Ellis
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Meaning
English surname from medieval Elis, a form of Elias; separately, an Anglicized form of Welsh Elisedd, "kind, benevolent"
The story
Ellis has an English surname route through medieval Elis, a form of Elias in the Elijah family. It also represents Welsh Elisedd, from elus, "kind" or "benevolent," a separate line behind the same spelling. Ellis Island gave the name an American historical setting: from the late nineteenth into the early twentieth century, more than twelve million immigrants were processed there, and passenger manifests carried their names. Inspectors did not rename arrivals. Ellis Bell was the pen name Emily Brontë used for Wuthering Heights. Her sister Charlotte later explained that the sisters chose Currer, Ellis and Acton Bell to avoid personal publicity and prejudgment as women, selecting names she called ambiguous rather than distinctly masculine. On the title page, Ellis could conceal the writer without inventing a different history for the families who passed through the island.
Ellis's name family
One shared root links 5 names across 2 languages.
Shared root: from Hebrew Eliyyahu "my God is Yahweh", the fiery prophet; Elias is its Greek dress and Ellis its English surname echo
The constellation
More branches
How popular is Ellis around the world?
In the United States, 9,628 babies were named Ellis between 2020 and 2025. In Scotland, 49 boys named Ellis were registered in 2024, the 104th most common name among boys that year.
Ellis is on the official records of the United States, Scotland, England and Wales, South Australia, Ireland, Canada, Mexico City, Brazil and Spain.
United States
1 in 2,300
In the United States, 9,628 babies were named Ellis between 2020 and 2025.
Shape drawn from US Social Security baby-name records. Ellis peaked in the 2020s.
Births with a Social Security record. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration
Scotland
1 in 720
In Scotland, 49 boys named Ellis were registered in 2024, the 104th most common name among boys that year.
In Scotland, 15 girls named Ellis were registered in 2024, the 244th most common name among girls that year.
share of that year’s name registrations
Births registered in Scotland; different spellings count separately but accents are merged at source, and any spelling under 3 in total is suppressed. Source: National Records of Scotland, babies' first names
England and Wales
1 in 980
In England and Wales, 582 boys named Ellis were born in 2025, the 92nd most common name among boys that year.
share of that year’s name registrations
Birth registrations in England and Wales (not the whole UK); exact spellings are counted separately, and any spelling under 3 in a year is withheld at source. Source: Office for National Statistics, baby names in England and Wales
South Australia
1 in 2,3002017
In South Australia, 8 boys were registered as Ellis in 2017.
The count never rose above 8 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
Ireland
1 in 2,700
In Ireland, 16 boys named Ellis were born in 2025, the 272nd most common name among boys that year.
In Ireland, 4 girls named Ellis were born in 2025, the 718th most common name among girls that year.
share of that year’s name registrations
Exact registered spellings from Irish vital statistics; any name under 3 in a year is withheld at source, and accented spellings (fadas) are recorded reliably only from 2018. Source: Central Statistics Office (Ireland), Irish babies' names
Canada
1 in 2,700
In Canada, 117 boys named Ellis were born in 2024, the 281st most common name among boys that year.
share of that year’s name registrations
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)
Mexico City City
1 in 59,000
In Mexico City, there were 2 registrations of Ellis in 2022.
The count never rose above 3 in a year, too few to chart.
Civil-registry acts in Mexico City by registration year. Counts are lower bounds (names under 6 in a month and borough are removed at source) and count name-instances, not people; compound names are split, so “Maria Jose” counts under each part. 2023, a partial extract through 3 Mar with no cell on record for this name, is excluded. Source: Registro Civil of Mexico City, open data portal, registered given names 2000-2023
Brazil
1 in 200,000
At the 2022 census, 1,080 people in Brazil were named Ellis, ranked 7,841st, with a median age of 18.
Among people named Ellis living in Brazil at the 2022 census, more were born in the 2010s than in any other decade.
people alive at the 2022 census, by decade of birth
The census also counted 237 born between 2020 and August 2022, too recent a span to chart. 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
Spain
1 in 2.1M
In Spain, 21 residents are named Ellis, ranked 29,056th among men, with a mean age of 32.2 years.
Residents of Spain on 1 January 2025. Spain publishes how old a name’s living bearers are, not a birth series, so there is no year chart. Source: INE (Spain), Censo de Población anual, 1 January 2025
Argentina
last on record 2021
Ellis is not on the 2024 record for Argentina, where small counts are withheld at source.
The count never rose above 2 in a year, too few to chart.
Given-name components of births in Argentina 2012–2024; national cells are lower bounds and no sex split is published. Source: RENAPER (Argentina), Dirección Nacional de Población, given names 2012-2024
Austria
last on record 2024
Ellis is not on the 2025 record for Austria, which publishes every first name down to a single birth, so the name was not given there that year.
The count never rose above 5 in a year, too few to chart.
Live births in Austria by year of birth, 1984–2025, from Statistik Austria’s first-name statistics; spellings that differ only by special characters are counted together (umlauts stay apart), every name down to a single birth is published, and the count covers babies with Austrian citizenship only until 2009, every baby from 2010, and from 2015 also births abroad to mothers living in Austria. Shares divide by Statistik Austria’s count of live births from 2010, and before that by the file’s own total for the year. Source: Statistik Austria - data.statistik.gv.at (OGDEXT_VORNAMEN_1, updated 2026-07-09)
Montevideo City
last on record 1981
Ellis is not on the 2011 record for Montevideo, whose registry withholds nothing, so the spelling was not given there that year.
The count never rose above 1 in a year, too few to chart.
Births in the department of Montevideo (not all of Uruguay) by first name and year of birth, 1940–2011, from the city’s civil registry, which writes names in capitals, almost always without accents; counted as spelling groups (accent and punctuation variants merged), nothing is withheld at source, and 2012 is excluded as a partial year. Source: Servicio de Registro Civil, Intendencia de Montevideo, Partidas de Registro Civil de Montevideo (Licencia de Datos Abiertos - Uruguay); 2012 dropped as partial
Puerto Rico
last on record 2001
Ellis is not on the 2025 record for Puerto Rico, which withholds births under 5, and 5 babies have carried the name there since 1998.
The count never rose above 5 in a year, too few to chart.
First given name only, from Social Security records of births in Puerto Rico; any name-sex-year under 5 births is withheld at source. Shares divide by the Puerto Rico Demographic Registry’s count of births on the island; the 2025 count is provisional. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration, territory name file (Puerto Rico)
Not on the record in New Zealand 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 France record: nametree keeps spellings that reached 20 births in some year, so rarer uses are not shown. Not on Norway’s list: Statistics Norway lists only first names carried by 200 or more living people, so rarer names are not shown.
Keep exploring
Names like Ellis · Names that go with Ellis · Middle names for Ellis · Pen names and the names writers chose · Nickname-proof names
The Ellis deep dive
Whether you’re naming a baby or exploring your own name’s history, this is a personal letter, not a list: where Ellis 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 Ellis fits with your family’s names and surname.
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