Elinor
Elinor was given to 142 girls in 2025, #1,502 among girls’ names; 21,640 Americans have been recorded with it since 1880 (Social Security Administration, published May 2026).
An estimated 6,770 Americans named Elinor and born in the U.S. are alive in 2026 (31% of everyone recorded); the median is 33 years old and half are between 11 and 78.
Girls and boys together; gaps are years SSA did not record (fewer than 5 births).
Births of Elinor by year: SSA national baby-name file, 1880-2025, published May 8, 2026. SSA’s notes on the data.
What does Elinor mean?
Wiktionary, English section
Elinor is “a female given name, variant of Eleanor.”
Meaning: Wiktionary, English section, as of Sep 25, 2026 (CC BY‑SA 4.0).
How popular is Elinor?
#1,502 among girls’ names, 2025
Elinor fell from #1,410 in 2015 to #1,502 in 2025 among girls’ names; its share of girls born fell from 92.4 to 88.3 per million.
656 babies in 1920, the peak
Elinor peaked in 1920, when 656 girls were given it, #257 among girls’ names. The 142 births of 2025 are 22% of that peak.
| Year | Births | Rank | Per 1,000 girls |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 142 | #1,502 | 0.09 |
| 2024 | 146 | #1,492 | 0.09 |
| 2023 | 164 | #1,374 | 0.10 |
| 2022 | 176 | #1,339 | 0.11 |
| 2021 | 172 | #1,313 | 0.10 |
| 2020 | 144 | #1,487 | 0.09 |
| 2019 | 162 | #1,386 | 0.10 |
| 2018 | 159 | #1,406 | 0.09 |
| 2017 | 165 | #1,392 | 0.10 |
| 2016 | 171 | #1,374 | 0.10 |
Every recorded year (146)
| Year | Births | Rank | Per 1,000 girls |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | 165 | #1,410 | 0.09 |
| 2014 | 144 | #1,520 | 0.08 |
| 2013 | 120 | #1,728 | 0.07 |
| 2012 | 134 | #1,614 | 0.08 |
| 2011 | 99 | #1,987 | 0.06 |
| 2010 | 105 | #1,914 | 0.06 |
| 2009 | 96 | #2,107 | 0.05 |
| 2008 | 102 | #2,036 | 0.05 |
| 2007 | 83 | #2,316 | 0.04 |
| 2006 | 75 | #2,466 | 0.04 |
| 2005 | 65 | #2,604 | 0.04 |
| 2004 | 71 | #2,400 | 0.04 |
| 2003 | 64 | #2,529 | 0.04 |
| 2002 | 71 | #2,290 | 0.04 |
| 2001 | 57 | #2,639 | 0.03 |
| 2000 | 49 | #2,910 | 0.03 |
| 1999 | 66 | #2,260 | 0.04 |
| 1998 | 54 | #2,539 | 0.03 |
| 1997 | 48 | #2,626 | 0.03 |
| 1996 | 44 | #2,763 | 0.03 |
| 1995 | 54 | #2,393 | 0.03 |
| 1994 | 27 | #3,918 | 0.02 |
| 1993 | 32 | #3,441 | 0.02 |
| 1992 | 27 | #3,892 | 0.01 |
| 1991 | 31 | #3,460 | 0.02 |
| 1990 | 22 | #4,411 | 0.01 |
| 1989 | 32 | #3,266 | 0.02 |
| 1988 | 24 | #3,821 | 0.01 |
| 1987 | 24 | #3,647 | 0.01 |
| 1986 | 26 | #3,377 | 0.02 |
| 1985 | 17 | #4,507 | 0.01 |
| 1984 | 28 | #3,100 | 0.02 |
| 1983 | 14 | #4,945 | 0.01 |
| 1982 | 18 | #4,216 | 0.01 |
| 1981 | 28 | #3,088 | 0.02 |
| 1980 | 21 | #3,749 | 0.01 |
| 1979 | 24 | #3,370 | 0.01 |
| 1978 | 28 | #2,889 | 0.02 |
| 1977 | 21 | #3,514 | 0.01 |
| 1976 | 11 | #5,315 | 0.01 |
| 1975 | 18 | #3,672 | 0.01 |
| 1974 | 23 | #3,033 | 0.02 |
