Elley
A feminine name of English origin meaning "shining light".
Name Census estimates that about 357 living Americans carry the first name Elley. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Elley today is around 14 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Elley births was 2008 (22 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Elley. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
For a British comparison, Name Census UK has a UK baby-name profile for Elley with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
357
~ 1 in 960,096 Americans
Peak year
2008
22 babies that year
Average age
14
years old
2024 SSA rank
#8,565
Tracked since 1996
Census
Elley in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 331 people with the first name Elley, which placed it at #27,567 in the published first-name tables. This is a snapshot of people who already had the name at the time of the Census.
The SSA sections elsewhere on this page answer a different question: how often parents gave the name to babies over time. The "people living today" figure on this page is different again: it is a current estimate built from SSA birth records and age-based survival rates, so the two numbers are not expected to match exactly.
2020 Census rank
#27,567
National first-name rank
People counted
331
331 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
76.4% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Elley
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Elley is White at 76.4%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (7.6%) and Two or More Races (5.7%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Elley described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given name, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown so the breakdown is easy to read across every published category. Because the 2020 Census first-name file also includes raw headcounts for each group, Name Census can show those alongside the percentages in the legend and hover tooltip.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the name Elley at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White76.4% · 253
- Hispanic or Latino7.6% · 25
- Two or more races5.7% · 19
- Black or African American5.1% · 17
- Asian and Pacific Islander5.1% · 17
Popularity
Elley: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Elley from the 1990s through to the 2020s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 154 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Elley remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Elley by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Elley during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Elleys live
Origin
Meaning and history of Elley
The name Elley is believed to have its origins in Old English and Old German languages. It is a diminutive form of the name Eleanor, which itself is derived from the Provençal name Alienor. The name Alienor is thought to have evolved from the Germanic elements "ali" meaning "other" and "nora" meaning "honor."
In the Middle Ages, the name Eleanor gained widespread popularity throughout Europe, particularly in England and France. One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Elley dates back to the 12th century, when it appeared as a variant spelling in medieval English records.
Historically, there have been several notable figures bearing the name Elley. One of the earliest was Elley of Warwick, an English noblewoman who lived in the late 13th century. She was known for her philanthropy and her support for the construction of religious buildings in the city of Warwick.
In the 15th century, Elley de Montfort was a French noblewoman and landowner in the region of Normandy. She played a significant role in the local politics of her time and was renowned for her diplomatic skills.
Moving forward to the 16th century, Elley Boleyn was a distant relative of the famous Queen Anne Boleyn. Elley Boleyn was a courtier in the court of King Henry VIII and was known for her skill in embroidery and needlework.
In the 17th century, Elley Hutchinson was an English writer and poet. She published several collections of poetry and was celebrated for her lyrical verse exploring themes of nature and the human condition.
Lastly, in the 19th century, Elley Nightingale was a British nurse and social reformer. She was a pioneer in the field of nursing and is credited with establishing the foundations of modern nursing practices. Elley Nightingale was born in 1820 and passed away in 1910.
While the name Elley may not be as common today as its parent name Eleanor, it has a rich history spanning centuries and has been borne by notable figures across various fields, from nobility and politics to literature and healthcare.
People
Elley + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Elley as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with E
Other first names starting with E with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Elley: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Elley?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 357 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Elley going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 960,096 US residents.
Is Elley a common name?
We classify Elley as "Very Rare". It ranks above 81.1% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 361 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Elley most popular?
The single biggest year for Elley was 2008, when 22 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Elley is about 14 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Elley in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 331 people with the name Elley, or 0.11 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #27,567 in the national Census ranking for first names.
Why is the Census count different from the living estimate?
Because they measure different things. The Census figure is a count of people who had the name Elley in 2020. The living estimate aims to answer a current question instead: how many people with the name are alive today, based on SSA birth records and age-based survival rates. Since one number is a 2020 snapshot and the other is a present-day estimate, they are not expected to be identical.
What does the Census say about the gender split for Elley?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Elley leans strongly female. 329 people counted with this name were female (95.6%), compared with 15 male bearers (4.4%). The Census view is a snapshot of people living with the name in 2020, while the SSA section above tracks births across time.
What does the Census say about the background of people named Elley?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Elley is White at 76.4%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (7.6%) and Two or More Races (5.7%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself. The percentages in the chart above come from self-reported race and Hispanic-origin responses in the 2020 Census.
Which group reports the name Elley most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Elley in the 2020 Census, accounting for 76.4% (253 people in the published table).
Why can the Census sex total and race total differ slightly?
The Census Bureau published separate 2020 tables for sex and for race/Hispanic origin, and the released figures can differ slightly because of privacy protection in the public files. That is why this page treats the gender section and the race/origin section as two related snapshots instead of forcing them into one identical total.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only includes names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files have no Census demographic snapshot. When that happens, the SSA trend, gender history, and state sections still appear, but the 2020 Census demographic sections are omitted.
What does the SSA popularity chart show?
The chart tracks births, not the number of people alive with the name today. Each point shows how many babies were given the name Elley in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Elley a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Elley in the SSA data are female. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Is Elley still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Elley in 2024, and the page above shows its latest-year rank where available. A name can be well past its peak and still remain in steady use, especially if it built up a large population over earlier decades.
Why can a name have a lot of living bearers even if it is not trendy now?
Because living-bearer counts and current baby-name popularity measure different things. A name like Elley can build up a very large population over many decades, even if fewer parents are choosing it now than they did at its peak.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.
How many people have Elley as a first name?
For a quick modern take, check how many Americans are named Elley on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org.