Ellison
Masculine · “son of Elias”
Ellison is given to both — 2,963 boys and 5,695 girls since 1880. See Ellison as a girl nameSee other names given to both
Ellison is son of Ellis, and Ellis is Elias — the Greek of Elijah, whose Hebrew name is a challenge: my God is the Lord.
How old is the name Ellison?
Ellison first appears in US birth records in 1881 — 144 years ago. The typical Ellison alive today was born around 2003, making them about 22 years old. About 2,200 people named Ellison are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Ellison most popular?
Ellison peaked in 1883, reaching #720 nationally. Today it ranks #1677, 957 places below that high. See the whole 1883 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From Eliyahu to Ellison
The story of Ellison
Elias was a standard medieval English name, worn down to Ellis, which produced the patronymic Ellison. Ralph Ellison's Invisible Man of 1952 is among the major American novels. The surname entered given-name use recently, part of the wide -son movement of the 2000s, and it appears in the registers for both sexes in current use.
Meaning
son of Elias
From Ellis, the medieval English form of Elias, itself the Greek of the Hebrew Eliyahu — eli, 'my God', and Yahu, the divine name. The -son ending is the standard English patronymic. Both elements are documented and the meaning is undisputed.
How the name formed
- Eliyahu
- Elias
- Ellis
- Ellison
Related forms: Ellyson · Elson · Elis
Pronouncing Ellison
EL-ih-sun
Three syllables, stress on the first. Said identically in every English accent.
Nicknames for Ellison
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
- 1881
- Most boys named
- 2018100 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #720reached in 1883
- Change vs 2023
- +21.0%98 in 2025, from 81
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
- Ellyson in English — spelling variant
- Elson in English — related form
- Elis in Welsh — related form
Strongest US states over the last decade: Texas, California, North Carolina.
Ellisons among us
people named Ellison are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 boy in 17,429 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
Fashion outlook
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 boys given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- Elijah behind it has one of the most dramatic narratives in the Hebrew Bible.
- Ellis and Eli are two short forms, both fully current names.
- Three syllables with a front stress, which holds up against a short surname.
- It reads unmistakably as a surname.
- It is thoroughly unisex in American use.
- Allison is close enough in sound to cause constant confusion.
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What they receive
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Ellison
Masculine · #1677 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 2,200 people named Ellison are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Ellison in 2025?
- Ellison ranks #1677 among US boy names in 2025, with 98 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Ellison?
- About 1 in every 17,429 US boys born in 2025 was named Ellison — 98 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.
Kyce#1677 · Lando#1677 · Mayson#1677 · Conan#1677 · Issa#1677 · Gibson#1677 · Kyng#1677 · Reagan#1677
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Ellison? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Ellison and another name?
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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