| 1973 | 9 | #5,699 | 0.01 |
| 1972 | 30 | #2,412 | 0.02 |
| 1971 | 27 | #2,684 | 0.02 |
| 1970 | 26 | #2,725 | 0.01 |
| 1969 | 32 | #2,267 | 0.02 |
| 1968 | 26 | #2,447 | 0.02 |
| 1967 | 26 | #2,392 | 0.02 |
| 1966 | 31 | #2,108 | 0.02 |
| 1965 | 40 | #1,809 | 0.02 |
| 1964 | 41 | #1,841 | 0.02 |
| 1963 | 48 | #1,655 | 0.02 |
| 1962 | 48 | #1,633 | 0.02 |
| 1961 | 57 | #1,483 | 0.03 |
| 1960 | 68 | #1,339 | 0.03 |
| 1959 | 53 | #1,481 | 0.03 |
| 1958 | 55 | #1,438 | 0.03 |
| 1957 | 65 | #1,315 | 0.03 |
| 1956 | 80 | #1,162 | 0.04 |
| 1955 | 89 | #1,070 | 0.05 |
| 1954 | 76 | #1,134 | 0.04 |
| 1953 | 100 | #945 | 0.05 |
| 1952 | 121 | #831 | 0.07 |
| 1951 | 110 | #855 | 0.06 |
| 1950 | 87 | #972 | 0.05 |
| 1949 | 125 | #771 | 0.07 |
| 1948 | 129 | #747 | 0.08 |
| 1947 | 131 | #748 | 0.07 |
| 1946 | 155 | #633 | 0.10 |
| 1945 | 121 | #676 | 0.09 |
| 1944 | 162 | #576 | 0.12 |
| 1943 | 204 | #524 | 0.15 |
| 1942 | 262 | #458 | 0.19 |
| 1941 | 255 | #430 | 0.21 |
| 1940 | 285 | #407 | 0.25 |
| 1939 | 267 | #413 | 0.24 |
| 1938 | 301 | #385 | 0.27 |
| 1937 | 298 | #373 | 0.28 |
| 1936 | 340 | #339 | 0.33 |
| 1935 | 354 | #336 | 0.34 |
| 1934 | 409 | #310 | 0.39 |
| 1933 | 441 | #288 | 0.44 |
| 1932 | 378 | #326 | 0.35 |
| 1931 | 465 | #289 | 0.44 |
| 1930 | 509 | #296 | 0.45 |
| 1929 | 527 | #281 | 0.47 |
| 1928 | 523 | #287 | 0.45 |
| 1927 | 604 | #269 | 0.51 |
| 1926 | 607 | #271 | 0.51 |
| 1925 | 542 | #287 | 0.45 |
| 1924 | 595 | #268 | 0.48 |
| 1923 | 556 | #273 | 0.46 |
| 1922 | 539 | #277 | 0.45 |
| 1921 | 612 | #269 | 0.50 |
| 1920 | 656 | #257 | 0.55 |
| 1919 | 589 | #263 | 0.52 |
| 1918 | 571 | #265 | 0.49 |
| 1917 | 548 | #265 | 0.51 |
| 1916 | 580 | #252 | 0.56 |
| 1915 | 508 | #259 | 0.52 |
| 1914 | 358 | #275 | 0.47 |
| 1913 | 279 | #281 | 0.45 |
| 1912 | 268 | #275 | 0.48 |
| 1911 | 176 | #295 | 0.42 |
| 1910 | 133 | #344 | 0.34 |
| 1909 | 116 | #336 | 0.33 |
| 1908 | 91 | #378 | 0.27 |
| 1907 | 100 | #355 | 0.31 |
| 1906 | 69 | #411 | 0.23 |
| 1905 | 61 | #430 | 0.21 |
| 1904 | 52 | #453 | 0.19 |
| 1903 | 40 | #505 | 0.15 |
| 1902 | 34 | #562 | 0.13 |
| 1901 | 41 | #469 | 0.17 |
| 1900 | 52 | #470 | 0.17 |
| 1899 | 27 | #597 | 0.12 |
| 1898 | 39 | #494 | 0.15 |
| 1897 | 34 | #500 | 0.15 |
| 1896 | 34 | #507 | 0.14 |
| 1895 | 24 | #628 | 0.10 |
| 1894 | 27 | #562 | 0.12 |
| 1893 | 34 | #457 | 0.16 |
| 1892 | 15 | #771 | 0.07 |
| 1891 | 20 | #595 | 0.11 |
| 1890 | 23 | #552 | 0.12 |
| 1889 | 24 | #519 | 0.13 |
| 1888 | 21 | #554 | 0.12 |
| 1887 | 11 | #704 | 0.08 |
| 1886 | 16 | #559 | 0.11 |
| 1885 | 18 | #508 | 0.14 |
| 1884 | 13 | #593 | 0.10 |
| 1883 | 7 | #770 | 0.06 |
| 1882 | 10 | #609 | 0.09 |
| 1881 | 8 | #642 | 0.09 |
| 1880 | 9 | #596 | 0.10 |
Ranks and shares: girls’ names in each year’s SSA file; share of all girls SSA recorded that year.
