Top 100 US name Boys' name Peak 2012 149,990 births

Eli — #92 US boys' name

149,990 babies named Eli in U.S. Social Security records since 1880, with the highest year being 2012. Year-by-year trend, decade aggregates, and state-level rankings drawn from federal birth data.

1880s7211890s4921900s4831910s19911920s25201930s15921940s12881950s13461960s13231970s36101980s54551990s85602000s280192010s698712020s22719
#92
of 14,243 boys in use

More common than 99.4% of names given to boys today.

2010s
Peak decade

47% of everyone ever named Eli was born in this single decade.

2012
Single peak year

8,076 babies were named Eli in 2012 — its busiest year on record.

What the Data Says About Eli

The Social Security Administration has registered 149,990 babies named Eli between 1880 and 2024, spanning 145 consecutive years of U.S. birth records. As a boy's name, Eli currently holds the #92 rank among boys for 2024. The name reached its historical peak in 2012, when 8,076 babies received it in a single year.

Decade-level aggregation shows that Eli performed strongest in the 2010s, accumulating 69,871 births during that ten-year window. Across the 15 decades of recorded activity, Eli shows a clear decline from its mid-century high. Geographically, the name is most concentrated in California, which accounts for 14,776 births — the largest state-level total in the dataset — followed by Texas and New York. In total, SSA state-level files list Eli in 51 of the 51 U.S. reporting jurisdictions.

No etymological entry is currently available for Eli 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 149,990 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.

Eli at a glance

Top 100 boys' name

Total births

149,990

Since 1880

145 years of records

Peak year

2012

8,076 births that year

Strongest decade: 2010s

Current rank

#92

In the top 100

As of 2024

Active since

1880

Recorded for 145 years

Last year on file: 2024

Eli popularity over time — boys

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

Top 100 boys' name
Peak year (2012)
8,076
Annual births at peak — across 145 years of records
-2,00002,0004,0006,0008,00010,000 202420051986196719481929191018911880 73

Eli popularity over time — girls

982 total births recorded since 1916 (Eli as girls' name)

Unisex variant — 982 births
01020304050 202420172010200319961989198219731916 6

Eli by decade

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

Peak: 2010s
Peak decade
2010s
69,871 births that decade — 47% of Eli's all-time total
1880s7211890s4921900s4831910s19911920s25201930s15921940s12881950s13461960s13231970s36101980s54551990s85602000s280192010s698712020s22719

Eli by state

Where Eli concentrates geographically — total births since 1880

Geographically diffuse
Top 8 states by recorded births for the name Eli
Rank State Visual share Births Share of total
#1 California
14,776 9.9%
#2 Texas
13,268 8.8%
#3 New York
9,695 6.5%
#4 Ohio
6,361 4.2%
#5 Pennsylvania
6,273 4.2%
#6 Florida
6,071 4.0%
#7 Illinois
4,739 3.2%
#8 North Carolina
4,630 3.1%
California share of Eli's total US births 9.9%
Even split

14,776 of 149,990 births nationwide. Compared to a flat distribution across 51 reporting states.

Eli appears in 51 states. Explore state details →

Frequently Asked Questions

How popular is the name Eli?
149,990 babies have been named Eli since 1880. It currently ranks #92 among boys. The peak year was 2012 with 8,076 births.
When was Eli most popular?
Eli was most popular in the 2010s decade with 69,871 total births. The single peak year was 2012.
Where is Eli most popular?
The top states for the name Eli are California (14,776 births), Texas (13,268 births), New York (9,695 births).
How long has the name Eli been used?
Eli has been recorded in Social Security data since 1880, spanning 145 years of data through 2024.
What names are similar to Eli?
Names with a similar sound or spelling include Elijah, Elias, Elisha, Elian, and 4 more. These share a common prefix and are also used for boys.

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.