Ellen Richards
There are approximately 60 people named Ellen Richards living in the United States today. That makes this name combination very rare, occurring at a rate of about 1 in 5,712,572 Americans.
This estimate combines SSA birth records for the first name Ellen with Census Bureau frequency data for the surname Richards. Below you will find a breakdown of both names, including popularity trends, gender data, and ancestry information.
Expected bearers
60
1 in 5,712,572
Named Ellen
135K
Alive today
Named Richards
152K
Alive today
US population
343M
Denominator
Estimated living: 135K
Rarity: Common
Gender: Female
Peak year: 1951
Average age: 61
Estimated bearers: 152K
Rarity: Common
Census rank: #228
Per 100K: 44.25
Top ancestry: White (78.7%)
First name trend
Ellen: popularity over time
Year-by-year SSA birth registrations for the first name Ellen. The peak year was 1951 with 5,956 births. The average person named Ellen today is 61 years old.
Babies born per year
Ethnicity
Ancestry of the Richards surname
Self-reported race and ethnicity breakdown for people with the surname Richards, from the 2010 US Census Bureau. The largest group is White at 78.7%.
- White78.7%
- Black or African American14.9%
- Hispanic or Latino2.8%
- Two or more races2.0%
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.0%
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.7%
Methodology
How we calculated this
The first name Ellen has a living-bearer frequency of 0.0393% of the US population, based on 134,575 estimated living Americans carrying this first name (from SSA birth records going back to 1880, adjusted for mortality using CDC life tables).
The surname Richards appears at a rate of 44.25 per 100,000 residents in the 2010 Census Bureau surname file, which translates to a frequency of 0.0443%.
Multiplying these two independent frequencies against the current US population of 342,754,338 gives an expected count of approximately 60 people with the full name Ellen Richards. This assumes statistical independence between first and last names, which is a simplification but produces reasonable estimates for most combinations.
Related
Other people named Ellen
Related
Other people with the surname Richards
FAQ
Ellen Richards: questions and answers
How many people are named Ellen Richards?
We estimate approximately 60 people in the United States share the full name Ellen Richards. That works out to about 1 in 5,712,572 Americans. This is calculated by combining the first-name frequency (0.0393%) with the surname frequency (44.25 per 100K) against the current US population.
How rare is the name Ellen Richards?
We classify Ellen Richards as "Very Rare". About 1 in 5,712,572 Americans share this exact first and last name combination.
Is Ellen a male or female name?
Ellen is predominantly female. Out of 275,793 total SSA registrations, 0.3% were male and 99.7% were female. See the full Ellen profile for detailed gender data.
Where does this data come from?
First-name data comes from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files (1880 to 2024). Surname data comes from the 2010 US Census Bureau decennial surname tables. Living-bearer estimates use CDC actuarial life tables to adjust for mortality. Read the full methodology.