How rare is the name Ely?

5,426 people in the United States have the first name Ely, about 1 in 55,664. It ranks #3,728 of 53,615 first names in the 2020 Census, tied with 1 other.

first name

ELY

#3,728

of 53,615 first names recorded in the 2020 Census

People
5,426
About
1 in 55,664
This common or more
82.9%
Who bears it

Of the 5,426 people named Ely, 42.5% reported their origin as Hispanic or Latino, 40.2% as White and 8.7% as Asian or Pacific Islander. 76.5% are male. These count how people described themselves on the 2020 Census, not where the name comes from.

Ely peaked in 2009, when 175 babies got the name.

Births per year, SSA records 1880–2025
18802025
Peak year
2009
Births that year
175
In 2025*
65 ▼63%
Recorded as
mostly male

At least 5,087 babies have been given the name since 1880. 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.

Ely by decade

Among all names given to American babies, its best decade was the 1880s, when it ranked #1,835. The largest share of babies named Ely, 40.9%, were born between 1997 and 2012, as Generation Z.

1880s#1,83542
1890s#2,29743
1900s#3,05234
1910s#2,725192
1920s#3,861170
1930s#4,98790
1940s#5,53784
1950s#6,39384
1960s#7,55974
1970s#4,830235
1980s#4,223364
1990s#3,964559
2000s#2,6241,397
2010s#2,9711,307
2020s#4,527412
Before 19011.8%
Greatest Generation 1901–277.2%
Silent Generation 1928–453.2%
Baby boom 1946–642.9%
Generation X 1965–806.2%
Millennials 1981–9613.5%
Generation Z 1997–1240.9%
2013 and later24.3%

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 Ely is most common

Compared with all babies born in each state since 1910, Ely has been most common in Texas (3.2×), California (3×), and New York (2.6×), and least common in Missouri (1.4×).

1,929 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 Ely

1 other first name also has 5,426 people.

#3,728 Lexus · 5,426

Either side of Ely

#3,725 Sahar · 5,431#3,727 Joanie · 5,429#3,728 Lexus · 5,426#3,730 Dorcas · 5,425

Spelled almost the same

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

#461 Eli · 122,713#2,472 Eloy · 9,980#3,967 Elly · 4,914#5,914 Ela · 2,795#10,552 El · 1,255#16,344 Elya · 692#22,040 Ell · 455#33,047 Ele · 252

Also a last name

As a last name, Ely ranks #2,839 of 156,621, with 12,347 people. See Ely as a last name

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