How rare is the name Ellison?

5,704 people in the United States have the first name Ellison, about 1 in 52,951. It ranks #3,591 of 53,615 first names in the 2020 Census, tied with 1 other.

first name

ELLISON

#3,591

of 53,615 first names recorded in the 2020 Census

People
5,704
About
1 in 52,951
This common or more
82.7%
Who bears it

Of the 5,704 people named Ellison, 75.4% reported their origin as White, 7.9% as Black and 5.8% as Hispanic or Latino. 71.4% are female. These count how people described themselves on the 2020 Census, not where the name comes from.

Ellison peaked in 2021, when 424 babies got the name.

Births per year, SSA records 1880–2025
18812025
Peak year
2021
Births that year
424
In 2025*
326 ▼23%
Recorded as
mostly female

At least 8,658 babies have been given the name since 1881. Years SSA withheld, because fewer than 5 were born, are skipped rather than drawn as zero. * 2025 is the newest year published and it undercounts: a card application is filed some time after a birth.

Ellison by decade

Among all names given to American babies, its best decade was the 2010s, when it ranked #1,515. The largest share of babies named Ellison, 54.4%, were born in 2013 or later.

1880s#2,30819
1900s#2,93639
1910s#2,945172
1920s#3,312216
1930s#3,563160
1940s#3,523187
1950s#4,589154
1960s#5,272144
1970s#6,279155
1980s#5,982219
1990s#5,196375
2000s#2,7101,337
2010s#1,5153,412
2020s#1,5332,069
Before 19010.2%
Greatest Generation 1901–274.6%
Silent Generation 1928–453.5%
Baby boom 1946–643.5%
Generation X 1965–802.8%
Millennials 1981–964.8%
Generation Z 1997–1226.1%
2013 and later54.4%

Rank counts both sexes together, among every name SSA recorded that decade; the number under it is births. The 2020s run only to 2025. Generation years follow Pew Research Center, which has not named a generation after 2012.

Where Ellison is most common

Compared with all babies born in each state since 1910, Ellison has been most common in South Carolina (7.3×), Tennessee (2.5×), and North Carolina (2.5×), and least common in New York (0.31×).

4,668 births recorded by state, 1910–2025. 2× means twice as common as nationally. States with fewer than 30 such births are left blank, and SSA withholds any year with fewer than 5 in a state, so small states read low.

Exactly as common as Ellison

1 other first name also has 5,704 people.

#3,591 Marilee · 5,704

Either side of Ellison

#3,589 Arlette · 5,708#3,590 Vern · 5,707#3,591 Marilee · 5,704#3,593 Jessa · 5,700

Spelled almost the same

3 first names in the 2020 Census spelled within a letter or two of Ellison, most common first.

#11,820 Elson · 1,070#22,641 Ellyson · 438#27,293 Elison · 336

Also a last name

As a last name, Ellison ranks #829 of 156,621, with 40,780 people. See Ellison as a last name

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