Ellery
Masculine · “Latin hilaris”
Ellery is given to both — 2,261 boys and 4,744 girls since 1880. See Ellery as a girl nameSee other names given to both
Hilary means cheerful, from Latin hilaris, the word behind hilarious. St Hilary of Poitiers has his feast on 13 January, and the English courts and two ancient universities still call their winter term Hilary. Ellery is that name with its first syllable worn away.
How old is the name Ellery?
Ellery first appears in US birth records in 1882 — 143 years ago. The typical Ellery alive today was born around 1960, making them about 65 years old. About 1,400 people named Ellery are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Ellery most popular?
Ellery peaked in 1897, reaching #725 nationally. Today it ranks #8910, 8,185 places below that high. See the whole 1897 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From hilaris to Ellery
The story of Ellery
Hilary is one of a small number of personal names that became institutional vocabulary. St Hilary of Poitiers, a fourth-century bishop and theologian, has a feast on 13 January, and because the English legal year was organized around church festivals, the term that begins after Christmas is Hilary term. It is still called that in the High Court in London and at Oxford and Dublin. The other terms are named the same way: Michaelmas for the feast of St Michael in September, Trinity for Trinity Sunday, Easter for Easter. So the calendar of the medieval church survives inside the timetable of the modern English legal profession, and a boy's name from the fourth century sits at the top of a term card. Losing the first syllable, as English did to produce Ellery, is a routine change; it also gave Bastian from Sebastian and Drew from Andrew.
Meaningscholars disagree
Latin hilaris, cheerful
Ellery is generally derived from the medieval given name Hilary, from Latin hilaris, cheerful, by loss of the initial syllable, a common change in English. An alternative derivation takes it from a place name or from Old English elleraern, an alder house. Both are defensible and neither is settled. The American peak is 1897.
How the name formed
- hilaris
- Hilarius
- Hilary
- Ellery
Related forms: Ellary · Hilary
Pronouncing Ellery
EL-uh-ree
Three syllables, stress on the first. Some speakers reduce it to two, EL-ree. Ellery and Ellary are homophones.
Nicknames for Ellery
Moderate
What the data says
146 years of official birth records
The long climb, and where it stands now
The same years in position rather than babies
- First recorded
- 1882
- Most boys named
- 196044 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #725reached in 1897
- Change vs 2023
- −11.1%8 in 2025, from 9
Rank is a position, a count is a headcount, and they move independently — a name can hold its rank while the number of babies behind it falls. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration.
Ellery in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Ellary in English — spelling variant
- Hilary in English — related form
Ellerys among us
people named Ellery are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 boy in 213,510 born in 2025 was named Ellery
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Is it right for you
What happens to a name after it peaks
Fashion outlook
Ellery sits in the calm middle of the cycle — neither chasing a wave nor sliding off one. Middle-of-the-cycle names age slowly and predictably.
A scored estimate from 146 years of naming cycles — not a prophecy. Great names outlive statistics. How this is scored
Ellery beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Ellery in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US boys given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- Ell works as a short form and is a name in its own right.
- Three syllables with an easy, even rhythm.
- The Latin source has a clear and pleasant meaning.
- A well-known fictional detective bears the name.
- The derivation from Hilary is likely but not certain.
- It is used for girls as well as boys.
Nobody names a baby alone.
Put Ellery to the vote.
Add it to a family vote or a couple’s swipe deck — the other person gets one card, a simple answer and room to say why. No app, no account for them.
Only the people you invite can see your list.
Already decided on Ellery? Hide it among decoys and let them guess.
What they receive
Someone added a name to your list
Ellery
Masculine · #8910 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Ellerys are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 1,400 people named Ellery are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Ellery in 2025?
- Ellery ranks #8910 among US boy names in 2025, with 8 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Ellery?
- About 1 in every 213,510 US boys born in 2025 was named Ellery — 8 in all.
- Will my child share the name Ellery with classmates?
- Ellery will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Ellery
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Davie#8910 · Ned#8910 · Darious#8910 · Alois#8910 · Len#8910 · Barton#8910 · Desmon#8910 · Winfield#8910
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Ellery? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Ellery and another name?
See them side by side — full stats, history and a gentle verdict.
Compare side by sideIn a hurry? Just pick a winner — one tap, no sign-up, and you see how everyone else voted.
Weighing a whole shortlist? Add the rest in the builder, or settle it with a bracket.
Cast your vote
Which one would you pick?
Your gut first, the numbers after — the split shows once you pick.
US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
No advertising trackers and no data sellinghow we handle your dataindependent and founder-run, about Name Battle