Elton
Elton was given to 60 boys in 2025, #2,313 among boys’ names; 21,553 Americans have been recorded with it since 1880 (Social Security Administration, published May 2026).
An estimated 9,680 Americans named Elton and born in the U.S. are alive in 2026 (45% of everyone recorded); the median is 54 years old and half are between 35 and 70.
Girls and boys together; gaps are years SSA did not record (fewer than 5 births).
Births of Elton by year: SSA national baby-name file, 1880-2025, published May 8, 2026. SSA’s notes on the data.
What does Elton mean?
Wiktionary, English section
Elton is “a male given name from Old English.” Its etymology gives the senses “eel” (ēl) and “farm, village” (tūn).
From a number of sources, including: # For the places in Cheshire, County Durham, and Derbyshire, England: from Old English ēl (“eel”) + tūn (“farm, village”) since the village is situated above a small stream. Less likely, from Old English personal name Ella + tūn. # For the place in Cambridgeshire, England: from Middle English Adelintune, from Old English æþeling (“prince”) + tūn (“estate”). # For the place in Gloucestershire, England: from Middle English Elwinton, from Old English personal name Ælfwine + tūn (“estate”). # For the place in Herefordshire, England: from Middle English Elintona, from Old English *æling (“eel fishery”) + tūn (“estate”), in reference to nearby Wigmore Lake. # For the place in Nottinghamshire, England, see Elton on the Hill.
/ˈɛltən/
Meaning: Wiktionary, English section, as of Sep 25, 2026 (CC BY‑SA 4.0).
How popular is Elton?
#2,313 among boys’ names, 2025
Elton fell from #2,197 in 2015 to #2,313 in 2025 among boys’ names, although its share of boys born rose from 32.3 to 35.1 per million.
408 babies in 1920, the peak
Elton peaked in 1920, when 408 babies were given it (394 boys, #281 among boys’ names). The 60 births of 2025 are 15% of that peak.
| Year | Births | Rank | Per 1,000 boys |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 60 | #2,313 | 0.04 |
| 2024 | 72 | #2,082 | 0.04 |
| 2023 | 69 | #2,113 | 0.04 |
| 2022 | 80 | #1,940 | 0.05 |
| 2021 | 111 | #1,569 | 0.06 |
| 2020 | 90 | #1,723 | 0.05 |
| 2019 | 80 | #1,872 | 0.04 |
| 2018 | 73 | #1,999 | 0.04 |
| 2017 | 51 | #2,500 | 0.03 |
| 2016 | 59 | #2,260 | 0.03 |
Every recorded year (145)
| Year | Births | Rank | Per 1,000 boys |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | 62 | #2,197 | 0.03 |
| 2014 | 66 | #2,100 | 0.03 |
| 2013 | 45 | #2,632 | 0.02 |
| 2012 | 55 | #2,337 | 0.03 |
| 2011 | 61 | #2,154 | 0.03 |
| 2010 | 56 | #2,294 | 0.03 |
| 2009 | 64 | #2,125 | 0.03 |
| 2008 | 64 | #2,130 | 0.03 |
| 2007 | 57 | #2,286 | 0.03 |
| 2006 | 68 | #1,975 | 0.03 |
| 2005 | 65 | #1,947 | 0.03 |
| 2004 | 81 | #1,608 | 0.04 |
| 2003 | 51 | #2,157 | 0.03 |
| 2002 | 76 | #1,595 | 0.04 |
| 2001 | 72 | #1,632 | 0.04 |
| 2000 | 96 | #1,333 | 0.05 |
| 1999 | 68 | #1,593 | 0.04 |
| 1998 | 73 | #1,501 | 0.04 |
| 1997 | 82 | #1,353 | 0.04 |
