Ely is a spelling of Eli, the Hebrew name of the high priest who raised Samuel, which means "ascended" or "high" and is also read as a short form of Elijah, "my God is Yahweh". It is at the same time the name of the English cathedral city of Ely, "eel island", and it was borne by Ely S. Parker, the Seneca engineer who wrote out the surrender terms at Appomattox. Ely ranked number 1373 in 2000, peaked at number 1085 in 2005 and sits at number 2653 in 2025 with 49 boys.