Elmo
Elmo was last recorded in 2023, when 5 babies were given it; 10,338 Americans have been recorded with it between 1880 and 2023 (Social Security Administration, published May 2026).
An estimated 1,790 Americans named Elmo and born in the U.S. are alive in 2026 (17% of everyone recorded); the median is 70 years old and half are between 57 and 80.
Girls and boys together; gaps are years SSA did not record (fewer than 5 births).
Births of Elmo by year: SSA national baby-name file, 1880-2025, published May 8, 2026. SSA’s notes on the data.
What does Elmo mean?
Wiktionary, English section
Elmo is “a male given name from Italian.”
From an Italian contraction of Erasmo, cognate with Erasmus. Also a German short form of Elmar.
By folk etymology seen as a short form of Elmer.
/ˈɛlmoʊ/
Meaning: Wiktionary, English section, as of Sep 25, 2026 (CC BY‑SA 4.0).
How popular is Elmo?
Unranked in 2025
Its last boys’ rank on record is #12,776, in 2023; SSA lists a name only in years with 5 or more births.
409 babies in 1920, the peak
Elmo peaked in 1920, when 409 babies were given it (397 boys, #279 among boys’ names). It was not recorded in 2025.
Births by sex.
| Year | Births | Rank | Per 1,000 boys |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | 5 | #12,776 | under 0.01 |
| 2021 | 6 | #11,156 | under 0.01 |
| 2013 | 5 | #12,688 | under 0.01 |
| 2009 | 5 | #13,037 | under 0.01 |
| 2003 | 7 | #8,939 | under 0.01 |
| 2001 | 11 | #6,141 | 0.01 |
| 1999 | 6 | #9,042 | under 0.01 |
| 1998 | 7 | #7,824 | under 0.01 |
| 1997 | 8 | #6,801 | under 0.01 |
| 1996 | 7 | #7,365 | under 0.01 |
Every recorded year (125)
| Year | Births | Rank | Per 1,000 boys |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1994 | 18 | #3,635 | 0.01 |
| 1993 | 8 | #6,391 | under 0.01 |
| 1992 | 9 | #5,775 | under 0.01 |
| 1991 | 12 | #4,562 | 0.01 |
| 1990 | 10 | #5,103 | under 0.01 |
| 1989 | 6 | #7,254 | under 0.01 |
| 1988 | 14 | #3,578 | 0.01 |
| 1987 | 14 | #3,387 | 0.01 |
| 1986 | 14 | #3,307 | 0.01 |
| 1985 | 12 | #3,654 | 0.01 |
| 1984 | 15 | #2,995 | 0.01 |
| 1983 | 18 | #2,604 | 0.01 |
| 1982 | 13 | #3,348 | 0.01 |
| 1981 | 16 | #2,810 | 0.01 |
| 1980 | 9 | #4,245 | 0.01 |
| 1979 | 15 | #2,931 | 0.01 |
| 1978 | 15 | #2,829 | 0.01 |
| 1977 | 17 | #2,587 | 0.01 |
| 1976 | 27 | #1,843 | 0.02 |
| 1975 | 20 | #2,235 | 0.01 |
| 1974 | 18 | #2,303 | 0.01 |
| 1973 | 19 | #2,152 | 0.01 |
| 1972 | 28 | #1,660 | 0.02 |
| 1971 | 19 | #2,154 | 0.01 |
| 1970 | 24 | #1,812 | 0.01 |
| 1969 | 35 | #1,363 | 0.02 |
| 1968 | 27 | #1,518 | 0.02 |
| 1967 | 31 | #1,373 | 0.02 |
| 1966 | 30 | #1,406 | 0.02 |
| 1965 | 28 | #1,461 | 0.02 |
| 1964 | 46 | #1,133 | 0.02 |
| 1963 | 38 | #1,258 | 0.02 |
| 1962 | 41 | #1,217 | 0.02 |
| 1961 | 52 | #1,086 | 0.02 |
| 1960 | 48 | #1,133 | 0.02 |
| 1959 | 60 | #996 | 0.03 |
| 1958 | 53 | #1,052 | 0.02 |
| 1957 | 66 | #930 | 0.03 |
| 1956 | 63 | #942 | 0.03 |
| 1955 | 71 | #878 | 0.03 |
| 1954 | 81 | #801 | 0.04 |
| 1953 | 70 | #857 | 0.04 |
| 1952 | 65 | #872 | 0.03 |
| 1951 | 86 | #753 | 0.05 |
| 1950 | 76 | #783 | 0.04 |
| 1949 | 71 | #814 | 0.04 |
| 1948 | 94 | #687 | 0.05 |
| 1947 | 100 | #692 | 0.05 |
| 1946 | 99 | #649 | 0.06 |
| 1945 | 78 | #685 | 0.06 |
| 1944 | 116 | #570 | 0.09 |
| 1943 | 121 | #576 | 0.08 |
| 1942 | 125 | #550 | 0.09 |
| 1941 | 115 | #561 | 0.09 |
| 1940 | 103 | #583 | 0.09 |
| 1939 | 113 | #537 | 0.10 |
| 1938 | 137 | #496 | 0.12 |
| 1937 | 128 | #509 | 0.12 |
| 1936 | 144 | #469 | 0.14 |
| 1935 | 148 | #466 | 0.14 |
| 1934 | 138 | #488 | 0.13 |
| 1933 | 150 | #451 | 0.15 |
| 1932 | 158 | #450 | 0.15 |
| 1931 | 137 | #491 | 0.13 |
| 1930 | 183 | #433 | 0.17 |
| 1929 | 170 | #454 | 0.16 |
| 1928 | 235 | #383 | 0.21 |
| 1927 | 235 | #387 | 0.21 |
| 1926 | 243 | #374 | 0.22 |
| 1925 | 273 | #356 | 0.24 |
| 1924 | 313 | #328 | 0.28 |
| 1923 | 338 | #311 | 0.31 |
| 1922 | 317 | #325 | 0.29 |
| 1921 | 370 | #294 | 0.34 |
| 1920 | 397 | #279 | 0.37 |
| 1919 | 324 | #305 | 0.33 |