Is Elinor a boy’s or a girl’s name?
Elinor has been recorded only for girls: SSA lists no boys with the name in 146 years of records (it lists a name only in years with 5 or more babies of a sex).
Girls and boys named Elinor: the SSA national file counts each sex separately.
How many people are named Elinor, and how old are they?
6,770 alive in 2026, estimated
That is 31% of the 21,640 Americans ever recorded as Elinor. The median Elinor alive today is 33 years old; half are between 11 and 78.
The 2020 Census counted 8,193 people named Elinor (8,152 women and girls, 41 men and boys). SSA’s births carried forward to Census day, April 1, 2020, predict 7,476 born in the U.S. The Census count is 10% above that prediction. Possible reasons: the Census counts people born abroad, whom SSA’s files leave out, and it records the name people give, which SSA may have recorded under another spelling or as part of a compound name.
Alive today, by age
Alive today, by generation
| Generation | Born | Alive |
|---|---|---|
| Silent Generation | 1928-1945 | 1,450 |
| Baby Boomers | 1946-1964 | 1,220 |
| Generation X | 1965-1980 | 363 |
| Millennials | 1981-1996 | 436 |
| Generation Z | 1997-2012 | 1,230 |
| Generation Alpha | 2013-2025 | 2,020 |
An estimate, not a count. SSA’s files count people born in the United States who received a Social Security number, so anyone born abroad is not in them; before 1937 most people got a number as adults, and their survival is counted from that age.
Living estimate: SSA births carried forward with the survival rates in SSA’s cohort life tables (2024 Trustees Report) for each birth year and sex. How the estimate is made. Count: Census Bureau, first names in the 2020 Census (released April 14, 2026; names reported 100 or more times, with the Bureau’s disclosure-avoidance adjustment).
Where are babies named Elinor born?
The states with the most babies named Elinor are New York, Massachusetts and Pennsylvania, with 38% of its births recorded by state since 1910; Massachusetts is not among the ten states with the most births.
| State | Since 1910 | Rank, girls | vs. national |
|---|---|---|---|
| New York | 2,725 | #1,185 | 1.5× |
| Massachusetts | 1,659 | #917 | 2.5× |
| Pennsylvania | 1,477 | not ranked | 1.0× |
| California | 1,162 | #1,868 | 1.0× |
| Illinois | 1,009 | not ranked | 0.9× |
| Ohio | 884 | #1,518 | 0.9× |
| New Jersey | 731 | not ranked | 1.2× |
| Michigan | 653 | not ranked | 0.8× |
| Connecticut | 448 | not ranked | 1.6× |
| Texas | 397 | #1,828 | 0.3× |
Where Elinor is more common than its national share predicts
Relative to its national share, Elinor is most over-represented in Massachusetts: since 1910 it was given 2.5 times as often there as its national share each year would predict.
States: SSA state file, 1910-2025, published May 8, 2026; births count girls and boys together, and the rank is among girls’ names in the state in 2025. The file leaves out any state and year with fewer than 5 babies of the name, so small states are undercounted; each ratio compares the state’s births of Elinor with the births its national share predicts year by year, for states with at least 100 births of the name.
Names spelled alike
Of these 8 names spelled alike, given to 366,251 babies since 1880, Elinor is the second most given (5.9% of them). In 2025 it was given to 142 of their 8,100 babies (1.8%), again the second most given.
Spelled alike: names in the SSA national file with the same pattern of letters and sounds and at most two letters apart, and Wiktionary’s listed forms; births since 1880 and in 2025, and each name’s peak year, from the SSA national file, published May 8, 2026. Some are separate names, not spellings of one.
Names that rose and fell in the same decades as Elinor
Names whose births rose and fell across the same decades, measured on each decade’s share of births.
Similar histories: each decade’s share of births, from the SSA national file, 1880-2025, published May 8, 2026. SSA’s notes on the data.
More about Elinor and names like it
- Compare Elinor and EleanorBirths, ranks, peak and the living estimate side by side.
- The most given names of the 1920sElinor peaked in 1920.
- New York’s most given namesThe state where SSA recorded the most babies named Elinor since 1910.
- The top names of 1920The year the most babies were named Elinor.
- The names of Generation AlphaMost people named Elinor alive today were born 2013-2025.
- Names starting with EMost given first.