How common is the surname Elder?

29,796 people in the United States had the surname Elder in the 2010 Census, about 1 in every 10,362 Americans. It ranked 1,186th of 162,253 surnames.

Who is the most famous person named Elder?

Ruth Elder, American pilot and actress (1902–1977), followed by Larry Elder.

Where is the surname Elder most common?

Wikidata records people named Elder in the United States, Australia and the United Kingdom.

Is the surname Elder getting more or less common?

More common. 28,783 people carried it in the 2000 Census and 29,796 in 2010, up 3.5%.

The surname Elder

A surname, carried by 29,796 people in the United States.

2 syllables Soundex E436

Every surname held by 100 or more people in the 2010 US Census, most common on the left (162,253 in all). Elder is more common than 99.3% of them.

Origin

A surname.

Origin from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0).

How common it is

2010 US Census

There were 29,796 people named Elder in the United States in 2010, about 1 in every 10,362 Americans. That is up 3.5% since 2000, when the Census counted 28,783.

#1,186

rank among US surnames

29,796

people in 2010

per 100,000 Americans

+3.5%

change since 2000 (was #1,118)

Rank	Surname	People	1 in
#1,177	Joyner	29,884	10,331
#1,178	Richter	29,880	10,333
#1,179	Farris	29,877	10,334
#1,180	Tracy	29,867	10,337
#1,181	Bacon	29,860	10,340
#1,182	Han	29,847	10,344
#1,183	Gibbons	29,824	10,352

Who is named Elder

Race and Hispanic origin as people reported it in the 2010 Census

79% of people named Elder identified as white (not Hispanic), 16% as Black (not Hispanic) and 2.4% as Hispanic or Latino (any race).

White (not Hispanic) 79%
Black (not Hispanic) 16%
Hispanic or Latino (any race) 2.4%
Two or more races 1.8%
Asian and Pacific Islander 0.5%
American Indian and Alaska Native 0.4%

Compare: most common surnames among white Americans.

Famous Elders

7 notable people on Wikidata, most written-about first

Ruth Elder
American pilot and actress (1902–1977)
Larry Elder
American talk radio host and attorney (born 1952)
Troy Elder
Australian field hockey player, born 1977
Mark Elder
British conductor, born 1947
Callum Elder
Australian footballer, born 1995
Judyann Elder
American actress, born 1948
Will Elder
American illustrator (1921–2008)

Notable Elders come mostly from the United States (4), Australia (2) and the United Kingdom (1).

Spellings and sound-alikes

Useful when a record has your ancestor under another spelling

Variant spellings

Yelder

Surnames that sound like Elder

Elder has the Soundex code E436, the code US census indexes have used since the 1930s. Every surname with code E436.

Questions

How common is the surname Elder?: 29,796 people in the United States had the surname Elder in the 2010 Census, about 1 in every 10,362 Americans. It ranked 1,186th of 162,253 surnames.
What ethnicity is the surname Elder?: In the 2010 Census, 79% of people named Elder identified as white (not Hispanic), and 16% as Black (not Hispanic).
Who is the most famous person named Elder?: Ruth Elder, American pilot and actress (1902–1977), followed by Larry Elder.
Where is the surname Elder most common?: Wikidata records people named Elder in the United States, Australia and the United Kingdom.
Is the surname Elder getting more or less common?: More common. 28,783 people carried it in the 2000 Census and 29,796 in 2010, up 3.5%.
What are other spellings of Elder?: Yelder.