| 1918 | 334 | #301 | 0.33 |
| 1917 | 366 | #265 | 0.40 |
| 1916 | 363 | #261 | 0.41 |
| 1915 | 286 | #302 | 0.34 |
| 1914 | 247 | #282 | 0.38 |
| 1913 | 197 | #279 | 0.38 |
| 1912 | 169 | #271 | 0.39 |
| 1911 | 104 | #251 | 0.46 |
| 1910 | 86 | #264 | 0.44 |
| 1909 | 80 | #247 | 0.49 |
| 1908 | 51 | #307 | 0.33 |
| 1907 | 58 | #275 | 0.40 |
| 1906 | 50 | #284 | 0.38 |
| 1905 | 27 | #416 | 0.20 |
| 1904 | 27 | #403 | 0.21 |
| 1903 | 27 | #374 | 0.23 |
| 1902 | 27 | #382 | 0.22 |
| 1901 | 29 | #340 | 0.27 |
| 1900 | 40 | #345 | 0.27 |
| 1899 | 20 | #417 | 0.19 |
| 1898 | 32 | #342 | 0.26 |
| 1897 | 21 | #415 | 0.19 |
| 1896 | 23 | #409 | 0.19 |
| 1895 | 26 | #372 | 0.22 |
| 1894 | 12 | #602 | 0.10 |
| 1893 | 16 | #467 | 0.14 |
| 1892 | 14 | #555 | 0.11 |
| 1891 | 15 | #460 | 0.15 |
| 1890 | 12 | #575 | 0.11 |
| 1889 | 13 | #534 | 0.12 |
| 1888 | 17 | #470 | 0.14 |
| 1887 | 8 | #703 | 0.08 |
| 1886 | 12 | #554 | 0.11 |
| 1885 | 14 | #508 | 0.13 |
| 1884 | 12 | #553 | 0.10 |
| 1883 | 16 | #452 | 0.15 |
| 1882 | 19 | #416 | 0.17 |
| 1881 | 9 | #617 | 0.09 |
| 1880 | 15 | #470 | 0.14 |
Ranks and shares: boys’ names in each year’s SSA file; share of all boys SSA recorded that year.
Is Elmo a boy’s or a girl’s name?
Of the 10,338 Americans recorded as Elmo, 2% are girls and 98% boys.
Years with fewer than 20 babies given the name are left blank.
Girls and boys named Elmo: the SSA national file counts each sex separately.
How many people are named Elmo, and how old are they?
1,790 alive in 2026, estimated
That is 17% of the 10,338 Americans ever recorded as Elmo. The median Elmo alive today is 70 years old; half are between 57 and 80.
The 2020 Census counted 2,485 people named Elmo (53 women and girls, 2,432 men and boys). SSA’s births carried forward to Census day, April 1, 2020, predict 2,368 born in the U.S. The Census count is 5% above that prediction.
Alive today, by age
Alive today, by generation
| Generation | Born | Alive |
|---|---|---|
| Silent Generation | 1928-1945 | 422 |
| Baby Boomers | 1946-1964 | 813 |
| Generation X | 1965-1980 | 317 |
| Millennials | 1981-1996 | 176 |
| Generation Z | 1997-2012 | 43 |
| Generation Alpha | 2013-2025 | 16 |
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 Elmo born?
The states with the most babies named Elmo are Texas, Louisiana and Kentucky, with 38% of its births recorded by state since 1910; Louisiana and Kentucky are not among the ten states with the most births.
| State | Since 1910 | Rank, boys | vs. national |
|---|---|---|---|
| Texas | 1,169 | not ranked | 2.2× |
| Louisiana | 807 | not ranked | 4.1× |
| Kentucky | 462 | not ranked | 1.9× |
| Virginia | 409 | not ranked | 1.8× |
| Oklahoma | 355 | not ranked | 1.8× |
| Arkansas | 331 | not ranked | 2.0× |
| North Carolina | 320 | not ranked | 1.0× |
| Mississippi | 297 | not ranked | 1.5× |
| Missouri | 290 | not ranked | 1.1× |
| California | 244 | not ranked | 0.6× |
Where Elmo is more common than its national share predicts
Relative to its national share, Elmo is most over-represented in Louisiana: since 1910 it was given 4.1 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 boys’ 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 Elmo with the births its national share predicts year by year, for states with at least 100 births of the name.
Names that rose and fell in the same decades as Elmo
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 Elmo and names like it
- Compare Elmo and EllwoodBirths, ranks, peak and the living estimate side by side.
- The most given names of the 1920sElmo peaked in 1920.
- Texas’s most given namesThe state where SSA recorded the most babies named Elmo since 1910.
- Italian namesWiktionary’s origin for Elmo: every such name, by how often it is given.
- The top names of 1920The year the most babies were named Elmo.
- The names of the Baby BoomersMost people named Elmo alive today were born 1946-1964.
- Names starting with EMost given first.