Jack Elam
There are approximately 21 people named Jack Elam living in the United States today. That makes this name combination very rare, occurring at a rate of about 1 in 16,321,635 Americans.
This estimate combines SSA birth records for the first name Jack with Census Bureau frequency data for the surname Elam. Below you will find a breakdown of both names, including popularity trends, gender data, and ancestry information.
Expected bearers
21
1 in 16,321,635
Named Jack
433K
Alive today
Named Elam
16K
Alive today
US population
343M
Denominator
Estimated living: 433K
Rarity: Common
Gender: Male
Peak year: 1927
Average age: 38
Estimated bearers: 16K
Rarity: Uncommon
Census rank: #2,556
Per 100K: 4.79
Top ancestry: White (67.7%)
First name trend
Jack: popularity over time
Year-by-year SSA birth registrations for the first name Jack. The peak year was 1927 with 12,884 births. The average person named Jack today is 38 years old.
Babies born per year
Ethnicity
Ancestry of the Elam surname
Self-reported race and ethnicity breakdown for people with the surname Elam, from the 2010 US Census Bureau. The largest group is White at 67.7%.
- White67.7%
- Black or African American26.8%
- Two or more races2.2%
- Hispanic or Latino1.9%
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.8%
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.6%
Methodology
How we calculated this
The first name Jack has a living-bearer frequency of 0.1263% of the US population, based on 432,820 estimated living Americans carrying this first name (from SSA birth records going back to 1880, adjusted for mortality using CDC life tables).
The surname Elam appears at a rate of 4.79 per 100,000 residents in the 2010 Census Bureau surname file, which translates to a frequency of 0.0048%.
Multiplying these two independent frequencies against the current US population of 342,754,338 gives an expected count of approximately 21 people with the full name Jack Elam. This assumes statistical independence between first and last names, which is a simplification but produces reasonable estimates for most combinations.
Related
Other people named Jack
FAQ
Jack Elam: questions and answers
How many people are named Jack Elam?
We estimate approximately 21 people in the United States share the full name Jack Elam. That works out to about 1 in 16,321,635 Americans. This is calculated by combining the first-name frequency (0.1263%) with the surname frequency (4.79 per 100K) against the current US population.
How rare is the name Jack Elam?
We classify Jack Elam as "Very Rare". About 1 in 16,321,635 Americans share this exact first and last name combination.
Is Jack a male or female name?
Jack is predominantly male. Out of 750,859 total SSA registrations, 99.6% were male and 0.4% were female. See the full Jack 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.