Ellington
Torn between Ellington and another name? Compare them side by side →
Meaning
from an English place name, 'Elli's town'; famously borne by Duke Ellington
The story
Ellington is an English place name meaning Elli's town, but nobody chooses it for the village. They choose it for jazz royalty: Edward Kennedy Ellington, nicknamed Duke as a boy for his elegant manner, who led his orchestra for half a century, wrote more than a thousand compositions, held court at Harlem's Cotton Club, and did as much as anyone alive to make jazz a serious American art form. As a first name, Ellington is a genuinely recent arrival, barely appearing in American records before the 2010s and still uncommon now, which gives it the feel of a private tribute rather than a trend. It offers three graceful syllables, ready-made nicknames in Duke, Ellie, or Elle, and a century of swing standing behind it: a name, like the man's music, beyond category.
How popular is Ellington around the world?
In the United States, 541 babies were named Ellington between 2020 and 2025.
Ellington is on the official records of the United States and Brazil.
United States
1 in 40,000
In the United States, 541 babies were named Ellington between 2020 and 2025.
Shape drawn from US Social Security baby-name records. Ellington peaked in the 2010s and the 2020s in nearly equal measure.
Births with a Social Security record. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration
Brazil
At the 2022 census, 82 people in Brazil were named Ellington, ranked 47,432nd, with a median age of 36.
Among people named Ellington living in Brazil at the 2022 census, more were born in the 1980s than in any other decade.
people alive at the 2022 census, by decade of birth
People alive and resident in Brazil at the 2022 census, a living-population count, not births; names under 20 are withheld at source. Source: IBGE, Censo Demográfico 2022
Canada
last on record 2022
Ellington is not on the 2024 record for Canada, where names under 5 in a year are excluded at source.
The count never rose above 5 in a year, too few to chart.
First given names from provincial and territorial vital statistics across Canada; any name-sex-year under 5 is excluded at source, and small Quebec counts carry a randomized adjustment made at source. Shares divide by Statistics Canada’s count of live births for the year; the 2024 count is preliminary. Source: Statistics Canada, first names at birth (table 17-10-0147-01)
South Australia
last on record 2016
Ellington is not on the 2017 record for South Australia, whose registry publishes every name given that year.
The count never rose above 1 in a year, too few to chart.
Births registered in South Australia (not all of Australia) by first name and year of registration, 1944–2017, from the state’s Births, Deaths and Marriages registry, which publishes every name down to a single birth in capitals; a spelling its export repeats inside a year is counted once, and from 2018 only a top 100 is published, so the series ends at 2017. Source: Consumer and Business Services (South Australia), popular baby names
Not on the record in Spain, Mexico City, Argentina, Puerto Rico, England and Wales, Ireland, New Zealand, Scotland and Poland: those registries withhold small counts, so rare uses may sit below their floors.
Not on the Chile record: nametree keeps spellings that reached 5 registrations in some year, so rarer uses are not shown. Not on the Montevideo record for 1940 to 2011: that registry withholds nothing, so this spelling was not given there in those years. Not on the France record: nametree keeps spellings that reached 20 births in some year, so rarer uses are not shown. Not on the Austria record for 1984 to 2025: Statistik Austria publishes every first name down to a single birth, so this name was not given there in those years (before 2010 the record covers babies with Austrian citizenship only). Not on Norway’s list: Statistics Norway lists only first names carried by 200 or more living people, so rarer names are not shown.
When you meet Ellington
Most people given the name Ellington in the United States are children or teenagers today. The name belongs to this generation.
Estimated from US Social Security birth registrations and typical lifespans; a rough guide, not a rule.
Keep exploring
The Ellington deep dive
Whether you’re naming a baby or exploring your own name’s history, this is a personal letter, not a list: where Ellington truly comes from, how it traveled, and what a century of records reveals. If you have grown a tree on nametree, it also considers how Ellington fits with your family’s names and surname.
Does Ellington fit YOUR family?
nametree reads your family’s names and finds the ones that belong. Free, private, no ads.
Add Ellington to your family’s tree →