
American Indian and Alaskan Native0.00%0.00%0.00%
Two or More Races(S)%5.84%(S)%
Hispanic(S)%(S)%(S)%

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

If you have a correction or suggestion to improve the history of Elness, 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!

Search for a name

Search for a first or last name to learn more about its origin, meaning, and more.

Simple as that.

Search
Search
Background shape