2000
#2,583
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 12,884
First available Census row
Per 100,000 4.78
Uncommon Last name
Ely
Derived from a place name meaning "eel island" in Old English, referring to someone who lived near such a place.
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 14,159 Americans carry the last name Ely. That puts it at #2,839 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 4.13 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 24,208 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Ely surname. You will find the Census Bureau frequency data, a multi-census history view, an ancestry and ethnicity breakdown based on self-reported demographics, the name's meaning and origin where available, and answers to the most common questions people ask about this surname.
For British records, Name Census UK has a British surname profile for Ely with 1881 census detail, origin facts and modern UK distribution where available.
Bearers in the US
14K
1 in 24,208
Census rank
#2,839
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
4.1
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
12K
uncommon in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 12,347 bearers of the surname Ely in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 4.13 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 2839th position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Ely, the largest self-reported group is White at 85.3%. The next largest groups are Black (6.4%) and Two or More Races (3.8%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Ely
The surname Ely is an English habitation name derived from the town of Ely in Cambridgeshire. The name Ely comes from the Old English words "ēl" meaning "eel" and "ēg" meaning "island", referring to the town's location on an island in the fens.
The name Ely appears in the famous Domesday Book of 1086, which records landowners in England at the time of the Norman Conquest. This suggests that the surname Ely has been in use for at least nine centuries.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the surname Ely is Sir William Ely, who was a Member of Parliament for Cambridgeshire in the early 15th century. Another notable bearer of the name was Sir Richard Ely, who served as Lord Chancellor of England from 1486 to 1492 during the reign of Henry VII.
In the 16th century, the surname Ely was sometimes spelled as Elie or Ealy. A notable example is Nathaniel Eaton (1610-1674), an English Puritan who served as the first headmaster of Harvard College in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
One of the most famous individuals with the surname Ely was Ezra Stiles Ely (1786-1861), an American Presbyterian minister and educator. He served as the president of the Presbyterian Theological Seminary at Marion, Alabama, and wrote several influential works on theology.
Another notable bearer of the name was Ralph Ely (1809-1887), an American politician who served as the 14th Governor of New York from 1877 to 1880. He was also a member of the United States House of Representatives from 1861 to 1863.
In the 20th century, one of the most renowned individuals with the surname Ely was Norman F. Ely (1901-1985), an American pioneer aviator and record-breaking pilot. He was the first person to cross the Rocky Mountains in an airplane and set several altitude and endurance records in the 1920s.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Ely
Among Census respondents with the surname Ely, the largest self-reported group is White at 85.3%. The next largest groups are Black (6.4%) and Two or More Races (3.8%).
The bar chart below shows how Ely bearers 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 surname, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown for every Census year so the breakdown stays comparable over time. When the source file also includes raw headcounts, Name Census shows those alongside the percentages in the legend.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A person's surname does not determine their race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the Ely surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White85.3% · 10,538
- Black or African American6.4% · 790
- Two or more races3.8% · 471
- Hispanic or Latino3.2% · 392
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.7% · 84
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.6% · 72
Timeline
Historical Census data for Ely
Ely appears in 3 published Census surname files: 2000, 2010, 2020. The cards below show how the name's rank and bearer count changed across each release.
2010
#2,745
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 13,130
+246 bearers (+1.9%)
Per 100,000 4.45
Rank movement Down 162 places
2020
#2,839
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 12,347
-783 bearers (-6.0%)
Per 100,000 4.13
Rank movement Down 94 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #2,583 | 12,884 | 4.78 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #2,745 | 13,130 | 4.45 | +246 bearers (+1.9%) | Down 162 places |
| 2020 | #2,839 | 12,347 | 4.13 | -783 bearers (-6.0%) | Down 94 places |
For 2020, the Census Bureau published race and Hispanic-origin columns as counts rather than percentages. Name Census converts those counts back into shares so the ancestry section stays comparable with the older surname files.
Year on year
2010 vs 2020 Census
How has the Ely surname changed between Census years? The chart shows bearer count side by side, and the table compares rank, count, and frequency.
Census year comparison
20102020
| Metric | 2010 | 2020 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rank | #2,745 | #2,839 | -3.4% |
| Count | 13,130 | 12,347 | -6.0% |
| Per 100K | 4.45 | 4.13 | -7.2% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Ely bearers went from 13,130 to 12,347 (-6.0% change). The surname moved down 94 positions in the national ranking, going from #2,745 to #2,839.
Notable bearers
Famous people with the surname Ely
FAQ
Ely surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Ely?
Name Census estimates that about 14,159 living Americans carry the surname Ely. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 24,208 residents.
How common is Ely?
Ely ranks #2,839 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Uncommon." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 4.13 per 100,000 residents, which is about 4 people out of every 100,000.
How many people with this surname were counted in the Census?
The raw 2020 Census file counted 12,347 people with the surname Ely. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (14,159), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 4.13 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 4.13 per 100,000 means that if you picked a random group of 100,000 U.S. residents, you would expect about 4 of them to have the surname Ely.
Has Ely become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Ely went from 13,130 recorded bearers to 12,347. That is a decrease of 783 (-6.0%). In the national ranking it fell from #2,745 to #2,839.
What does the Census say about the background of Ely?
Among Census respondents with the surname Ely, the largest self-reported group is White at 85.3%. The next largest groups are Black (6.4%) and Two or More Races (3.8%). These figures come from the 2020 Census Bureau surname tables, based on how respondents described their own race and ethnicity.
Which group reports this surname most often?
White is the largest self-reported group for the surname Ely in the 2020 Census, accounting for 85.3% (10,538 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Ely appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (85.3%), Black (6.4%), Two or More Races (3.8%). For 2020, the source file also published raw headcounts for each group, which is why this page can show both percentages and counts in the ancestry section.
Is this page using the latest Census data?
Yes. This page is using the latest surname file currently loaded on Name Census, which is 2020. The historical section above also keeps any older Census surname entries we have for Ely (2000, 2010, 2020).
Does the Census include every surname?
No. The Census Bureau only publishes surnames that appeared at least 100 times in a given decennial Census. That means very rare surnames are excluded entirely, and a surname can appear in one Census release but disappear from a later one if it falls below the reporting threshold.
Why don't the ancestry percentages always add up to exactly 100%?
There are two main reasons: rounding and suppression. The Census Bureau rounds published values, and it may suppress very small cells to protect privacy. For 2020, the Bureau also published raw group counts rather than direct percentages, so Name Census converts those counts back into shares for comparability across census years.
What does Ely mean?
Derived from a place name meaning "eel island" in Old English, referring to someone who lived near such a place. The fuller origin note on this page goes into more detail.
Where does the surname data come from?
All surname statistics on Name Census are drawn from the US Census Bureau's decennial surname frequency tables. These files list every surname that appeared 100 or more times in the 2020 Census, along with a count, a per-100,000 rate, and a self-reported demographic breakdown. You can read the full explanation on our methodology page.
How does Name Census estimate living bearers?
For surnames, Name Census does not age cohorts the way it does for first names. Instead, it takes the Census Bureau's published frequency for Ely (4.13 per 100,000) and applies that rate to the current U.S. resident population to estimate how many living Americans have the surname today.
How many people share the surname Ely?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.