The Ellington surname

In the 2010 U.S. Census, 11,522 people carried this name — #3,132 among all U.S. surnames, about 1 in every 25,600 people counted. That is up 4% from 11,030 in 2000.

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What the name means

The meaning of the Ellington surname

A habitational surname from Old English.

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary (en.wiktionary.org) — entry «Ellington» (English), by Wiktionary contributors · licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0) · excerpt, lightly adapted.

As an English and Welsh surname

Bardsley classes it as a local name, from where the family lived: ‘of Ellington’.

An early record he cites: John de Ellington, 1273 — Hundred Rolls.

From Charles W. Bardsley, A Dictionary of English and Welsh Surnames, with Special American Instances (London: Henry Frowde, 1901), p. 270 · public domain.

In the Nordic population registers

22 people named Ellington is counted in Sweden.

Sweden’s figure is from 31 December 2022, the last count Statistics Sweden published.

Counted, by country

Sweden (2022) 22

Own calculations based on data from Statistics Sweden (SCB), surnames with at least two bearers, 31 December 2022 — CC BY 4.0 (names with 20 or more bearers shown).

In the first U.S. census, 1790

22 families named Ellington, or a close spelling, were counted in 1790.

Each family is counted by its head. About 147 people lived in those households, 6.7 to a family on average. The table counts it together with 2 other spellings. The table lists white heads of families only, in the twelve states whose 1790 records survive; Virginia’s figures come from state lists of 1782–1785.

Families, by state

Virginia 14
North Carolina 5
South Carolina 2
Pennsylvania 1

U.S. Census Bureau, «A Century of Population Growth from the First Census of the United States to the Twelfth, 1790–1900» (Washington, 1909), table 111, p. 239 — public domain · names carried by at least 100 white persons in 1790.

In print

Ellington in American newspapers,
1852–1909.

Newspaper page from The Lancaster Ledger carrying the name Ellington
The Lancaster Ledger 1852-08-25
Newspaper page from Maryland Independent carrying the name Ellington
Maryland Independent 1909-04-02
Newspaper page from The Star carrying the name Ellington
The Star 1909-04-14

Chronicling America, Library of Congress — digitised newspapers in the public domain.

In print

Ellington in Australian newspapers,
1840s–1970s.

2,345 articles name a Mr, Mrs or Miss Ellington. The most, 654, date from the 1910s. New South Wales has the most articles, but weighed against how much of each state’s press from the same decades has been digitised, the name stands out most in Victoria, at 1.3 times its expected share.

Articles, by state

New South Wales 903
Victoria 637
Queensland 275
South Australia 200
Western Australia 196
Tasmania 116
ACT (Canberra) 14
Northern Territory 1

Trove, National Library of Australia (trove.nla.gov.au) · articles in its digitised newspapers that name a Mr, Mrs or Miss Ellington.

Who carried it

People named Ellington,
with a public archive behind them.

  • Edward Ellington
    Edward Ellington 1877–1967 · military personnel
  • Edward Ellington
    Edward Ellington 1877–1967 · military personnel
  • Duke Ellington
    Duke Ellington 1899–1974 · composer
  • Duke Ellington
    Duke Ellington 1899–1974 · composer
  • Buford Ellington
    Buford Ellington 1907–1972 · politician
  • E. A. Ellington d. 1975 · screenwriter

Wikidata (CC0) · portraits via Wikimedia Commons, shown cropped, in the public domain or CC0 · 10 lives in all are documented under this name.

In the public record

People named Ellington,
in the records of 3 countries.

Soldiers, farmers, migrants and neighbours who carried the name and left a trace in public archives. Everyone shown here died long ago or was born more than a century ago.

United States632 records

632 records of the Ellington name in the United States
  • U.S. Army enlistment records, World War II 414
  • U.S. veterans' cemetery records, burials to 2001 144
  • New York City birth, marriage and death certificates 26
  • Passenger arrivals in the United States, 1820–1912 17
  • U.S. alien registration index, 1940–1955 16
  • New York State death index (outside NYC), 1957–2001 12
  • U.S. service members who died in the Vietnam War 2
  • U.S. service members who died in the Korean War 1
  1. A United States Selective Service registration card, 1942
    Example: U.S. registration card, 1942
    Military record Nathaniel Ellington

    Born 1921 in Alabama. Enlisted 1941 at Chicago, Illinois; woodworker. U.S. Army veteran of World War II; died 1997, buried at Washington Memory Gardens, Homewood, Illinois.

    U.S. National Archives, WWII Army Enlistment Records (public domain); U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, Gravesite Locator (CC0)
  2. Names engraved on the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, Washington, D.C.
    Example: U.S. war memorial
    War record Kenneth Julian Ellington

    Born 1941; from Marshall, Illinois. U.S. Army, ammunition specialist; died in service 1969 in South Vietnam.

