# Else (surname)

Source: https://namelineage.com/surname/else/  
Publisher: Name Lineage. Counts from the US Census Bureau; origin and etymology from Wiktionary; bearers from Wikidata. Data updated 2026-11-11.

A surname.

| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Origin | not recorded |
| Type | not recorded |
| People in the US (2010 Census) | 1,049 |
| US rank (2010) | 24,031 of 162,253 |
| How often | about 1 in every 294,324 people |
| Change since 2000 | +8.8% (964 in 2000) |
| Pronunciation | not recorded |
| Variant spellings | none recorded |

## Etymology

* As an English surname, spelling variant of Ell. * As a north German surname, of Low German origin, from Proto-West Germanic *aliʀu (“alder”), comparable to Dutch els.

## Who carries it

Share of people named Else in the 2010 US Census by the Census's own race and ethnicity groups. The Census suppresses a share when the count behind it is small.

| Group | Share |
|---|---|
| White (not Hispanic) | 80% |
| Black (not Hispanic) | 12% |
| Asian and Pacific Islander | 2.8% |
| Two or more races | 2.8% |

## Similar surnames

Elsey, Ells, Elzey, Elsea, Ellis, Elias, Ellzey, Eells, Elzy, Elijah.

## How to read these numbers

A Census count is people alive and counted in 2010, not births, and names occurring fewer than 100 times are not published at all. Ethnicity shares are the Census's own categories.