How common is the surname Elmer?

6,119 people in the United States had the surname Elmer in the 2010 Census, about 1 in every 50,457 Americans. It ranked 5,671st of 162,253 surnames.

What ethnicity is the surname Elmer?

In the 2010 Census, 92% of people named Elmer identified as white (not Hispanic), and 3.3% as Hispanic or Latino (any race).

Who is the most famous person named Elmer?

Jonathan Elmer, American politician (1745-1817), followed by James Elmer.

Where is the surname Elmer most common?

Wikidata records people named Elmer in the United States and Australia.

How do you pronounce Elmer?

Elmer is /ˈɛlmɚ/, 2 syllables.

Is the surname Elmer getting more or less common?

More common. 5,896 people carried it in the 2000 Census and 6,119 in 2010, up 3.8%.

Is Elmer also a first name?

Yes. Elmer 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 Elmer

An English patronymic surname, carried by 6,119 people in the United States.

Pronounced /ˈɛlmɚ/ 2 syllables Soundex E456 Also a first name

Every surname held by 100 or more people in the 2010 US Census, most common on the left (162,253 in all). Elmer is more common than 96.5% of them.

Origin

English origin

Medieval variant of the given name Aylmer, from Old English Æþelmǣr, from æþel (“noble”) + mǣre (“famous”).

Elmer is a patronymic surname: formed from a father’s (or ancestor’s) given name.

One of 1,446 English surnames on this site.

Origin from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0).

How common it is

2010 US Census

There were 6,119 people named Elmer in the United States in 2010, about 1 in every 50,457 Americans. That is up 3.8% since 2000, when the Census counted 5,896.

#5,671

rank among US surnames

6,119

people in 2010

2.1

per 100,000 Americans

+3.8%

change since 2000 (was #5,432)

Rank	Surname	People	1 in
#5,666	Coakley	6,127	50,391
#5,668	Ismail	6,126	50,399
#5,669	Brister	6,123	50,424
#5,671	Elmer	6,119	50,457
#5,672	Shaughnessy	6,117	50,473
#5,673	Christopherson	6,115	50,490

Who is named Elmer

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

92% of people named Elmer identified as white (not Hispanic), 3.3% as Hispanic or Latino (any race) and 1.5% as Black (not Hispanic).

White (not Hispanic) 92%
Hispanic or Latino (any race) 3.3%
Black (not Hispanic) 1.5%
Two or more races 1.5%
American Indian and Alaska Native 0.9%
Asian and Pacific Islander 0.8%

Compare: most common surnames among white Americans.

Famous Elmers

5 notable people on Wikidata, most written-about first

Jonathan Elmer
American politician (1745-1817)
James Elmer
Australian field hockey player, born 1971
William Elmer
American actor (1869-1945)
Adolph Daniel Edward Elmer
American botanist (1870-1942)
Charles Elmer
American entrepreneur, court stenographer, and amateur astronomer (1872–1954)

Notable Elmers come mostly from the United States (4) and Australia (1).

Spellings and sound-alikes

Useful when a record has your ancestor under another spelling

Surnames that sound like Elmer

Elmore

Elmer has the Soundex code E456, the code US census indexes have used since the 1930s. Every surname with code E456.

Other English surnames

All 1,446 English surnames

Questions

Where does the surname Elmer come from?: Medieval variant of the given name Aylmer, from Old English Æþelmǣr, from æþel (“noble”) + mǣre (“famous”).
How common is the surname Elmer?: 6,119 people in the United States had the surname Elmer in the 2010 Census, about 1 in every 50,457 Americans. It ranked 5,671st of 162,253 surnames.
What ethnicity is the surname Elmer?: In the 2010 Census, 92% of people named Elmer identified as white (not Hispanic), and 3.3% as Hispanic or Latino (any race).
Who is the most famous person named Elmer?: Jonathan Elmer, American politician (1745-1817), followed by James Elmer.
Where is the surname Elmer most common?: Wikidata records people named Elmer in the United States and Australia.
How do you pronounce Elmer?: Elmer is /ˈɛlmɚ/, 2 syllables.
What type of surname is Elmer?: Elmer is a patronymic surname, formed from a father’s (or ancestor’s) given name.
Is the surname Elmer getting more or less common?: More common. 5,896 people carried it in the 2000 Census and 6,119 in 2010, up 3.8%.
Is Elmer also a first name?: Yes. Elmer 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.