    U.S. National Archives, Defense Casualty Analysis System (public domain)
  3. A passenger manifest of the S.S. St. Paul, arriving at New York in 1903
    Example: passenger manifest, 1903
    Passenger record William A. Ellington

    Arrived at New York in 1891 aboard the Adriatic from Liverpool and Queenstown, aged 21; medical student. From England; bound for New York.

    U.S. National Archives, Castle Garden Immigration Center Collection, Ship Passenger Records (unrestricted)

Showing 3 of 632 records for Ellington in the United States.

Counts: U.S. National Archives, WWII Army Enlistment Records (public domain) · U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, Gravesite Locator (CC0) · NYC Department of Records & Information Services, Historical Vital Records (NYC Open Data) · U.S. National Archives, Castle Garden Immigration Center Collection, Ship Passenger Records (unrestricted) · U.S. National Archives, Flexoline Index Data File (public domain) · New York State Department of Health, Genealogical Research Death Index · U.S. National Archives, Defense Casualty Analysis System (public domain). Example pages, not the records of the people shown: U.S. Selective Service registration card, 1942 (public domain); Vietnam Veterans Memorial, photo by U.S. Army Sgt. 1st Class Michael J. Carden, 2009 (public domain); Passenger manifest of the S.S. St. Paul, New York, 1903 (public domain).

Australia54 records

54 records of the Ellington name in Australia
  • Tasmanian Names Index 26
  • Victoria passenger lists, 1839–1923 22
  • Queensland State Archives indexes 3
  • Victoria wills and probate, deaths to 2001 2
  • NSW convict, estate and railway indexes 1
  1. A petition to the probate court of St. Louis, 1848
    Example: probate petition, 1848
    Probate record William Ellington

    Died 1885 in Launceston, Tasmania, aged 68. Will registered in Tasmania in 1885.

    Libraries Tasmania, Tasmanian Names Index (CC BY 4.0)
  2. A passenger manifest of the S.S. St. Paul, arriving at New York in 1903
    Example: passenger manifest, 1903
    Passenger record Arthur Ellington

    Arrived in Queensland in 1878 aboard the Garnock, aged 21.

    Queensland State Archives (CC BY 4.0)
  3. An 1829 etching of convicts being rowed out to the prison ship York in Portsmouth Harbour
    Pictured: convicts going on board a prison ship, 1829
    Transportation record William Ellington

    Transported to Van Diemen's Land aboard the Agincourt, sailing from Woolwich in 1844. Native of Leicester, Leicestershire.

    Libraries Tasmania, Tasmanian Names Index (CC BY 4.0)

Showing 3 of 54 records for Ellington in Australia.

Counts: Libraries Tasmania, Tasmanian Names Index (CC BY 4.0) · Public Record Office Victoria (CC BY 4.0) · Queensland State Archives (CC BY 4.0) · Museums of History NSW – State Archives Collection (CC BY). Example pages, not the records of the people shown: Petition to the probate court, St. Louis, 1848, Missouri Historical Society (public domain); Passenger manifest of the S.S. St. Paul, New York, 1903 (public domain); Prison-ship in Portsmouth Harbour, with the convicts going on board, etching by Edward William Cooke, 1829, Royal Museums Greenwich (public domain).

United Kingdom19 records

19 records of the Ellington name in the United Kingdom
  • St James's burial ground, Euston (London), 1789–1853 13
  • War Office casualty lists, 1917–1919, among the dead 3
  • Scottish rolls of honour, First World War 3
  1. A page of the burial register of Newtown, Wales, 1858
    Example: burial register, 1858
    Burial record Fran Ellington

    Buried in 1800 at St James's burial ground, Euston, London, aged 62.

    MOLA and HS2, St James's burial ground data. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.
  2. A First World War roll of honour of the staff of C. & E. Morton Ltd
    Example: roll of honour, 1914–1919
    War record William Ellington

    Died 1917. Named in the roll of honour (1926).

    National Library of Scotland, Rolls of Honour (public domain)
  3. A First World War roll of honour of the staff of C. & E. Morton Ltd
    Example: roll of honour, 1914–1919
    War record H. J. Ellington

    Royal Warwickshire Regiment. Listed among the dead in the War Office casualty list of 1918.

    National Library of Scotland, War Office Weekly Casualty Lists (public domain)

Showing 3 of 19 records for Ellington in the United Kingdom.

Counts: MOLA and HS2, St James's burial ground data. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. · National Library of Scotland, War Office Weekly Casualty Lists (public domain) · National Library of Scotland, Rolls of Honour (public domain). Example pages, not the records of the people shown: Burial register of Newtown, Montgomeryshire, 1858, National Library of Wales (CC0); C. & E. Morton Ltd roll of honour, 1914–1919, photo by Adrian S Pye via Geograph (CC BY-SA 2.0).

Nearby in the index

Surnames next to Ellington.

When the index is not enough

This page says where Ellington is.
A volume says what happened to it.

Every page in the index is free and stays free. The Heritage Volume is the long form: the full paper trail, the arms, the crossing — bound, and yours.

See the Ellington volume
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