How common is the surname Elgin?

3,036 people in the United States had the surname Elgin in the 2010 Census, about 1 in every 101,695 Americans. It ranked 10,555th of 162,253 surnames.

Who is the most famous person named Elgin?

Suzette Haden Elgin, American linguist and writer (1936-2015).

Where is the surname Elgin most common?

Wikidata records people named Elgin in the United States.

How do you pronounce Elgin?

Elgin is /ˈɛlɡɪn/, 2 syllables.

Is the surname Elgin getting more or less common?

More common. 2,969 people carried it in the 2000 Census and 3,036 in 2010, up 2.3%.

Is Elgin also a first name?

Yes. Elgin is used as a first name as well as a surname; its first-name page has the meaning and how many babies were given it.

The surname Elgin

A Scottish Gaelic place surname, carried by 3,036 people in the United States.

Pronounced /ˈɛlɡɪn/ 2 syllables Soundex E425

Every surname held by 100 or more people in the 2010 US Census, most common on the left (162,253 in all). Elgin is more common than 93.5% of them.

Origin

Scottish Gaelic origin

* As a Scottish surname, derived from the place in Morayshire, from Scottish Gaelic Eilginn, possibly meaning little Ireland, from Èirinn. * As a Turkish surname, from the obsolete noun elgin (“stranger”); see el. * The village in New Brunswick is probably named in honour of colonial administrator James Bruce, 8th Earl of Elgin (1811-1863). The civil parish is named after the village.

Elgin is a place surname: taken from where an ancestor lived or came from.

One of 277 Scottish Gaelic surnames on this site.

Origin from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0).

How common it is

2010 US Census

There were 3,036 people named Elgin in the United States in 2010, about 1 in every 101,695 Americans. That is up 2.3% since 2000, when the Census counted 2,969.

#10,555

rank among US surnames

3,036

people in 2010

1.0

per 100,000 Americans

+2.3%

change since 2000 (was #10,013)

Rank	Surname	People	1 in
#10,548	Wilkin	3,039	101,594
#10,552	Basler	3,038	101,628
#10,553	Hilty	3,037	101,661
#10,555	Magness	3,036	101,695
#10,560	Biggerstaff	3,035	101,728
#10,563	Nadler	3,034	101,762

Who is named Elgin

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

88% of people named Elgin identified as white (not Hispanic), 5.9% as Black (not Hispanic) and 3.2% as Hispanic or Latino (any race).

White (not Hispanic) 88%
Black (not Hispanic) 5.9%
Hispanic or Latino (any race) 3.2%
Two or more races 1.5%
American Indian and Alaska Native 1.1%
Asian and Pacific Islander 0.5%

Compare: most common surnames among white Americans.

Famous Elgins

1 notable person on Wikidata, most written-about first

Suzette Haden Elgin
American linguist and writer (1936-2015)

Spellings and sound-alikes

Useful when a record has your ancestor under another spelling

Surnames that sound like Elgin

Elgin has the Soundex code E425, the code US census indexes have used since the 1930s. Every surname with code E425.

Other Scottish Gaelic surnames

All 277 Scottish Gaelic surnames

Questions

Where does the surname Elgin come from?: * As a Scottish surname, derived from the place in Morayshire, from Scottish Gaelic Eilginn, possibly meaning little Ireland, from Èirinn. * As a Turkish surname, from the obsolete noun elgin (“stranger”); see el. * The village in New Brunswick is probably named in honour of colonial administrator…
How common is the surname Elgin?: 3,036 people in the United States had the surname Elgin in the 2010 Census, about 1 in every 101,695 Americans. It ranked 10,555th of 162,253 surnames.
What ethnicity is the surname Elgin?: In the 2010 Census, 88% of people named Elgin identified as white (not Hispanic), and 5.9% as Black (not Hispanic).
Who is the most famous person named Elgin?: Suzette Haden Elgin, American linguist and writer (1936-2015).
Where is the surname Elgin most common?: Wikidata records people named Elgin in the United States.
How do you pronounce Elgin?: Elgin is /ˈɛlɡɪn/, 2 syllables.
What type of surname is Elgin?: Elgin is a place surname, taken from where an ancestor lived or came from.
Is the surname Elgin getting more or less common?: More common. 2,969 people carried it in the 2000 Census and 3,036 in 2010, up 2.3%.
Is Elgin also a first name?: Yes. Elgin is used as a first name as well as a surname; its first-name page has the meaning and how many babies were given it.