| 1996 | 79 | #1,360 | 0.04 |
| 1995 | 69 | #1,431 | 0.04 |
| 1994 | 64 | #1,474 | 0.03 |
| 1993 | 86 | #1,214 | 0.04 |
| 1992 | 89 | #1,177 | 0.04 |
| 1991 | 81 | #1,232 | 0.04 |
| 1990 | 117 | #961 | 0.06 |
| 1989 | 90 | #1,113 | 0.04 |
| 1988 | 87 | #1,064 | 0.05 |
| 1987 | 88 | #1,011 | 0.05 |
| 1986 | 89 | #971 | 0.05 |
| 1985 | 97 | #924 | 0.05 |
| 1984 | 118 | #805 | 0.07 |
| 1983 | 115 | #813 | 0.06 |
| 1982 | 138 | #752 | 0.08 |
| 1981 | 123 | #784 | 0.07 |
| 1980 | 132 | #763 | 0.07 |
| 1979 | 126 | #773 | 0.07 |
| 1978 | 154 | #674 | 0.09 |
| 1977 | 179 | #629 | 0.11 |
| 1976 | 217 | #546 | 0.14 |
| 1975 | 285 | #474 | 0.18 |
| 1974 | 250 | #503 | 0.16 |
| 1973 | 190 | #575 | 0.12 |
| 1972 | 166 | #612 | 0.10 |
| 1971 | 153 | #670 | 0.09 |
| 1970 | 124 | #740 | 0.07 |
| 1969 | 88 | #825 | 0.05 |
| 1968 | 109 | #721 | 0.06 |
| 1967 | 115 | #694 | 0.07 |
| 1966 | 131 | #648 | 0.07 |
| 1965 | 173 | #581 | 0.09 |
| 1964 | 176 | #597 | 0.09 |
| 1963 | 176 | #592 | 0.09 |
| 1962 | 214 | #542 | 0.10 |
| 1961 | 209 | #546 | 0.10 |
| 1960 | 239 | #513 | 0.11 |
| 1959 | 263 | #483 | 0.12 |
| 1958 | 281 | #473 | 0.13 |
| 1957 | 307 | #438 | 0.14 |
| 1956 | 285 | #447 | 0.13 |
| 1955 | 280 | #442 | 0.14 |
| 1954 | 294 | #417 | 0.14 |
| 1953 | 292 | #410 | 0.15 |
| 1952 | 240 | #455 | 0.12 |
| 1951 | 273 | #411 | 0.14 |
| 1950 | 209 | #457 | 0.12 |
| 1949 | 232 | #437 | 0.13 |
| 1948 | 231 | #440 | 0.13 |
| 1947 | 234 | #439 | 0.13 |
| 1946 | 222 | #427 | 0.14 |
| 1945 | 220 | #406 | 0.16 |
| 1944 | 257 | #374 | 0.19 |
| 1943 | 257 | #382 | 0.18 |
| 1942 | 215 | #420 | 0.16 |
| 1941 | 216 | #393 | 0.18 |
| 1940 | 237 | #371 | 0.20 |
| 1939 | 234 | #373 | 0.21 |
| 1938 | 250 | #351 | 0.23 |
| 1937 | 234 | #350 | 0.22 |
| 1936 | 251 | #342 | 0.24 |
| 1935 | 260 | #340 | 0.25 |
| 1934 | 311 | #308 | 0.30 |
| 1933 | 291 | #316 | 0.29 |
| 1932 | 297 | #320 | 0.28 |
| 1931 | 283 | #327 | 0.27 |
| 1930 | 304 | #317 | 0.28 |
| 1929 | 302 | #317 | 0.28 |
| 1928 | 330 | #306 | 0.30 |
| 1927 | 386 | #290 | 0.34 |
| 1926 | 324 | #315 | 0.29 |
| 1925 | 324 | #316 | 0.29 |
| 1924 | 381 | #294 | 0.34 |
| 1923 | 353 | #298 | 0.32 |
| 1922 | 356 | #303 | 0.33 |
| 1921 | 385 | #285 | 0.35 |
| 1920 | 394 | #281 | 0.37 |
| 1919 | 330 | #300 | 0.34 |
| 1918 | 318 | #318 | 0.31 |
| 1917 | 320 | #291 | 0.35 |
| 1916 | 322 | #286 | 0.36 |
| 1915 | 317 | #278 | 0.37 |
| 1914 | 236 | #290 | 0.36 |
| 1913 | 154 | #329 | 0.30 |
| 1912 | 134 | #321 | 0.31 |
| 1911 | 65 | #338 | 0.29 |
| 1910 | 46 | #384 | 0.24 |
| 1909 | 61 | #291 | 0.37 |
| 1908 | 48 | #320 | 0.31 |
| 1907 | 37 | #367 | 0.25 |
| 1906 | 35 | #351 | 0.26 |
| 1905 | 37 | #331 | 0.28 |
| 1904 | 28 | #393 | 0.22 |
| 1903 | 38 | #306 | 0.32 |
| 1902 | 26 | #393 | 0.21 |
| 1901 | 19 | #438 | 0.18 |
| 1900 | 39 | #351 | 0.26 |
| 1899 | 21 | #405 | 0.20 |
| 1898 | 20 | #457 | 0.16 |
| 1897 | 16 | #503 | 0.14 |
| 1896 | 17 | #508 | 0.14 |
| 1895 | 16 | #510 | 0.14 |
| 1894 | 16 | #505 | 0.14 |
