Elizabeth — #17 US girls' name
1,681,878 babies named Elizabeth in U.S. Social Security records since 1880, with the highest year being 1990. Year-by-year trend, decade aggregates, and state-level rankings drawn from federal birth data.
More common than 99.9% of names given to girls today.
12% of everyone ever named Elizabeth was born in this single decade.
20,749 babies were named Elizabeth in 1990 — its busiest year on record.
What the Data Says About Elizabeth
The Social Security Administration has registered 1,681,878 babies named Elizabeth between 1880 and 2024, spanning 145 consecutive years of U.S. birth records. As a girl's name, Elizabeth currently holds the #17 rank among girls for 2024. The name reached its historical peak in 1990, when 20,749 babies received it in a single year.
Decade-level aggregation shows that Elizabeth performed strongest in the 1980s, accumulating 198,977 births during that ten-year window. Across the 15 decades of recorded activity, Elizabeth shows a clear decline from its mid-century high. Geographically, the name is most concentrated in New York, which accounts for 142,531 births — the largest state-level total in the dataset — followed by California and Pennsylvania. In total, SSA state-level files list Elizabeth in 51 of the 51 U.S. reporting jurisdictions.
No etymological entry is currently available for Elizabeth 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 1,681,878 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.
Elizabeth at a glance
Top 100 girls' namePeak year
Current rank
Active since
Elizabeth popularity over time — girls
Annual U.S. births registered with the Social Security Administration · 2024–1880
- Peak year (1990)
- 20,749
- Annual births at peak — across 145 years of records
Currently a top-25 pick among girls.
1,681,878 total births across 145 years of SSA records. Peaked in 1990 with 20,749 births in a single year.
Elizabeth popularity over time — boys
5,211 total births recorded since 1880 (Elizabeth as boys' name)
Unisex use remains the minority pattern
The boys' variant of Elizabeth accounts for 0% of total recorded use across both genders.
Elizabeth by decade
Total births in each ten-year window — peak vs trough at a glance
- Peak decade
- 1980s
- 198,977 births that decade — 12% of Elizabeth's all-time total
Elizabeth decade highlights
- Peak decade 198,977 births
- Runner-up 172,690 births
- Modern era share 2010s + 2020s
- Decades tracked with recorded births
1980s was Elizabeth's strongest decade
198,977 babies received the name during that ten-year window — about 12% of all-time use.
Elizabeth by state
Where Elizabeth concentrates geographically — total births since 1880
| Rank | State | Visual share | Births | Share of total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| #1 | New York | | 142,531 | 8.5% |
| #2 | California | | 135,828 | 8.1% |
| #3 | Pennsylvania | | 108,750 | 6.5% |
| #4 | Texas | | 99,835 | 5.9% |
| #5 | Illinois | | 75,196 | 4.5% |
| #6 | Ohio | | 70,859 | 4.2% |
| #7 | Massachusetts | | 56,417 | 3.4% |
| #8 | Michigan | | 54,526 | 3.2% |
142,531 of 1,681,878 births nationwide. Compared to a flat distribution across 51 reporting states.
Top 5 states
- New York 8.5% of nationwide
- California 8.1% of nationwide
- Pennsylvania 6.5% of nationwide
- Texas 5.9% of nationwide
- Illinois 4.5% of nationwide
Recorded in 51 of 51 SSA jurisdictions
New York accounts for 8.5% of all recorded births nationwide — a relatively diffuse profile for this name.
Elizabeth appears in 51 states. Explore state details →
Frequently Asked Questions
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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.