How common is the surname Ely?

13,130 people in the United States had the surname Ely in the 2010 Census, about 1 in every 23,515 Americans. It ranked 2,745th of 162,253 surnames.

What ethnicity is the surname Ely?

In the 2010 Census, 88% of people named Ely identified as white (not Hispanic), and 6.7% as Black (not Hispanic).

Who is the most famous person named Ely?

Ron Ely, American actor and novelist, followed by Eugene Burton Ely.

Where is the surname Ely most common?

Wikidata records people named Ely in the United States.

Is the surname Ely getting more or less common?

More common. 12,884 people carried it in the 2000 Census and 13,130 in 2010, up 1.9%.

Is Ely also a first name?

Yes. Ely 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 Ely

An English surname, carried by 13,130 people in the United States.

Pronounced /iːli/ 2 syllables Soundex E400 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). Ely is more common than 98.3% of them.

Origin

English origin

Inherited from Middle English Ely, from Old English Ēlīġ, of uncertain origin.

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 13,130 people named Ely in the United States in 2010, about 1 in every 23,515 Americans. That is up 1.9% since 2000, when the Census counted 12,884.

#2,745

rank among US surnames

13,130

people in 2010

4.5

per 100,000 Americans

+1.9%

change since 2000 (was #2,583)

Rank	Surname	People	1 in
#2,736	Witherspoon	13,171	23,441
#2,737	Barfield	13,165	23,452
#2,738	Fabian	13,161	23,459
#2,739	Bouchard	13,154	23,472
#2,740	Chun	13,141	23,495
#2,741	Markham	13,137	23,502
#2,742	Zeigler	13,135	23,506

Who is named Ely

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

88% of people named Ely identified as white (not Hispanic), 6.7% as Black (not Hispanic) and 2.3% as Hispanic or Latino (any race).

White (not Hispanic) 88%
Black (not Hispanic) 6.7%
Hispanic or Latino (any race) 2.3%
Two or more races 1.7%
Asian and Pacific Islander 0.7%
American Indian and Alaska Native 0.6%

Compare: most common surnames among white Americans.

Famous Elys

6 notable people on Wikidata, most written-about first

Ron Ely
American actor and novelist, 1938–2024
Eugene Burton Ely
American aviation pioneer (1886–1911)
Joe Ely
American singer-songwriter (1947–2025)
Melvin Ely
American basketball player (born 1978)
Shyra Ely
American basketball player (born 1983)
Joseph B. Ely
American politician (1881-1956)

Spellings and sound-alikes

Useful when a record has your ancestor under another spelling

Surnames that sound like Ely

Ely has the Soundex code E400, the code US census indexes have used since the 1930s. Every surname with code E400.

Other English surnames

All 1,446 English surnames

Questions

Where does the surname Ely come from?: Inherited from Middle English Ely, from Old English Ēlīġ, of uncertain origin.
How common is the surname Ely?: 13,130 people in the United States had the surname Ely in the 2010 Census, about 1 in every 23,515 Americans. It ranked 2,745th of 162,253 surnames.
What ethnicity is the surname Ely?: In the 2010 Census, 88% of people named Ely identified as white (not Hispanic), and 6.7% as Black (not Hispanic).
Who is the most famous person named Ely?: Ron Ely, American actor and novelist, followed by Eugene Burton Ely.
Where is the surname Ely most common?: Wikidata records people named Ely in the United States.
How do you pronounce Ely?: Ely is /iːli/, 2 syllables.
Is the surname Ely getting more or less common?: More common. 12,884 people carried it in the 2000 Census and 13,130 in 2010, up 1.9%.
Is Ely also a first name?: Yes. Ely 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.