Explore the Family Name Else

The meaning of Else

1. English: variant of Ells or Ellis. 2. North German: topographic name for someone who lived by an alder or alders, Middle Low German else, or a habitational name from any of various places formed with this word.

Dictionary of American Family Names, 2nd edition, © Oxford University Press, 2022.

How common is the last name Else in the United States?

Based on the Decennial U.S. Census data, the surname "Else" has seen a moderate increase in popularity over the past decade. In 2000, it was the 24,350th most popular surname, but by 2010 it had risen to the 24,031st position, marking a change of 1.31%. Additionally, the number of individuals carrying the "Else" surname increased from 964 in 2000 to 1,049 in 2010, an 8.82% growth. The proportion per 100,000 people remained constant at 0.36 during this period.

	2000	2010	Change
Rank	#24,350	#24,031	1.31%
Count	964	1,049	8.82%
Proportion per 100k	0.36	0.36	0%

Race and Ethnicity of people with the last name Else

The Decennial U.S. Census also provides insight into the ethnicity associated with the "Else" surname. Over the decade from 2000 to 2010, there has been a significant increase in the percentage of individuals with this surname identifying as Asian/Pacific Islander (from 1.35% to 2.76%) and those identifying with two or more races (from 1.24% to 2.76%). Meanwhile, there has been a slight decrease in the percentage identifying as White, dropping from 84.44% to 79.98%. The percentage of individuals identifying as Black rose slightly from 10.79% to 12.11%, while the percentages for Hispanic and American Indian and Alaskan Native were reported as zero in 2010, possibly due to data suppression for privacy.

	2000	2010	Change
White	84.44%	79.98%	-5.28%
Black	10.79%	12.11%	12.23%
Asian/Pacific Islander	1.35%	2.76%	104.44%
Two or More Races	1.24%	2.76%	122.58%
Hispanic	1.66%	0%	0%
American Indian and Alaskan Native	0.52%	0%	0%