| 1893 | 23 | #373 | 0.20 |
| 1892 | 18 | #465 | 0.15 |
| 1891 | 13 | #502 | 0.13 |
| 1890 | 16 | #465 | 0.14 |
| 1889 | 19 | #419 | 0.17 |
| 1888 | 16 | #488 | 0.13 |
| 1887 | 20 | #369 | 0.20 |
| 1886 | 12 | #555 | 0.11 |
| 1884 | 14 | #509 | 0.12 |
| 1883 | 7 | #749 | 0.07 |
| 1882 | 20 | #402 | 0.18 |
| 1881 | 14 | #468 | 0.14 |
| 1880 | 7 | #769 | 0.06 |
Ranks and shares: boys’ names in each year’s SSA file; share of all boys SSA recorded that year.
Is Elton a boy’s or a girl’s name?
Elton has been given almost only to boys: 200 girls in 145 years of records.
Girls and boys named Elton: the SSA national file counts each sex separately.
How many people are named Elton, and how old are they?
9,680 alive in 2026, estimated
That is 45% of the 21,553 Americans ever recorded as Elton. The median Elton alive today is 54 years old; half are between 35 and 70.
The 2020 Census counted 10,295 people named Elton (74 women and girls, 10,221 men and boys). SSA’s births carried forward to Census day, April 1, 2020, predict 10,557 born in the U.S. The Census count is 2% below that prediction.
Alive today, by age
Alive today, by generation
| Generation | Born | Alive |
|---|---|---|
| Silent Generation | 1928-1945 | 857 |
| Baby Boomers | 1946-1964 | 3,070 |
| Generation X | 1965-1980 | 2,300 |
| Millennials | 1981-1996 | 1,450 |
| Generation Z | 1997-2012 | 1,070 |
| Generation Alpha | 2013-2025 | 922 |
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 Elton born?
The states with the most babies named Elton are Texas, Louisiana and North Carolina, with 34% of its births recorded by state since 1910; Louisiana is not among the ten states with the most births.
| State | Since 1910 | Rank, boys | vs. national |
|---|---|---|---|
| Texas | 2,541 | #2,359 | 1.9× |
| Louisiana | 1,715 | not ranked | 4.1× |
| North Carolina | 1,115 | not ranked | 1.7× |
| California | 1,071 | #1,622 | 0.7× |
| New York | 897 | not ranked | 0.5× |
| Georgia | 777 | not ranked | 1.3× |
| Mississippi | 710 | not ranked | 2.0× |
| Michigan | 622 | not ranked | 0.7× |
| Florida | 617 | not ranked | 1.2× |
| Alabama | 597 | not ranked | 1.2× |
Where Elton is more common than its national share predicts
Relative to its national share, Elton 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 Elton 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 Elton
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 Elton and names like it
- Compare Elton and HiltonBirths, ranks, peak and the living estimate side by side.
- The most given names of the 1920sElton peaked in 1920.
- Texas’s most given namesThe state where SSA recorded the most babies named Elton since 1910.
- Old English namesWiktionary’s origin for Elton: every such name, by how often it is given.
- The top names of 1920The year the most babies were named Elton.
- The names of the Baby BoomersMost people named Elton alive today were born 1946-1964.
- Names starting with EMost given first.