Ellison
Feminine · “son of Ellis”
Ellison is given to both — 5,695 girls and 2,963 boys since 1880. See Ellison as a boy nameSee other names given to both
Ellison began as an English surname built the plainest way surnames get built: a father's name plus "son". Behind it stands Ellis, the everyday medieval English form of Elias — so a name that reached back to the Hebrew Bible by way of a village clerk's ledger. Said aloud it runs three easy syllables, EL-ih-sun, with Ellie and Elle sitting inside it already.
How old is the name Ellison?
Ellison first appears in US birth records in 1914 — 111 years ago. The typical Ellison is a kid of about 10 — this name's wave is very recent. About 5,600 people named Ellison are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Ellison most popular?
Ellison peaked in 2021, reaching #837 nationally. Today it ranks #1065, 228 places below that high. See the whole 2021 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From Eliyahu to Ellison
The story of Ellison
Ellison is documented in England from the Middle Ages as a patronymic surname, formed from Ellis — the form of Elias that ordinary English speakers used for centuries before Elijah became the churchier spelling. It traveled to North America with English and Ulster settlers and stayed a surname for generations, as most such names did. Its life as a given name in the United States is recent and belongs largely to girls, arriving alongside the whole Ell- family — Ella, Ellie, Elle, Eleanor — and to the broader habit of moving surnames to the front. Boys carry it too, since nothing in a surname favors one child over another; in American records the girls' side is far the larger one.
Meaningscholars disagree
son of Ellis
The main reading is "son of Ellis", Ellis being the medieval English form of Elias — itself the Greek rendering of Hebrew Eliyahu, Elijah, "my God is Yahweh". Surname scholars also record Ellison in some families as "son of Ellen", from the given name Ellen or Elen. Both roads are genuine; different English families arrived at the same spelling from each.
How the name formed
- Eliyahu
- Elias
- Ellis
- Ellison
Related forms: Ellis · Elison · Elias · Eliyahu
Pronouncing Ellison
EL-ih-sun
Three syllables with the stress on the first. The middle vowel usually softens to almost nothing, so it can come out as EL-sun in quick speech.
Nicknames for Ellison
High
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
- 1914
- Most girls named
- 2019323 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #837reached in 2021
- Change vs 2024
- −2.1%228 in 2025, from 233
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.
Ellison in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Ellis in English — related form
- Elison in English — spelling variant
- Elias in Greek — related form
- Eliyahu in Hebrew — related form
Strongest US states over the last decade: Texas, South Carolina, Tennessee.
Ellisons among us
people named Ellison are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 girl in 7,049 born in 2025 was named Ellison
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Is it right for you
What happens to a name after it peaks
The Dariana test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Ellison's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Dariana climbed just as high around 2000, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Dariana's path sketches the road Ellison is walking now.
Ellison 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
Where Ellison is headed
Ellison should hold steady through 2030 — the curve is flat, and flat curves are the most predictable kind.
Medium confidence — fitted on official counts through 2025.
A damped-trend projection of the official birth data — a sketch of momentum, not a promise. Every name's forecast, ranked.
Ellison beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Ellison in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US girls given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- Carries ready-made short forms — Ellie, Elle — that are already familiar to everyone, so nothing has to be explained.
- A long unbroken record as an English surname, which means the spelling looks settled rather than invented.
- Works unchanged for a boy or a girl, since it began as a family name rather than a gendered one.
- Connects to a very old naming line through Ellis and Elias without sounding old-fashioned.
- It sits one small sound away from Allison and Alison, both long-established and far better known. Expect to correct the hearing, and sometimes the spelling, more often than the pronunciation.
- Elison, Ellyson and Elison all exist, so the double-L will need saying at forms and appointments.
- The "-son" ending reads as a surname to many ears, and some people will assume a boy before they meet her. The American record leans strongly to girls, but the assumption still happens.
- Because its wave is very recent, most people carrying it now are children — so it may read as distinctly of this moment rather than timeless.
Nobody names a baby alone.
Put Ellison 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 Ellison? Hide it among decoys and let them guess.
What they receive
Someone added a name to your list
Ellison
Feminine · #1065 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Ellisons are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 5,600 people named Ellison are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Ellison in 2025?
- Ellison ranks #1065 among US girl names in 2025, with 228 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Ellison?
- About 1 in every 7,049 US girls born in 2025 was named Ellison — 228 in all.
- Will my child share the name Ellison with classmates?
- Ellison will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Ellison
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Casey#1065 · Chiara#1065 · Jalani#1065 · Kalia#1063 · Dania#1063 · Ellen#1062 · Lailani#1069 · Bailee#1069
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Ellison? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Ellison 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