Top 50 US name Girls' name Peak 2024 103,149 births

Elena — #45 US girls' name

103,149 babies named Elena in U.S. Social Security records since 1880, with the highest year being 2024. Year-by-year trend, decade aggregates, and state-level rankings drawn from federal birth data.

1880s741890s2001900s3761910s13351920s21691930s16381940s22471950s34521960s47431970s52811980s62991990s95012000s156992010s287982020s21337
#45
of 17,661 girls in use

More common than 99.7% of names given to girls today.

2010s
Peak decade

28% of everyone ever named Elena was born in this single decade.

2024
Single peak year

4,567 babies were named Elena in 2024 — its busiest year on record.

What the Data Says About Elena

The Social Security Administration has registered 103,149 babies named Elena between 1880 and 2024, spanning 145 consecutive years of U.S. birth records. As a girl's name, Elena currently holds the #45 rank among girls for 2024. The name reached its historical peak in 2024, when 4,567 babies received it in a single year.

Decade-level aggregation shows that Elena performed strongest in the 2010s, accumulating 28,798 births during that ten-year window. Across the 15 decades of recorded activity, Elena shows a stable profile with only moderate drift from its peak decade. Geographically, the name is most concentrated in California, which accounts for 18,616 births — the largest state-level total in the dataset — followed by Texas and New York. In total, SSA state-level files list Elena in 51 of the 51 U.S. reporting jurisdictions.

No etymological entry is currently available for Elena in our reference dataset. These figures derive from SSA's annual national and state-level name files, which include any name appearing at least five times in a given year or state-year; names below that threshold are suppressed for privacy and therefore excluded from the totals shown here. The 103,149 total represents a lower bound — actual usage may be higher in years or states where the count fell below the disclosure floor. This page is provided for informational and research purposes only and does not constitute personal, legal, or naming advice.

Elena at a glance

Top 100 girls' name

Total births

103,149

Since 1880

145 years of records

Peak year

2024

4,567 births that year

Strongest decade: 2010s

Current rank

#45

In the top 100

As of 2024

Active since

1880

Recorded for 145 years

Last year on file: 2024

Elena popularity over time — girls

Annual U.S. births registered with the Social Security Administration · 2024–1880

Top 100 girls' name
Peak year (2024)
4,567
Annual births at peak — across 145 years of records
-2,00002,0004,0006,000 202420061988197019521934191618981880 8

Elena popularity over time — boys

98 total births recorded since 1932 (Elena as boys' name)

Unisex variant — 98 births
468101214 20172004199319891986198219721932 7

Elena by decade

Total births in each ten-year window — peak vs trough at a glance

Peak: 2010s
Peak decade
2010s
28,798 births that decade — 28% of Elena's all-time total
1880s741890s2001900s3761910s13351920s21691930s16381940s22471950s34521960s47431970s52811980s62991990s95012000s156992010s287982020s21337

Elena by state

Where Elena concentrates geographically — total births since 1880

Geographically diffuse
Top 8 states by recorded births for the name Elena
Rank State Visual share Births Share of total
#1 California
18,616 18.0%
#2 Texas
13,960 13.5%
#3 New York
8,094 7.8%
#4 Florida
4,985 4.8%
#5 Illinois
4,521 4.4%
#6 Pennsylvania
3,247 3.1%
#7 New Jersey
2,924 2.8%
#8 Arizona
2,851 2.8%
California share of Elena's total US births 18.0%
Even split

18,616 of 103,149 births nationwide. Compared to a flat distribution across 51 reporting states.

Elena appears in 51 states. Explore state details →

Frequently Asked Questions

How popular is the name Elena?
103,149 babies have been named Elena since 1880. It currently ranks #45 among girls. The peak year was 2024 with 4,567 births.
When was Elena most popular?
Elena was most popular in the 2010s decade with 28,798 total births. The single peak year was 2024.
Where is Elena most popular?
The top states for the name Elena are California (18,616 births), Texas (13,960 births), New York (8,094 births).
How long has the name Elena been used?
Elena has been recorded in Social Security data since 1880, spanning 145 years of data through 2024.
What names are similar to Elena?
Names with a similar sound or spelling include Eleanor, Eleanore, Eleanora, Eleni, and 4 more. These share a common prefix and are also used for girls.

Keep exploring Elena

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Data Sources

Data as of 2024. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration (SSA).

Primary: Source: U.S. Social Security Administration, Baby Names from Social Security Card Applications — National Data, 1880–2024 (ssa.gov/oact/babynames). National-level data includes all names with 5 or more occurrences in a given year.

State-level: Source: U.S. Social Security Administration, Baby Names — State-Level Files (namesbystate.zip). Includes all names with 5 or more occurrences per state per year; rarer names are excluded for privacy.