Recorded 1881–2025 · United States
Ellison was most popular in 2021, when 424 American babies were given the name — ranking #1,324 that year. In 2025 it ranked #1,598, with 326 births. Across 1880–2025 the Social Security Administration has recorded 8,658 people named Ellison.
Ellison first appears in Social Security Administration records in 1881, which makes it about 144 years old as a recorded American name. It has been recorded in 124 of the 145 years since.
The Social Security Administration has recorded 8,658 American births named Ellison between 1880 and 2025. That is recorded US births, not a world population — it counts people issued a Social Security number at birth in the United States. Of those, roughly 7,826 are estimated to be alive today.
326 American babies were named Ellison in 2025, ranking #1,598 that year.
Ellison is holding steady. Across 2021–2025 it averaged 339 births a year, against 330 a year across 2011–2015 — a change of +3% over the decade.
Measured on recorded births. American births overall have fallen since 2007, so most established names lose births over any recent decade — a name can shed births and still hold its rank. Compare the rank above, which is measured against the other names of the same year.
Across the whole record Ellison is a unisex name — 65.8% of the 8,658 Americans given it were girls and 34.2% were boys. It changed hands: since 1995 it has gone mainly to girls, having gone mainly to boys before that. In births since 2016 it is 75% girls and 25% boys.
Counted from every US birth the Social Security Administration recorded under this name, so it reflects use rather than opinion. A name given to fewer than five babies of one sex in a year is withheld at source and is not counted.
Roughly 7,826 Americans named Ellison are alive today — 90% of everyone ever recorded with the name. The median is 11 years old, and half are between 6 and 19.
An estimate, not a count. Recorded births are carried forward through the Social Security Administration’s 2023 period life table, by age and sex. That table describes mortality in one recent year, so it credits the oldest cohorts with today’s survival rather than the harsher rates they actually lived through — the further back a name peaked, the more this will overstate how many remain. It counts people issued a Social Security number at birth, not immigrants who arrived later.
How much more common the name is in each state than across the country as a whole.
See Ellison on the interactive charts
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Source: U.S.A. Social Security Administration. Years 1880–2025. namelegacy.org